LOVE ANGELES

‘Plastic State Of Mind’ Rap Parody Drawing Big Numbers On YouTube (Video)

Source: Ecorazzi - "With Italy recently putting into effect Europe’s first nationwide ban on plastic bags, it’s only fitting that a similar movement is underway here in the U.S. Cities like San Francisco, Westport, Conn. and Edmonds, Wash. have already enacted bans - and D.C. even saw plastic bag use drop 85% after a five-cent fee went into effect.

So, enter this parody of Jay-Z’s insanely popular “Empire State of Mind” song. While I’ve grown tired of the endless takes this groove has inspired, I can certainly get behind one as catchy and well-done as “Plastic”.

Check out the video below:

NASA-Funded Research Discovers Life Built With Toxic Chemical

Source: NASA - NASA-funded astrobiology research has changed the fundamental knowledge about what comprises all known life on Earth. 

Researchers conducting tests in the harsh environment of Mono Lake in California have discovered the first known microorganism on Earth able to thrive and reproduce using the toxic chemical arsenic. The microorganism substitutes arsenic for phosphorus in its cell components. 

"The definition of life has just expanded," said Ed Weiler, NASA's associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at the agency's Headquarters in Washington. "As we pursue our efforts to seek signs of life in the solar system, we have to think more broadly, more diversely and consider life as we do not know it."
This finding of an alternative biochemistry makeup will alter biology textbooks and expand the scope of the search for life beyond Earth. The research is published in this week's edition of Science Express.

Carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur are the six basic building blocks of all known forms of life on Earth. Phosphorus is part of the chemical backbone of DNA and RNA, the structures that carry genetic instructions for life, and is considered an essential element for all living cells.

Phosphorus is a central component of the energy-carrying molecule in all cells (adenosine triphosphate) and also the phospholipids that form all cell membranes. Arsenic, which is chemically similar to phosphorus, is poisonous for most life on Earth. Arsenic disrupts metabolic pathways because chemically it behaves similarly to phosphate. 

"We know that some microbes can breathe arsenic, but what we've found is a microbe doing something new -- building parts of itself out of arsenic," said Felisa Wolfe-Simon, a NASA Astrobiology Research Fellow in residence at the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, Calif., and the research team's lead scientist. "If something here on Earth can do something so unexpected, what else can life do that we haven't seen yet?"
The newly discovered microbe, strain GFAJ-1, is a member of a common group of bacteria, the Gammaproteobacteria. In the laboratory, the researchers successfully grew microbes from the lake on a diet that was very lean on phosphorus, but included generous helpings of arsenic. When researchers removed the phosphorus and replaced it with arsenic the microbes continued to grow. Subsequent analyses indicated that the arsenic was being used to produce the building blocks of new GFAJ-1 cells. 

The key issue the researchers investigated was when the microbe was grown on arsenic did the arsenic actually became incorporated into the organisms' vital biochemical machinery, such as DNA, proteins and the cell membranes. A variety of sophisticated laboratory techniques was used to determine where the arsenic was incorporated.

The team chose to explore Mono Lake because of its unusual chemistry, especially its high salinity, high alkalinity, and high levels of arsenic. This chemistry is in part a result of Mono Lake's isolation from its sources of fresh water for 50 years. 
The results of this study will inform ongoing research in many areas, including the study of Earth's evolution, organic chemistry, biogeochemical cycles, disease mitigation and Earth system research. These findings also will open up new frontiers in microbiology and other areas of research.

"The idea of alternative biochemistries for life is common in science fiction," said Carl Pilcher, director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute at the agency's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. "Until now a life form using arsenic as a building block was only theoretical, but now we know such life exists in Mono Lake." 
The research team included scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, Arizona State University in Tempe, Ariz., Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif., Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Penn., and the Stanford Synchroton Radiation Lightsource in Menlo Park, Calif. 

NASA's Astrobiology Program in Washington contributed funding for the research through its Exobiology and Evolutionary Biology program and the NASA Astrobiology Institute. NASA's Astrobiology Program supports research into the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life on Earth.

For more information about the finding and a complete list of researchers, visit: astrobiology.nasa.gov

Arthur Potts Dawson: A vision For Sustainable Restaurants (Video)

Source: TED - Which came first, epicure or eco-warrior? For 23 years, Arthur Potts Dawson has worked alongside Britain's most respected chefs, including Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Jamie Oliver. But his interest in food began during childhood, on a Dorset farm.

"There was never much money around when I was growing up," he says. "We learned to turn lights off, put a jumper on instead of the heating."

This thrifty sensibility found expression in his acclaimed London restaurants Acorn House and Water House, opened in 2006. From rooftop gardens to low-energy refrigerators and wormeries that turn food waste into compost, these restaurants prove the profitability of an eco-friendly approach -- and serve as training grounds for the next generation of green chefs. Potts Dawson is now taking his crusade to kitchen tables, launching The People's Supermarket, a member-run cooperative supporting British farms, and cooking for Mrs Paisley's Lashings, a supper club whose profits fund urban gardens in London schools.

"Doesn't he sometimes envy those of his contemporaries who went for the fame and the cash, and don't worry about sourcing recyclable microfibre table tops? He says: 'I just want to serve food that people want to eat, and show a way forward for the restaurant industry, for all industries. One day, everything I've done will be worthwhile.'" - Nick Curtis, Evening Standard

How Plastic Could be Part of Energy Solutions (Video)

Source: Ode - The environmental crisis is indeed alarming, but it is also an opportunity to bring visualization skills, teamwork, and creativity to the fore. In Japan rubbish bins for paper, plastic bottles and tin cans are ubiquitously lined up in front of supermarkets, convenience stores and in train stations. For household trash every week there are days for burnable rubbish, days for plastics and days for bottles, glass and cans. Twice a year there are "Big Garbage Days," which means large amounts of newspapers, cardboard boxes, and old clothes are collected. But you can buy special stickers anytime and have someone from the city come to collect more bulky items that need discarding. And there are private trucks that go round collecting paper and large throwaways, too. Recycling is an integral part of everyday life here.

Now many of the police uniforms and furoshiki (cloth folded and tied as a carry bag: a very old tradition) are now made from recycled plastic bottles. Buses go by with signs proudly saying that they are run on salad oil. In buildings main windows face east to catch the warmth of the rising sun. And traditionally only one room of a home was, and often still is, heated in winter.

In addition to these, I recently heard about a man who has invented a remarkable machine that turns plastic into oil. His name is Akinori Ito and he works for Blest Company. In a YouTube video about him, he explained that as a child he loved playing outside, but had no concept of the environment. But once he had children of his own and saw how much less open space they had to play in, he became acutely aware of the problem.

In the clip he says "we," which means that he and his colleagues got together and came up with the realization that modern technology could be used to turn plastic into oil. "It’s not hard," he said, "after all, plastic is originally made from oil, so why not reverse the process and extract oil out of plastic?"

His company designed a small, easy-to-use, easy-to-transport machine that gobbles up any sort of plastic, melts it down, turns it into gas, and finally into oil. One kilogram of plastic yields about one liter of oil. This oil can be further separated into gasoline, diesel, or kerosene. That means cars, motorcycles, generators, boilers, and kerosene heaters can all run on this oil.

This machine itself is a wonder, and Akinori Ito goes to the developing world to teach about the stupendous potential of plastic. He usually goes to schools, talks to the children and teachers and sends them out to collect plastic. Then he demonstrates the use of the machine, so everyone can see how simple and useful it is. The kids, of course, get their parents and other adults involved, and then the whole movement is underway.

Akinori Ito says we can reduce CO2 as much at 80% by using recycled plastic. "Plastic is not waste," he says, "it is a treasure."

Leo TAGS Heur

Source: Ecorazzi - Leonardo DiCaprio was one of the first celebs to get on board with green cars and is a self proclaimed eco-geek. So, perhaps it should come as no surprise that his green lifestyle has left an impact on the people around him.

Case in point, Swiss horology brand, TAG Heuer, who got a visit from DiCaprio at their La Chaux-de-Fonds factory this past march. With the help of TAG Heuer, the actor co-designed the Aquaracer 500M, as part of an initiative to raise money in support of two leading environmental organizations, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Green Cross International.

Now that the Aquaracer 500M is being released, TAG Heuer is making an effort to reduce its carbon footprint and has signed an agreement to equip the rooftops of its factories with solar panels. Construction is scheduled to begin today, and continue through December.

The president and CEO of TAG Heuer, Jean-Christophe Babin, said, “Leonardo visited the factory with an eye on everything that could be done to reduce our energy consumption. His factory visit in La Chaux-de-Fonds turned into an inspiring and creative environmental audit. Leonardo combined his environmental mind with a highly respectful approach toward our staff, making his visit an impactful highlight of TAG Heuer’s 150th anniversary celebration.”

And DiCaprio commented in a a speech given in Basel earlier this year that, “TAG Heuer is a company that gets it and because TAG Heuer understands that they have a corporate mission, but also a global mission, a mission that is bigger than all of us. TAG Heuer is a company that has taken a stand for what it believes in… And I’m proud to be here today, celebrating a company that is standing up to give back to environmental non profit organizations alongside me.” Read more at Ecorazzi