Awaken Your Inner Gaia

Our Time To Be Alive

Dude, our generation has a lot to experience. Also known as Generation Y, Generation Einstein, the iGeneration, the "rear end" of the MTV Generation, we are the Millennials (all those born between 1982-1996. Not to be confused with Generation Z, 1996-2001, the Neo-Disneys). Like the GI Generation (1901-1924), we are the "civic heroes" of the world according to Strauss and Howe's list and book Generations.

Doesn't that alone get you pumped?

And just think about it for a sec.; there is this life changing "war" going on, technology is booming (I mean, MC Lars said it best in his song, iGeneration, "this is the internet generation"), and everyday there is more to know.

The world, as I write, is creating a natural, evolutionary revolution! Every generation has their call to arms, and this is ours: adapting to change. We are right at the age where we weren't born with all this, and we aren't too old to understand it all. With all this change, only the best will survive.

Though as Millennials, we have this awful rep: Millennials have a reputation for being peer oriented and seeking instant gratification. Businesses are scared to hire us because of this! Even 60 Minutes created a warning to the world about us(Part 1)(Part 2)! But something nice to grind your teeth on, fellow Millennials out there, like the WW2 babies (Baby Boomers), we as Cold War babies, are almost equal in numbers (Baby boomers have 76 million, we have 70 million).

What gets me started on this, is that I, along with my fellow Team Gaia members, have been watching I Love the New Millennium on VH1. And it reminded me of all the change we are going through, and really makes me just want to say, "This is our time. Bring it on."

Lakes on a Fiery Planet

The NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (Phoenix's BFFL) has found gratuitous traces of rivers, lakes, and streams on the red planet. Rich minerals in clay showed more water on the planet than we originally believed, and the chemicals in the clay prove it.

For future missions, Nasa is mapping out landing sites to gather these minerals. The variations in the minerals suggest that different processes, or different types of watery environments, created them. So, Mars had stages, just like Earth!

What I find interesting in discoveries like this is the similarities between our planet and the alien planet; with Mars it's the signs of water, and other planets such as Venus, it's the gases that are the same as ours, just amplified. It really helps us understand our own planet more, and to truly see how unique and special it is. One more reason to protect it. In the coming decades maybe some of us (me, me, me) at Team Gaia may get a chance to travel into space and see firsthand what lies out there in the final frontier.

No use crying over....whoops!

So places like WalMart, all its affiliates, and Costco have taken a step towards a greener earth.
No, they haven’t donated money, planted trees, or started using energy efficient bulbs in their super, colossal marts. They have manipulated their powers over a simple jug of milk!

Yes, moo cow milk!

This new milk jug is adapted to the new American economy and lifestyle. They are efficient in more ways than you think, but is that really a good thing?

So why does this peak my interest and why should it peak yours, let me take you through the pros and cons:

Pros:

1) They are more efficient and easy to stack, hence more milk in one place.

2) Sam’s Club reported savings of 10 to 20 cents a gallon.

3) Milk crates are gone. Now they are stack and shrink wrapped, then moved by a big machine instead of man power to load onto the semi. (Wait…machines use a lot of energy…energy costs a lot of money. Shouldn’t this be a con?)

4) The company that makes the milk in the jugs has saved a lot of money on water use by 40-60 percent and more milk per crate means less trips to the supermarket to drop off milk-a fuel savings.

Cons:

1) You can’t pour it.

In the New York Times article about the issue, they asked dairy owner Mike Compston who described the pouring technique in a telephone interview as a “rock-and-pour instead of a lift-and-tip.”

So this is the problem, is milk you can’t pour even worth it? Many bowls of Cheerios await your answer.

The Rise of the Pheonix

In 1999, the Mars Polar Lander failed to land on Mars. But this year Nasa decided to try again with the Pheonix Spacecraft. The engineers had a strict budget and had to use recycled space parts. When Mars and Earth once again aligned perfectly for a launch, the Pheonix was sent and Nasa ground their teeth for a successful mission.

The Phoenix was reborn from the ashes of failed missions, and on May 25th 2008 landed on Mars, ready to go.

Since then, Pheonix sent back to us tons of awesome stuff.

1) On 6/27/08 Pheonix scraped Icy soil, subsurface soil, and surface soil in one scoop. Imagine how that reveals how the planet is structured, and the density of the planet.

2) On 6/25/08 Pheonix performed it’s first wet experiment on martian soil, sending TONS of chemistry data back to earth.

3) The Pheonix begins digging in what scientists call “Wonderland” on it’s 22nd Martian day, aka 6/17/08.

I’ll keep you posted on the rest of Pheonix’s wonders in Wonderland!

The name of this blog is on the tip of my tongue...

Ok so check out this awesome article from the boston globe…
(This article is interesting, I swear)

Now that I assume you have clicked on the link…
Even though you might not suffer from amnesia, I think this is a HUUUGE piece of medical history. It puts the brain in a funky state.

Imagine your brain is a messy desk. Unopened mail and scattered pieces of junk are everywhere. One letter in your unopened mail is…well, let’s say it’s your tax return. You know that something important is in that pile and you try to remember what it is, but you never knew it in the first place because it is bundled into a folder that may be called Importatnt Stuff to Remember versus _Tax Returns_. This is my own version of the metaphor, better explained by the article.

In the brain, things aren’t organized such as “The Tony Hawk file.” They’re organized as “Everything I’ve ever known about extreme sports.” And Tony Hawk might be in there, you just may have forgotten about his story – that simple.

Tasmanian Tiger is back

It's been 70 years since its extinction; 2 years since they almost abandoned the project, but now the Tasmanian Tiger is back!

Scientists harbored the DNA inside mice, the first time that extinct DNA has lived inside a different host and has been revived successfully. This brings to question, what else could scientists do with DNA? Could Jurassic Park become a reality?

This new discovery could also help scientists isolate Neanderthals' DNA and bring scientists one step closer to the "missing link" that could once and for all, prove evolution as a fact.

How to be one with the gas pump

Listen up guys, I'm with you about the whole "OMG! It costs $80 to fill my tank--for a week!!!"

But I do have something else a little different to say. Chill out and forget about it! Seriously! The drama is annoying.

So what if Oil recently spiked up there to about $139 a barrel, and many speculate that by the end of the summer gas will be $5 a gallon at the pump. Europe has been paying way over that for gas for many years now, with tax, and with a road tax based on the size of their car.

But one must realize that there is nothing one single person can do in a situation like this. So chill out and forget about it. Its hard to do, I know, but there are ways to ease into a zen way to drive that will help keep cash in your wallet.

1) Try your hardest to drive under or around 60 mph. Your fuel economy goes up substantially after 60 mph, and again after 80 mph.
So think of it like this, every 5 mph you add after 60 mph,is _exactly like paying $0.20 more for gas. (link: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/driveHabits.shtml)

In the seventies, during the last oil crisis, speed limits were lowered to be 55 mph on the highways, and it would be worth it to repeat it. At least I think so.

2) Don't fill up your tank when its empty, fill up at half a tank! It's healthier for your car, and helps one reminisce on when gas was $2.90 a gallon. Oh those sweet good old days...

3) Don't accelerate or brake too hard. It's safer, and burns less fuel!

I honestly think its a waste of time to trade your Camry in for a Vespa at this moment. So calm down and enjoy the summer dude!

Further Reading and Helpful Sites:
Global Gas Prices
We thought we had it bad...
Rense
Msnbc
NPR
CNN
Gas Buddy

Mother's Against Paco

So I was reading this article and learned…

Argentina has become the dumping ground for South America’s low-quality, cheapo, cocaine or paco. In the five years that paco starting showing up on the streets, 15,000 people have become seriously addicted, and some have died!

Bilma Acuña’s son Pablo Eche sold everything he owned to get his fix, as well as committing violent robberies. He destroyed his house, sold the land, and lived on the streets cold and alone until his Grandma took him in. “The majority of the kids are using it here,” said Acuña. “My son saw what was happening with the kids in the streets that were using paco, and he always said he wouldn’t get caught up in that. But he did.”

She, as well as a group of other concerned Mothers have organized the only defense against the dangerous drug, which is nothing more than a highly addictive, smokable, cocaine residue, which is pretty much the left over crack of left over crack,that has killed thousands.

What is their answer to combating this noxious narcotic?

Recently, Acuña led a walk through the streets with about 18 other women. They pointed out the residences of current paco dealers. This area of town hadn’t been visited by the police in seven years. The Argentine Government has yet to produce a plan the tackle the addiction.
So Argentine citizens, led by the Mothers, are taking control of the situation. Acuña handles dozens of calls a week from people wanting to help their friends and family with the addiction. She refers them to clinics and urges others to join the force.

It’s unfortunate that there really isn’t anything many people could do in a situation like this one. But I think that if these Mothers could brew up a storm, the Argentine government may finally pay attention to the thousands of people becoming addicted and hardcore smash into those drug dealer’s pads and confiscate all the drugs in the facility.

Propel needs to get a grip

Okay. So this really ticks me off.
Propel water, using a stupid, sales strategy to throw a curve ball at vitamin water.

If you see, at the bottom of the screen, in tiny little white font, it says that the facts contrived are based on 20 fl oz. In this commercial, they make it seem like there is 125 calories in 8 fl oz, even though it does say at the bottom based on 20 fl oz, because all the people are holding just ONE bottle.
Sure okay, they got their facts right, 50 calories for 8 fl oz is exactly the same as 125 calories for 20 fl oz. And sure Propel has less calories than vitamin water. BUT COME ON!
Unless all you do when you work out is walk a mile, you need those extra calories. CALORIES CAN BE GOOD. Energy is measured in calories! More energy = more work = big juicy healthy muscles!

Sure fat has more calories, but aren’t you working that off anyway?! I mean, leisure biking that is less than 10mph (according to this nifty thing (link to: http://www.nutristrategy.com/activitylist.htm) That’s like 238 calories, almost 5 vitamin waters! Anyone who hydrates that much (40 fl oz) in one exercise might just die of over hydration. Or just get a headache. And what of just plain regular water? How many vitamins does one need during or after a workout?

It’s sick, it’s disgusting, and it’s a cheap way to get buyers. It just makes me sick and pisses me off. Pass me the one, the only, the original H2O please!

Current Events, Schm-urrent Schm-ents

I’ve have recently come to realize that only a small amount of teenagers watch the news of their own accord. Some only watch it when their parents have it turned on the tube, BUT most don’t watch it at all.

I began to understand this concept slightly when I was talking about some pro-choice/pro-life debate with my friend ‘Anthony’ (name changed to protect his ignorance). He had no idea what I was talking about, so I explained the concept to him, and he didn’t understand why there couldn’t be harmony. I am not going to get into this topic now, but I will take it up in a later blog, of that you can be sure.

More and more teachers have begun to ask about current events such as Darfur, vote yes/no on 1, and the newly established Sunshine State standards for Evolution. Perhaps four kids in each class were able to keep the discussion of these subjects going.

And today, a friend of mine, whose dream it is to be a cop, didn’t know a thing about what happened on “Go-Skate” Day (celebrated on the longest day of the year, June 21st, aimed to get kids outside and having fun), nothing about this cop who arrested a kid for calling him “dude,” shown on FOX News recently, and didn’t know about the cop who didn’t believe that a man was paralyzed and tossed him out of his wheelchair! It was all over the NEWS!

Something has got to inspire teens to watch the news or read it. Not only can you view the news online now, but there are so many places that you can see it, read it and write about if you so choose. I mean, there are fun websites like Digg, Wired, Huffington Post, and even my own Team Gaia, which are all pretty cool! Then there is always that thirty minutes when there’s nothing on TV when one can turn on the news.

Long ago, Linda Ellerbee used to air a news show on Nickelodeon, and back then everyone hated it and no one ever watched it so I don’t think it airs anymore, but it was someone trying to take initiative in interesting teens in the news! I mean you’re getting some of it right here at Team Gaia right now!

The future of America needs it. For instance did you see the article in USA Today (Yes, a NEWSPAPER…so probably not!) that most teens do not know anything about History – I mean come on – it’s being made everyday!

What are we turning into? I don’t think there should be a “Current Event Class” to count as something like a History credit, but I think teachers should find more ways to integrate current events (and it would seem past ones as well – DUH!) into their lesson plans. It can be done very creatively, and easily, with a little invention called the Internet, the World Wide Web! In this information age there is just no way that we should be uninformed or news ignorant.
It’s not much to ask for someone to get people interested, if it was a part of a grade maybe it would work! Maybe then the history of now will pave a way for the future.