Tag: Darkest conspiracy

A Cambridge University team has developed a device that turns sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water into carbon-neutral fuel.

The device works without any extra components and does not need any electricity.

The goal is for the device to be upscaled and to be used on energy farms, similar to solar farms.

It’s also a way to potentially reduce carbon emissions and of course to decrease reliance on fossil fuels.

The invention uses an advanced ‘photo sheet’ technology using photocatalysts. The sheets comprise semiconductor powders and these can be easily and cost-effectively manufactured in large quantities.

The cobalt-based catalyst is simple to produce and fairly to make and relatively stable.

It is said to be a big step towards achieving artificial photosynthesis – a man-made replication of plants’ ability to convert sunlight into energy.

The sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water are turned into oxygen and formic acid. This is a storable energy source that can be utilized directly or converted into hydrogen.

THE CHALLENGE TO DATE HAS BEEN TO MINIMIZE FUEL BY-PRODUCTS

“We were surprised how well it worked in terms of its selectivity,” said Dr. Qian Wang of the Cambridge Department of Chemistry. “It produced almost no by-products. Sometimes things don’t work as well as you expected, but this was a rare case where it actually worked better.”

It’s not quite ready for commercial production though as the researchers look at ways to improve efficiency further.

A team from the University of Tokyo has also been assisting with the research.

Thanks to the revelations of people such as Edward Snowden, the general public is aware of how intelligence agencies spy on them. It seems like there are people out there who have had enough and are now throwing away their smartphones into the bin and replacing them with “Dumbphones”.  There are also those who just don’t want to waste so much time on the apps on iPhones or Android devices. 

Robin West, 17, is a brilliant example and according to the BBC is an “anomaly” among her friends. “She doesn’t have a smartphone” and uses a “dumbphone” instead of scrolling through Instagram and TikTok all day.

These devices are almost similar to the ones that people bought back in the 90s.

Robin West decided to get rid of her previous smartphone, 2 years ago, at the spur of the moment. She was looking for a replacement in a second-hand store when she was attracted by the low prices of these dumbphones.

 

The phone that she currently uses is from the French firm MobiWire. It cost her £8 ( around $10.40) and the data bills are quite low too as it bears no functions to worry about.

“I didn’t notice until I bought a brick phone how much a smartphone was taking over my life,” she says. “I had a lot of social media apps on it, and I didn’t get as much work done as I was always on my phone.”

West adds that she doesn’t think she’ll ever buy another smartphone. “I’m happy with my brick – I don’t think it limits me. I’m definitely more proactive.”

THE DUMBPHONES ARE ON A COURSE OF REVIVAL

According to the BBC, these headsets are enjoying a revival now. Searches for them on Google have jumped by 89% from 2018 to 2021, as per a report by SEMrush.

Sales figures are quite difficult to obtain but reports stated that global purchases of these dumbphones were going to hit a billion units from last year. This was a massive rise from 400 million back in 2019. This was comparatively good as the worldwide sale of smartphones was around 1.4 billion, last year, following a decline of 12.5% in 2020.

Deloitte conducted a survey in 2021 where they found out that 1 in 10 mobile phone users in the United Kingdom had a brick phone.

“It appears fashion, nostalgia, and them appearing in TikTok videos, have a part to play in the dumbphone revival,” says Ernest Doku, mobiles expert at price comparison site Uswitch.com. “Many of us had a dumbphone as our first mobile phone, so it’s natural that we feel a sense of nostalgia towards these classic handsets.”

Mr. Doku added that the relaunch of the 3310 handsets by Nokia was the one that sparked this revival. This was first released in 2000 and was the biggest-selling phone of all time.

“Nokia pushed the 3310 as an affordable alternative in a world full of high-spec mobiles.”

Doku added that it was indeed true that dumbphones could not compete with the premium Samsung and Apple models when it came to features and performance but “they can outshine them in equally important areas such as battery life and durability”.

Another example was Przemek Olejniczak, a psychologist, who swapped his smartphone for a Nokia 3310. He did so because of the longer-lasting battery but soon realized that there were other benefits.

“Before I would always be stuck to the phone, checking anything and everything, browsing Facebook or the news, or other facts I didn’t need to know,” he says.

“Now I have more time for my family and me. A huge benefit is that I’m not addicted to liking, sharing, commenting, or describing my life to other people. Now I have more privacy.”

It was quite challenging for him to switch, to which he agreed.

“Before I’d be checking everything, such as buses and restaurants, on my smartphone [when traveling]. Now that is impossible, so I have learned to do all those things beforehand at home. I got used to it.”

ONE SUCH EXAMPLE OF THESE DUMBPHONES

Light Phone is a company based in New York and is a maker of these dumbphones. It has more features than the regular dumbphones but pledges that it “will never have social media, clickbait news, email, an internet browser, or any other anxiety-inducing infinite feed”.

The company recorded its strongest year of financial performance in 2021. Their sales had shot up by 150% compared to 2020. Even though they are more expensive than the traditional ones, their prices start at  $99 (£75).

Light Phone co-founder, Kaiwei Tang, says the device was initially created to use as a secondary phone for people wanting to take a break from their smartphone for a weekend for example, but now half of their customers use it as their primary device.

In the search for more sustainable building materials, scientists have discovered a way to transform human waste into bricks that can be used for building.

However, human feces only accounts for 25% of the material in the bricks, the remaining 75% is made out of traditional clay. Even with using mostly clay, this process would still cut down on 30% of the biosolid material that is sent away to landfills, according to a recent study conducted by researchers from RMIT University in Australia

 

 

The study, published in the journal Buildings, explained that:

“Millions of tonnes of leftover biosolids are increasingly stockpiled every year around the globe. Biosolids are a product of the wastewater sludge treatment process. Stockpiles necessitate the use of large areas of increasingly valuable land. Biosolids have many beneficial uses and are currently utilised in agricultural and land rehabilitation applications. However, it is estimated that 30% of biosolids are unused and stockpiled.”

In the study, prototypes of these bricks were made and tested to compare with traditional building materials. The tests found that the bricks were sturdy and would hold up to the most stringent global building regulations. The creation of the bricks also uses less energy than traditional building materials, and they are better for insulation as well.

Adding this extra material would also cut down on the amount of clay and sand that is used for building. According to the study:

“A second and seemingly unrelated environmental issue is the massive excavation of virgin soil for brick production. The annual production of 1500 billion bricks globally requires over 3.13 billion cubic metres of clay soil—equivalent to over 1000 soccer fields dug 440 m deep or to a depth greater than three times the height of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.”

In a 2018 book, The World in a Grain: The Story of Sand and How It Transformed Civilization, author Vince Beiser makes the case that the world is actually running out of the sand to keep up with the current demand for products from concrete to computer chips.

The massive dredging projects to harvest sand and clay also has an incredibly detrimental impact on the environment as some of the best clay for building is taken from beneath waterways, causing significant damage to the local wildlife and ecosystem.

Professor Abbas Mohajerani, a civil engineer in RMIT’s School of Engineering and one of the lead researchers in the study, pointed out that this new process could help alleviate two separate environmental issues at the same time, both the overabundance of biosolid waste and the unsustainable soil evacuation required for traditional building materials.

“More than 3 billion cubic metres of clay soil is dug up each year for the global brickmaking industry, to produce about 1.5 trillion bricks. Using biosolids in bricks could be the solution to these big environmental challenges. It’s a practical and sustainable proposal for recycling the biosolids currently stockpiled or going to landfill around the globe,” Mohajerani says.

Hemp has also been proven as a sustainable building material, as Truth Theory has reported in the past. As we reported In 2019, Dun Agro, a progressive-thinking, housing company from the Netherlands has created an assembled pre-fab house made from hempcrete.

The Shroud of Turin is one of the most mysterious religious artifacts in the world. It is perhaps the most prized relic in Christianity and was believed to be wrapped around Jesus Christ’s body following the crucifixion. Recently, though, anthropologist David Akins claims that he has proof that the Shroud does not have this origin.

TRACING THE SHROUD OF TURIN

Akins claims that he traced back the origin of the Shroud of Turin to an English town. He starts off his observation by stating that the researchers found traces of alabaster in the Shroud. Medieval sculptors used this kind of rock. A separate analysis of the shroud also suggested that this is the original period of the shroud.

Akins then proceeds to join these two observations to suggest that the Shroud of Turin was most likely in existence in Burton on Trent, in Britain. This community was a center for alabaster artwork since it had massive natural deposits of alabaster.

Furthermore, Akins also posited that during the early 14th century, the Knights Templar, already heavily persecuted and on the run from France, settled here with their treasure hoard. This hoard included, apparently, the Holy Grail.

Akins says that this mysterious group may have “created a statue in memory of the event”. Furthermore, during that time, according to Akins, “there could only be one possible symbol of the fabled hoard and the Holy Grail – and that was the Fisher King.” The Fisher King was one of the most legendary personalities said to be in charge of protecting the Holy Grail.

As such, the statue was created and was possibly put on display in the abbey of the town. However, Akins theorizes that the piece was later stored away when renovation work on the building began. Akins claims that this “is where the story of the Turin Shroud begins.”

FROM ENGLAND TO TURIN

A piece of linen cloth was possibly used to wrap the statue for the decades during which the renovation continued. According to Akins, when the work finally finished and the time to bring out the statue came, the monks noticed something curious.

They “noticed a similarity between the features of the Fisher King impregnated onto the cloth and those of Jesus Christ.” Akins says that the statue’s alabaster had a chemical reaction due to the cellar’s mustiness which resulted in the impression being left behind on the Shroud.

Akins then theorizes that the monk may have devised a plan to present this piece of cloth as the Shroud covering Christ. He probably hoped to make a fortune from it. Akins further proposes that more Shroud of Turin studies have revealed organic elements similar to fish and pollen. Furthermore, its dimensions (13ft x 3ft) suggest that the linen was nothing more than a tablecloth before being used to wrap the statue of the Fisher King.

Akins then claims that someone in Florence may have bought the Shroud, which would be the reason behind it being found in Turin. The abbey in Burton was a prominent center of the Florence wool trade, according to Burton.

However, as confident as Akins is about his theory, no signs of this speculative statue of the Fisher King has ever been found. Akins claims that the monks who created the Shroud of Turin hoax may have destroyed it. However, he still hopes that the statue remains buried on the premises of the Abbey. If it does exist and is found, then that would be definitive and irrefutable proof for Akins’ theory.

However, till then, these are only claims, albeit with considerable scientific backing.

This is the 21st Century and a woman’s romantic status does not define that all. Women do not feel insecure if they are single and, hence, have the ability to focus on their life goals without any obstacles. For most, this has represented independence.

Mintel had shared a new report where 61% of British women were satisfied with being single compared to the 49% of men in a similar position.

The survey also showed us that 75% of single women had not searched for a new relationship in the past year compared to 65% of single men.

This difference was wider in the range from 45 to 65-year-old participants, where 32% of women were happy to remain single. Only 19% of males felt the same.

This stark difference can be attributed to the fact that women have to work harder when they are in a relationship.

DR. GRUNDY SHARES HER PERSPECTIVE ABOUT WOMEN BEING HAPPIER WITHOUT A PARTNER

Dr. Emily Grundy, who works at the University of Essex, explained that females have to put in more effort in a relationship than men, so having a relationship amounts to loads of work and stress.

“There’s evidence that women spend longer on domestic tasks than men and I think they also do more emotional work – so they still do more housework and cooking and things as well as more emotional labor,” Grundy told The Telegraph.

Grundy also shared that men usually rely on their partners while women incline toward close friends and social circles.

“Certainly, there’s a common finding from a lot of studies that women who don’t have a partner tend to do more social activities and [have] more friends,” she added.

Professor Bella DePaulo, who works as a social scientist at the University of California shared her experiments and dubbed them “single studies”. She investigated how people are affected while being single and how others perceive and react to singletons.

“I found there are such huge benefits to staying single,” DePaulo shared.

“Women, especially, are more likely to enjoy solitude than men are. Single women find being alone is a wonderful time for restoration, creativity, and personal growth. And there are so many more opportunities to create the life you want, such as traveling, following your passions, and doing meaningful work.”

Marketing executive Helen Patterson, 44, has been single for 10 years and describes life as “simpler than ever”. “I was 8 years old when I first heard the word ‘spinster’,” she remembers. “I said to my mum, ‘That’s what I want to be when I grow up.’ And nothing’s changed!”

However, she says this doesn’t mean she can’t enjoy the romantic company. “My friend and I came up with the phrase ‘casual monogamy’,” she explains. “It’s like, I don’t want to meet your parents or move in with you, but I’m happy to hang out with you and have lots of hot sex with you and only you. Sadly, this concept seems to be rather exclusive to me and my friends!”

Burning sage is also known as smudging and is an ancient spiritual ritual.

It has been established as a tribal practice, especially in Native American cultures, which include the Lakota, Cahuilla, and Chumash.

The smoke from the sacred fires or herbs was used in a ceremony to purify the individuals and even heal them.

Smudging was looked up to as a bridge to reach the higher realms and was also an avenue to get rid of emotional negativity that had found its place in a person.

This ancient practice was performed before a ceremony or even after a fight to clear the air.

The spiritual benefits of these practices were met with skepticism but their benefits were proven by science. Burning sage neutralizes positive charges and also bears antiseptic properties.

BURNING SAGE: LOOKING THROUGH THE SCIENTIFIC GLASSES

A paper was published in 2006, namely Medicinal Smokes, which reviewed information from 50 countries over different continents and found that smoke, when administered medicinally, can be used to assist lung, brain, and skin function. It was also seen that passive fumes could be used as air purifiers.

In another paper, the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 2007 came to the conclusion that smudging was an antiseptic while offering several health benefits.

They observed that an hour’s treatment of smoke (Havana Sámagri) in a closed space reduced airborne bacteria by 94%.

Studies showed that:

“Absence of pathogenic bacteria Corynebacterium urealyticum, Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens, Enterobacter aerogenes (Klebsiella mobilis), Kocuria rosea, Pseudomonas syringae pv. persicae, Staphylococcus lentus, and Xanthomonas campestris pv. tardicrescens in the open room even after 30 days are indicative of the bactericidal potential of the medicinal smoke treatment. We have demonstrated that using medicinal smoke it is possible to completely eliminate diverse plant and human pathogenic bacteria of the air within confined space.”

It also added that “the advantages of smoke-based remedies are rapid delivery to the brain, more efficient absorption by the body, and lower costs of production. This review highlights the fact that not enough is known about medicinal smoke and that a lot of natural products have the potential for use as medicine in the smoke form. This review argues in favor of the extended use of medicinal smoke in modern medicine as a form of drug delivery and as a promising source of new active natural ingredients.”

PHYSIOLOGICAL AND NEURAL EFFECTS OF SMUDGING

The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology published a study in 2008, that talks about how burning incense activates ion channels in the brain to get rid of depression or stress.

Raphael Mechoulam, who was one of the researchers, stated:

“We found that incensole acetate, a Boswellia resin constituent, when tested in mice lowers anxiety and causes antidepressive-like behavior.”

It has also been said that burning sage may act as a blessing for individuals with bronchitis, allergies, and asthma. Inhaling the smoke during the process of smudging can aggravate your respiratory conditions, so wait until the smoke clears before entering the room.

People also believed that burning sage can help you achieve a healing state. This, too, has some scientific basis as sages like salvia sage and white prairie sage contain thujone. Thujone is slightly psychoactive and can enhance intuition.

Burning sage can also lift your spirits and banish negativity.

A 2014 study documented white prairie sage (also known as estafiate) as an important traditional remedy for treating anxiety, depression, and mood disorders in certain cultures.

Another study from 2016 by the University of Mississippi established that Salvia apiana is rich in compounds that activate certain receptors in the brain. These receptors are responsible for elevating mood levels, reducing stress, and even alleviating pain.

Burning of sage has several benefits with proper research backing the claims related to antimicrobial properties and enhanced alertness.

You must treat these practices with respect as it is still a sacred religious practice in several Native American cultures.

Welcome to a place full of colors and creeds, without religion, politics, and money, and where everyone lives in harmony. This might be hard to digest but this city exists in reality.

 

Auroville (City of the Dawn) is a city in the district of Viluppuram, which is around 150 km away from Chennai, South India. This city was founded by Mirra Alfassa or “Mother” in 1968 and has 2,500 citizens from 50 nations and has the capacity to grow up to 50,000 citizens. This town was designed by architect Roger Anger.

AUROVILLE, A CITY THAT DOES NOT FOLLOW TRADITIONAL RULES

This city does not follow the rules that you are used to. Auroville is basically an experiment in unity that was based on the views of Sri Aurobindo, an Indian yogi. The basic idea was that if people from different castes and cultures could love each other in Auroville, maybe the rest of the world could follow suit. Auroville found its origin in the French language, “Aurore” means dawn and “Ville” refers to a city.

Auroville does not have a religion, or a political system and to top it all off, has no use for money. They have committees to run the town and use “Aurocards” instead of regular money.

“Auroville wants to be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony, above all creeds, all politics, and all nationalities. The purpose of Auroville is to realize human unity.”- Mirra Alfassa

The Auroville township was created with open support from the Government of India, the UN cultural organization, and UNESCO but is currently becoming self-reliant in the true sense.

Auroville aims to have pollution-free transportation and to be the perfect model of a sustainable eco-city.

Their community is organized into 15 farms which reach a total area of 160 hectares. There is ample food to feed their entire population. Around 50 villagers and 300 neighbors toil on these farms and produce 2% of cereal consumed and almost half of the total vegetable consumed. The village is self-sufficient in dairy products and seasonal fruits.

The architectures in Auroville are experimental which can optimize the use of renewables by recycling and reusing resources.

Several other projects are run by its citizens, which include schools, ITs, and handicraft production, and employ 4,000-5,000 people from nearby villages.

THE PEACE AREA

The Matrimandir is constructed in the middle of the town and was conceived by Alfassa as “a symbol of the Divine’s answer to man’s aspiration for perfection”. This area is known as the Peace Area as silence is maintained to ensure its tranquility. A spiral ramp leads upwards to an air-conditioned chamber of polished white marble, which is referred to as “a place to find one’s consciousness”.

Matrimandir is equipped with a solar power plant and is surrounded by manicured gardens. When there is no sun or after the sunset, the sunray on the globe is replaced by a beam from a solar-powered light.

Auroville is a town like no other. There is no need to build walls as there are no restricting systems. Things that divide us like politics, economy, and religions and create boundaries are completely absent.

Neil Martin, an Amazon delivery driver shared with the Liverpool Echo, that his boss at the agency told him to complete his shift after he had apparently suffered symptoms that were later deemed to be a heart attack. 

Neil, 46, the father of two, had experienced dizziness, cold sweats, and chest pains while he was doing his job, sometime around 2 pm on March 16. He began his shift by packing up his assigned packages from the  Knowsley Amazon depot and went forward. He was assigned to deliver the packages to the Wigan area on that day.

 THE TIMELINE OF HOW THINGS TOOK PLACE WITH THE AMAZON DELIVERY DRIVER

Neil was subcontracted to Amazon via a private agency, Deva Logistics. When he sensed those worrying symptoms, he decided to go to the hospital to get himself checked.

He apparently tried to call the Deva Logistics office but got no answer and later dropped a text message explaining his situation.

Liverpool Echo reported seeing the message which said: “Mate can you call me, am getting chest pains and keep going dizzy am gonna have to go and get checked out.”

Neil shared with the Liverpool Echo: “I started getting pains in my chest, feeling dizzy and I was getting sweaty. I ignored it for a minute or two but I started thinking no, this does not feel right.

“So I pulled over and phoned the office, but it rang out, so I texted the work mobile number that I was getting chest pains and the manager rang me back. I asked if someone could come and get my packages because I wanted to go to the hospital. They told me someone could come and take half my route off me but that they couldn’t do any more than that.”

A representative for Deva Logistics stated that the company had indeed sent a driver to help him out and believed that Neil had been relieved of his duties. According to article from the Liverpool Echo, Neil strongly refuted these claims and shared that he felt he was left with no option but to carry on with his duties.

He shared: “I didn’t realize how serious it was at the time. But it went on right through the afternoon, just getting worse and worse. The dizzy spells were so bad I kept having to pull over because I couldn’t see anything.”

Neil stuck with his daily duties despite his symptoms and dropped the van at the Amazon depot at 6.30 pm.

Neil said:  “When I got back to the depot my manager asked me if I was alright to work tomorrow and said he had a smaller route over the water I can go on. I said I need to go to the hospital first before I start thinking about packages.”

Neil went back home and then to the A&E at Whiston Hospital with his partner, Susan Martin. Doctors sensed that something was horribly wrong as his heart rate was around 320 beats per minute than the regular 85.

Neil was kept at the hospital for 10 more days and went through extensive testing which included an angiogram. He was also prescribed strong medicines to keep his heart rate under check.

After Neil was stabilized he was sent to Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital for an MRI scan, following which he was allowed to go back home to rest.

Neil told the Liverpool Echo: “The doctors told me I had already had a heart attack and asked me why I had waited so long before coming in.

“I was disgusted. It made me feel like delivering packages was more important than my health. I am not blaming them for me having a heart attack, but I feel like I could have died on that road and they didn’t care,” he added.

THE AMAZON PARTNER REPLIED TO THIS INCIDENT, AS REPORTED BY THE ECHO 

Echo also reported what the representative for Deva Logistics said:

“We take the safety of the independent, self-employed contractors we engage with, very seriously, and we are still investigating how the incident was handled.

“As soon as we learned Neil was unwell, one of our four standby contractors was sent to relieve him of the load, and as far as we were concerned Neil had received the support that he had requested. We were not aware that Neil had been left with packages. Had we been aware we would have immediately sent another driver to relieve him.”

“We have people on standby specifically to cover routes which need support at short notice, including a driver needing to finish early, illness, or in the case of traffic issues or vehicle breakdown. A couple of days later our site manager texted Neil to see how he was. Neil explained what was happening, thanked the manager, and a thumbs up emoji for getting in touch and would keep him informed on his progress.”

The Amazon logistics partner also reported that Neil had called one of their managers and had apparently “demanded money” to prevent him from going to the press. The time of the call that they suggested, however, was after Neil had already spoken to the Echo.

The Amazon driver denied these allegations immediately.

The Echo had tried to make contact with Amazon regarding this incident.

A spokesman for Amazon replied: “Safety is a top priority and we wish the delivery driver a speedy recovery. We have launched an immediate investigation with the delivery service provider who engages the driver.”