One Answer to Carbon Woes: Blowin’ in the Wind May 20, 2008
Posted by Sarah Todd in Environment, General.add a comment
An article in Salon points out,
“For under 2 cents a day per household, Americans could get 300 gigawatts of wind by 2030. That would:
- Reduce carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation by 25 percent in 2030.
- Reduce natural gas use by 11 percent.
- Reduce cumulative water consumption associated with electricity generation by 4 trillion gallons by 2030.
- Support roughly 500,000 jobs in the U.S.”
All we need is an administration that will let it happen.
The Biological Boon Behind Incense May 20, 2008
Posted by Sarah Todd in General, Meditation, News, Random Notes.2 comments
A new study reveals one reason why incense and spiritualism go together like zendos and zafus. Beyond the symbolic tradition of burning incense lies a biological benefit: it can help ease anxiety and depression. When scientists administered incensole acetate, a compound found in incense, to mice, the compound affected them in “brain areas known to be involved in emotions as well as in nerve circuits that are affected by current anxiety and depression drugs.” Adds Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal, “This study also provides a biological explanation for millennia-old spiritual practices that have persisted across time, distance, culture, language, and religion–burning incense really does make you feel warm and tingly all over!” Read all about it over in Science Daily.
A Buddhist reponse to Cyclone Nargis May 20, 2008
Posted by Sarah Todd in Burma, News.add a comment
From NPR: Alex Chadwick talks with Ashin Thitzana, a Burmese monk in the Los Angeles-area, for a Buddhist interpretation of the Myanmar cyclone tragedy.
