Bulletproof coffee

1405442711002_coffeebrain16.1200wI’m such a coffee geek, I’m surprised I don’t write about coffee here more!  I’ve maintained a separate blog called Coffeeopolis where I used to direct that attention…but in the interest of simplifying life I’ll be favoring this one instead.  Today’s coffee fascination is with a new coffee drink called Bulletproof coffee.  When I first read about this, I wasn’t sure what to make of it, and I quickly moved on to other, more pressing matters (like, you know, work!).  It seems to be popping up more and more though.

So, what is Bulletproof coffee?  It’s designed by Bulletproof Exec, one piece of the puzzle to upgrading ‘your performance in every aspect of life.’  Noble ambitions.  Why mess with coffee though?  This coffee drink is part of a larger diet that gets pretty complicated…so click that link if you want to know more, but for now, just know that it’s designed to be more of a breakfast replacement.  So, how do you make it?  You start with one cup of coffee, brewed with 2 1/2 heaping teaspoons of low-toxin coffee (I hear that any wet-process coffee meets this criteria, though you can of course buy special Bulletproof Coffee Beans…).  Add 1-2 tablespoons of a medium-chain triglyceride oil, 1-2 tablespoons of unsalted grass-fed butter, and mix it all in a blender for 20 seconds (you can buy a starter kit of ingredients for $50).  Click here for a printable instruction card.

So what’s it like?  I wish I could tell you.  Or not.  I haven’t decided if this is something I want to try…I love coffee…and this sounds…weird.  What’s gotten me thinking more about it, though, is this article at Fast Company.  The author drank Bulletproof Coffee every morning for two weeks, trying it as a true breakfast substitute.  The results were interesting and the article is worth checking out.  Or check out the video below for instructions for how to make Bulletproof Coffee yourself.

How to find your life Purpose

There’s an interesting article over at ZenHabits about how to find your life purpose.  It focuses on the idea of people falling into the trap of being self-centered, focused on a personal bubble representing the small world around you.  The article talks about breaking free of that and helping others as a way to gain motivation and learn your purpose.  I’m not sure if it’ll work…but I’ll give it a try. 🙂

Follow this link to read it at ZenHabits…

Using hemp to make supercapcitors

Scientists have managed to take the inner bark from hemp plants, more of a waste product when hemp is used for clothing or building materials, and processed it into a material that is similar to graphene and can be made into a supercapacitor with similar performance – yet at a fraction of the cost.  Pretty cool application for an impressive plant.  Alta Supercaps is looking into small scale production.  Read more at the BBC.

Farmers succeed in developing herbicide-resistant SuperWeeds

Thanks to glyphosate-resistant genetically modified seeds from Monsanto, farmers in the US have been able to vastly increase their use of glyphosate (the main ingredient in the weed-killer RoundUp), and hasten the evolution of common weeds into new, herbicide-resistant superweeds.  These SuperWeeds are out of control in areas of the midwest and Kansas.  Well done, farmers!

This is exactly the sort of outcome logic would predict, so let’s hope they intended to do that and aren’t instead just focused on their short-term profits.  Umm, yeah.  I think the only surprise would be that the weeds adapted so quickly…I’m sure Monsanto was hoping for a few more decades of profits to be had from that RoundUp/Seed combination!

Read more here: Farmers Fight Explosion of “Superweeds” – Scientific American.

Ice cream sandwiches don’t melt?

Gross  TheDenverChannel.com reports on a discovery a local mom stumbled upon.  Walmart-brand ice cream sandwiches don’t melt, or rather, they look pretty much solid even after being left out overnight.  I bet you can guess why!  Yep, it’s not what most people think of as ice cream.  To reduce cost, they’ve substituted cord syrup, guar gum, and cellulose gum for the milk-based products we’d normally expect.  Yuck.

Read more here: Why don’t ice cream sandwiches melt anymore? – 7NEWS Denver TheDenverChannel.com.

Beef: the most environmentally harmful animal product

PNAS-beef-animal-productsBad news for beef lovers.  Another study has shown that the most environmentally harmful animal in the American diet is beef.  Compared to pork, poultry, or eggs in a per-calorie comparison, beef  was worse in every measure – water, land, fertilizer.  It’s useful information for those who are considering cutting meat from their diet for environmental reasons…a huge first step would be to just minimize how much beef and dairy you consume.  There’s no way I’m cutting beef out of my diet entirely…I’m too much of a steak lover for that!  Including more poultry and pork looks like a good move though.

Read more at TreeHugger: Scientists identify the most environmentally harmful animal product in the American diet : TreeHugger.

Word Crimes – Weird Al Yankovic

Al’s got a bunch of new songs out, and my favorite so far is “Word Crimes”, addressing society’s growing indifference to using proper grammar.  It’s not limited to just teens and texting, either…misplaced apostrophes are disturbingly common on restaurant menus and many other places.  Check it out below.

Last day to speak up in favor of Net Neutrality!

UPDATE!  Comment period extended until Friday 7/18!

Today Friday is the last day the FCC will take public comments on proposed regulations regarding the concept of Net Neutrality (check out this video by Jon Oliver if you’re not familiar with the issue).  Please please please, send them a message that Net Neutrality is something we care about and demand!  Gizmodo wrote up a nice set of instructions which I’m going to copy and past here (original link here):

Step one: Visit FCC.gov/comments and find the proceeding with the title “Protecting and Promoting the Open Internet.” It should be the one on top and should also have over 20,000 filings in the last 30 days.

Step Two: Click the proceeding number “14-28.” You can also try to click this direct link, though it might not work every time. This will take you to the FCC’s Electronic Comment Filing System. It looks a little janky, but hey, the government built it.

Step Three: Fill out the form. Write about your feelings. Express your concerns. Air your grievances. Provide your real name and address. Hope for the best.

Step Four: Click “Continue” and make sure you like what you wrote. If you don’t you can modify your comment. If you do, click “Confirm.”

Comments are being accepted until midnight tonight (July 15th).  Right now, the website is acting a bit flaky, but don’t give up.  This is a really important issue that will shape our digital lives in the years to come.  You’ve already paid once for internet access…without net neutrality, you will have to pay again (indirectly) to access the content you want.  You’ll have to pay to access the internet, and internet companies will have to pay internet providers to allow you to access their content at the same speeds as you can other content on the ‘net.  It’s a horrible path to go down.

There’s also a great guide to the comment system over at the Consumerist.

Guided .50-caliber bullets

exacto projectile_144DARPA’s Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordnance (EXACTO) program recently completed its first successful life-fire test demonstration, where it actually worked!  Check out the video below to see it in action.  How does it work?  Beats me, and DARPA being who they are, they’re not exactly providing a lot of details.  From what I can gather from the project’s website, the bullet (can we even call it that?) has movable aerodynamic surface and is receiving guidance instruction from the firing weapon.  Pretty impressive technology.

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