National Marijuana Forum at CU Boulder – I'm proud of my other alma mater for organizing and hosting this event. Hopefully there won't be any riot police involved on Farrand Field. 15,000 people would be quite a sight. Looks like the DEA and Drug Free America aren't so sure about whether they should participate in the discussion. (tagged: drugsmarijuanacannabiscoloradolaw )
Water footprint and virtual water calculator – A water footprint calculator. To really do it right I'd have to actually measure my food intake for a week or a month… but off the cuff, I'm at around 900 cubic meters per year, which is a little more than a third the US average, and about 70% of the global per capita average. (tagged: sustainabilitywatergreen )
How Much Water Do You Use? – Good graphic showing the difference in water use between two possible days. By far the biggest waste: beef. 1500 gallons for one pound of steak. Cut that out, and you'll reduce your daily water consumption by more than half. (tagged: sustainabilityenvironmentgreenwatermeat )
The Kessler Syndrome – Another example of unsustainable behavior, without forethought on our parts? The recent collision of two satellites is causing some to wonder if we might be getting close to the threshold at which the debris from such collisions begets more collisions, and more debris, in a runaway process rendering low earth orbit useless for satellites. (tagged: spacesustainabilitynon-linearkesslerimapcts )
Boston Dynamics (DARPA) BIGDOG Robot – BigDog is a DARPA funded quadripedal robot capable of climbing over a pile of cinderblocks, walking on slippery ice, scaling dunes and snow covered hillsides, taking a big shove from the side, and jumping over a designated obstacle. When do we get to send one of these guys to Mars? (tagged: robotyoutubedarpamarsmilitaryvideoresearchtechnology )