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Showing posts from October, 2020

Reacting to Climate Change 101 with Bill Nye | National Geographic

Reacting to Climate Change 101 with Bill Nye | National Geographic  When I found out that Bill Nye isn't a real scientist, I fell into a depression. Okay, maybe my reaction wasn't that extreme, but it definitely surprised me. Even though he is a science personality , he echos the concerns of the scientific community.  I found a video called  "Climate Change 101 with Bill Nye" on NatGeo's YouTube channel , and as somebody who wants to know more about climate change with an audience that wants to know more about climate change, I decided to post my reaction. Timestamp: 0:00 - 0:30 Even though a temperature change of under 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit sounds insignificant, it has already caused the extinction of many species. We are on track to further warm the Earth which would result in catastrophe. 0:31 - 0.45 It's not a coincidence that temperatures are warmer than they have been in a very long time; climate change is caused by human activity, and as The Science

Alter Eco Dark Chocolate Bar Review

Alter Eco Dark Chocolate Bar Review  Halloween is approaching, and families are buying candy to give out to trick-or-treaters. I don't know if Halloween will be anything like it's been in the past because 2020 has been quite a year. There are a few issues with candy - specifically chocolate. First, it's quite unhealthy (newsflash), and second, it is not very good for the earth. Most chocolate bars require unfair treatment of cows, and we have explored the environmental impact of breeding cows in a few of our posts .  That's where alter eco comes in. They state that their mission is "to pioneer a full circle approach to eating, farming, and doing business – and to inspire others to do the same." As a certified B Corporation, they prioritize giving back to the world, and their tree planting efforts make up for more than their carbon emissions, according to alter eco's website . In addition,  their chocolate is made from clean ingredients, and it comes in co

The Machine that Turns Ice Cream into Energy | The Ben and Jerry's Chunkinator

  The Machine that Turns Ice Cream into Energy | The Ben & Jerry's Chunkinator  Ben & Jerry's is one of the most well-known ice cream companies, and as a certified B Corporation , they also care about corporate social responsibility. One of the coolest parts about the Unilever-owned brand is The Chunkinator, and that's saying a lot for the company that invented cookie dough ice cream!  The Chunkinator turns ice cream into energy, so Ben & Jerry's uses their own product to power the production of more of that product. The Chunkinator is a BIOPAQ®AFR Biodigester, and it basically works like this: micro-organisms eat the ice cream in the machine and turn it into biogas. You can read more about it on the Ben & Jerry's website or the BIOPAQ®AFR official web page . The Chunkinator can cut food waste by converting it into energy, and it can cut carbon emissions as well. Ben & Jerry's states that The Chunkinator has powered the production of 16 mill

How Dr. Doofenshmirtz's Inators can Save the World

How Dr. Doofenshmirtz's Inators can Save the World  About a month ago, I analyzed the environmental impact of Phineas and Ferb's creations. That was one of EarthPlex's most popular posts, so I decided to look into Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirt's inators as well. Dr. Doofenshmirtz is the nemesis of Agent P, Phineas and Ferb's pet platypus. In each episode, Doofenshmirtz seeks to solve his problems in complicated ways, so he builds inators to do so. Perry the Platypus (Agent P) always foils his plans, and Doof yells, "Curse you Perry the Platypus!" When I researched (a fancy term for binging a TV series) Dr. Doofenschmirt'z inventions, I was rather surprised at my findings. I realized that his inators can save the world!  We're going to explore one of his inators in detail. It's called The Shift-the-Earth's-Position-Farther-Away-from-the-Sun Inator , and you may be surprised to hear what it does: it shifts the Earth farther away from the sun. You mi

Forest App First Impressions - Will it Solve Procrastination?

Forest App First Impressions - Will it Solve Procrastination? I am someone who likes to be productive. Oftentimes, I don't feel like doing my work, so I lay in bed watching YouTube videos. This makes the problem worse, as I bottle up my stresses. There are a lot of ways I have combatted this dilemma: I created a YouTube playlist of motivational videos and thought about what will happen if I complete my work versus if I don't. These are good tactics, but no method works all of the time.  Less than an hour ago, I didn't feel like writing an EarthPlex post. As much as I love creating posts about the environment, sometimes I just don't feel like it. I stumbled upon an app called Forest in the Google Play Store, and they plant virtual trees in a virtual forest on your phone when you work. I've heard about the app before, so I decided to give it a whirl. When the app finished installing, I opened it up and fiddled around with it to get to know how it works. The interface

Reacting to Climate Change Memes

  Reacting to Climate Change Memes from Youth of Climate Reality  Young people are necessary to speak out against the issues plaguing our world. Youth of Climate Reality describes itself as "a youth-led collective dedicated to fighting for climate justice and taking back our future." I decided to look through some of their Instagram posts to learn more about what they stand for and see some funny memes.  This is a good time to mention that you can follow EarthPlex on Instagram by clicking here .  Update: Two of the memes have been taken down since this was posted, so I will describe them as well as I can. A child was drowning in an ocean and cried for help. A politician was nearby, and they high-fived the child's hand instead of pulling them up out of the water. Young activists have been striking for years, and many of them feel ignored. The politicians have the power to choose the fate of our planet, and we are yet to see a plan implemented that will drastically cut

Silk Almond & Cashew Milk Review

 Silk Almond & Cashew Milk Review EarthPlex has explored a variety of sustainable food alternatives. We  reviewed Silk's Oat Yeah milk  but it didn't taste very good. Last week, I had the chance to try Silk Almond & Cashew milk, and I was very surprised. One of the most frequent critiques of plant-based milk is the lack of protein. Silk Almond  & Cashew milk has ten grams of pea protein per cup. That's even more protein than cows' milk! You can read more about the nutrition facts and ingredients on  Silk's website .  Appearance I always start my plant-based reviews with the appearance. This is probably because the products are made to look similar to an already existing product. Silk wants its Almond and Cashew milk to look like cows' milk. Just like Silk Oat Milk, it is an off-white hue that contrasts the color of cows' milk. If this is a deciding factor for you, you may not want to buy it, but for most consumers, taste is more important than ap

“The Worst Debate Ever” Analyzing Round 1 of the Presidential Debate

  “The Worst Debate Ever” Analyzing Round 1 of the Presidential Debate By Mahir Hossain, age 14 Note: This post was written prior to the 2020 presidential election and remains unchanged. Wednesday’s presidential debate marked probably one of the ugliest bickerings between President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Tension had arisen over the past few months, and with the election closing in on 5 weeks, many undecided poll voters had either decided, hadn’t decided, or simply gave up on who would run America. With Trump unleashing furious malice at Biden over his own relations with his sons, a false accusation about Ukraine, and blaming “all the Democrat-run cities” for the downfall of his horrendous presidency, there was some valuable stuff that was seen in this so-called “Trump dominant debate”.  Much of the debate was to recall how the economy was holding up within the American government, in which Trump responded that they had been doing the best in a long time, referring to

Apple Stopped Including Charging Adapters With their Products - Why it's a Good Thing

Apple Stopped Including Charging Adapters With their Products - Why it's a Good Thing  I've watched a lot of tech YouTube videos over the years. Creators such as Marques Brownlee  have educated me on the smartphone industry, so when I found out that Apple was rumored to sell their charging cables separately from the 2020 iPhone, I was surprised. Yes, they've already ditched the headphone jack along with other ports, but not including a charging cable is a whole new level. Update: The iPhone 12 doesn't ship with a lightning adapter, as rumored. Apple announced two new Apple Watch models on September 15, 2020, that won't include cables in the box, which supports the rumor that the lightning adapter won't be included in the next iPhone. My first thoughts were Oh come on! That's a cheap move!  But the more I thought about it, the more I began to realize that this wasn't a very bad idea. If you're an Apple fanboy or fangirl, ask yourself this: How many iP