Energy Producing Microbes Help Save Water

     

     A brewery in California is looking for a new way to save water. As 7 gallons of water go into just 1 gallon of beer made. The water used isn't all going to making the beer. Most of it is actually going into the heating, and cleaning of the kegs and the bottles the brewery is using. Since California is already running short on water, they wanted to find a way to conserve as much of the water as they possibly could. They created a facility called an "EcoVolt" system. Not only does it clean the water, the microbes in the volt also provide for more than half of the electricity that the brewery is using.
     This new research shows me just how many different things we can use microbes for. This one machine is able to use microbes for not only cleaning the water that they brewery needs, but also provides the brewery with so much more. As the company looks forward, they are trying to decide if the people will eventually drink the recycled water. The video definitely is interesting to me because we were just at a brewery learning about how microbes help brew the beer. Knowing that they can also be involved in other processes blows my mind!
     I'm starting to wonder if eventually we will be able to used recycled water for more things than the making of beer. If so how this new technology could impact our lives in all different aspects. Eventually we could take one of these machines to a third-world country, and help with the water shortage in more places than just the U.S.

Brush with Bacteria: Hairbrushes are worst household item for bug infestation by mirror.co.uk

     When you are either getting ready for the day, or going to bed brushing your hair has to be the least harmful thing you could think of. Well, in 2012 science showed that there are over 3,500 colonies of bacteria per square inch. This statistic was higher than both sink plug holes, and doggie bowls. After doing observations on 30 hair brushes used daily by women ages 16 to 24, the results were astonishing. Specialist Alison Southcombe stated that "if you take a look at the average hairbrush, it is often a pretty messy affair with a build u[ of hair and also hair styling products that may be months old." These bacteria aren't all bad, but some of them lead to irritation, allergy, as well as odors. 

     Now that I know this information, I am definitely going to clean my brush much more often. Brushing my hair is one of my favorite things to do, but knowing this information it makes it pretty unappealing. Something that brings up my concern is the fact that they only observed women ages 16-24. To me that is a very narrow spectrum. Starting at a younger age may make a difference because girls haven't gone through puberty yet, and don't have the same hormones as older women. Observing higher than 24 would be smart as well because people do different things with their hair at an older age. This article really interested me because brushing my hair is something I do multiple times a day, and it never crossed my mind that my hair brush could be effecting my scalp in more ways than one. 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology-science/science/brush-with-bacteria-hairbrushes-are-worst-household-802580#ixzz3ExfqPIG6