Every time you visit a densely populated country or go through population statistics mapped over the past 50 years, and wondered about how we are going to feed the potential 9 billion people (this the number that most of the human population experts believe is the point after which the world population will begin to stabilize), then you are not alone. We wondered about the same thing and started researching the internet to see what potential big ideas exist out there. One of the most promising ideas is the concept of converting each acre of land into 50 or more acres, by building multiple levels of farms atop the single farm

As responsible citizens of Earth, wouldn't it be nice to reduce the "leaking electicity" or "vampire energy" (which is essentially the energy used by appliances that are in standby mode). The National Energy center focused on Standby Power waste, estimates that in most of the developed countries 5 - 10% of the energy is wasted as a result of appliances being plugged in, even when not in use.  That is essentially 5 - 10% of the carbon emissions (from coal fired power plants) added to the atmosphere annually.

When there is so much confusion in the media about use of high fructose corn syrup (with schools banning carbonated beverages on their premises to the corn syrup lobby promoting ads on TV indicating that corn syrup is fundamentally similar to sugar), the best way to bring clarity is the conduct a peer-reviewed scientific experiment. And that is exactly what the researchers at Princeton did. And their findings totally put this confusion to rest! The verdict from their experiment: High Fructose Corn Syrup does lead to obesity in rats (and hence in humans), whereas sugar does not!

Everybody agrees that we have to reverse global warming and that we should lower carbon emissions, but the trick is who should do it and how much should each one be held responsible for. The issue is very similar to having a pothole on your regular route to work. Everybody agrees that the pothole needs to be fixed, but nobody gets down to fix it. Why should I? In a local community, there is elected government that is responsible to take care of that kind of stuff. But what do we do in a global context? Who should fix the rising temperatures? 

Wouldn't it be nice if we can make our villages self-sustaining, so that more folks don't need to flock to the cities? Some of the people behind Auroville wondered about the same thing, and started a concept city that was designed to be self-sustaining, while promoting higher values such as unity, diversity, and spiritual realization. Started in 1968, Auroville is a concept city, with a clear focus on promoting sustainable living.