Category: Agriculture

The Country With the Most Vegetarians Per Capita and the First Notation of Vegetarianism Within Western Literature

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The country with the most vegetarians per capita is India, with 39% of the country identifying as vegetarian and/or vegan, a value which equates to 276,000,000 (276 million) people. This is primarily due to the dominant religion within India which is Hinduism, a faith which 79.8% of the country subscribes to, and to a lesser extent, Sikhism, a faith which promotes vegetarianism and is subscribed to by 1.7% of the country. Mexico trails India for the second spot internationally with 19% of the country identifying as vegetarian and Brazil takes the third spot with 14% having adopted this diet. The first time vegetarianism is mentioned within recorded western history is by the Ancient Greek mathematician Pythagoras around 500 BC, however it is unclear if this is the first recorded text worldwide

U.S. Presidents Who Participated Within the Practice of Slavery

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10 of the first 12 U.S. presidents owned slaves, with the only exclusions being the 2nd president John Adams and the 6th president John Quincy Adams, the son of John Adams. George Washington owned an estimated 200 – 600+ slaves, Thomas Jefferson owned an estimated 200 – 600+ slaves, and Zachary Taylor owned an estimated 300 slaves. The U.S. president with the least number of slaves, not including presidents who did not own slaves, is a tie between the 8th president, Martin Van Buren and the 18th US president, Ulysses S. Grant, each owning one slave. It should be noted, 12 U.S. presidents owned slaves at some point in their lives, however of these 12, 8 owned slaves while in office. The last U.S. president to participate within slavery whilst still in office was Zachary Taylor, and the last U.S. president to own an enslaved person at any time was Ulysses S. Grant. The last person enslaved by a U.S. president was William Andrew Johnson, who was enslaved by the 17th U.S. president, Andrew Johnson. It is believed that Johnson paid $500.00 for William Andrew Johnson’s mother, which equates to $19,348.46 as of 2023 when accounting for inflation using the base year of 1850, 10 years after Johnson’s first slave purchase and 15 years before he became president of the U.S.

Tudor Period Mining and Metal Smelting

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During the Tudor period, lead was utilized to build roofs and windows because it was easily mailable and resistive to corrosion. Farmers would mine for lead during the summer months when their crops did not need tending to in order to generate additional income. Mining during the summer months could earn an extra £5.00 which equates to £25,000 as of 2012 when accounting for inflation. Entire families often worked within the mines because 50 barrels worth of ore and soil would be extracted per day to meet the quota of what was required to be profitable. Smelting involved the use of white coal which is effectively dried wood from a kiln and was always setup upon windy hilltops or mountains because the wind would cause the fire blaze with more intensity therefore reaching higher overall temperatures. The best wood to make white coal is oak. Kilns must be airtight, so gaps were filled with clay. Knowing a kiln to be airtight was easily verifiable by searching for smoke as if smoke only came out of only the front entrance, the kiln was considered airtight. Ore was smashed into small pieces to help it smelt more rapidly which yielded approximately an 80% return upon investment. Metals were then refined using a secondary kiln, and smelted to remove any ash or impurities. The first burn removes ore from the rock, and the second burn removes impurities with the main impurity being sulphur. Molds were constructed using sand and wood to create divots which allowed the ore to be molded into blocks much the same as a modern day bar of gold. The sand gives the mold an indentation which archeologists use to identify Medieval bars of smelted ore

The Reason Alcoholic Hangovers are Unpleasant

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A hangover at its most basic premise is caused when the body does not have enough water to run its citric acid cycle (also referred to as “CAC”, “tricarboxylic acid cycle”, “TCA cycle”, and/or “Krebs cycle”). This is exactly the process which occurs when a person dies of thirst. Although hangovers are typically not dangerous, this is part of the reason why they feel so uncomfortable

Inventions Mesopotamia Gifted to the World Still Used During the Modern Day

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The Mesopotamians invented large scale wheat production, the potters wheel which allows for the making of pottery bowls, cups, and plates, used for consumption and collection, boats which could sail all the way to India created from reeds, and the stylus which is effectively a pen created from reeds, which led to the development of the world’s first writing system. These are just a few examples gifted to the world by the first great civilization; Mesopotamia. Every written word in the western world can trace its origins back to the cuneiform of Mesopotamia and the study of mathematics also derives directly from the Mesopotamian civilization. Reeds were used for measuring distances, based upon the size of the Pharaoh Djer (pronounced “jur”), with the first standard measurement derived from Djer’s elbow crease to the tip of his middle finger, and the second standard measuring a full arm span of both arms spread as wide as the body will allow them. The Mesopotamians invented the mathematics of time keeping by using the creases of their fingers with each finger containing 3 creases therefore 12 creases for each hand. This system included the thumb and when accounting for the back of the hand, a base system was invented which was used to count between 0 – 60. This system was primarily used to tell time, as there are 60 seconds in a minute and 60 minutes in an hour, which meant that the day would be divided into 2 periods each of 12 hours

The Projected Impact of Trees Upon Climate Change

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Throughout history, it is estimated that human beings have cut down 2,000,000,000,000 (2 trillion) – 2,500,000,000,000 (2.5 trillion) trees. This means that even if human beings plant 1,000,000,000,000 (1 trillion) trees within the coming decade(s), this would only replace 40% – 50% of what has been taken from nature. Drones are now being used to plant trees, capable of planting 120 trees per minute per drone at 10% of the traditional cost to do so. If humanity were to plant 20,000,000,000 (20 billion) trees per year for 50 years, which is a sustainable rate, this still only equates to 1,000,000,000,000 (1 trillion) trees which once again would only replace 40% – 50% of that which has been taken. It would take 9000 drones operating 200 days per year to accomplish this feat. Drone production for this project would not require drones more complicated than a modern day smartphone. Trees, plants, grasses etc. are essentially crystallized air, and are more than 95% formed by air. This means that the mass of a tree is equitable to the mass of oxygen which it has been crystallized from, effectively adhering to the Law of the Conservation of Mass, the First Law of thermodynamics. The average tree weighs 2 tonnes with 50% of this weight being carbon, which means that 1,000,000,000,000 (1 trillion) trees is directly equitable to 1,000,000,000,000 (1 trillion) tonnes of carbon. The land requirement to produce such an ambitious project would take half the land mass of Brazil, with larger trees actually requiring less land, paradoxically

The First Use of Forensic Science to Resolve a Murder

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Sun Tzu’s text the “Washing Away of Wrongs”, written in 1235 A.D., is the first text which records forensic analysis being used to resolve a criminal case. The murder of a farmer prompted a local judge to demand that everyone in the village lay down their sickle before him. While every cythe appeared to be clean, the judge watched for insects as he understood that insects would be attracted to and by consequence fly around within proximity of a blade with fresh blood still attached to it, even if the blood was physically removed to the point at which it could no longer be observed by the human eye. This innovative technique allowed the judge to figure out which member of the community committed the homicide with forensic certainty

The Bulking Agents Used in the Saffron Spice

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saffron-bulking-agentBecause saffron is so expensive it’s often mixed with other plants which are not actually saffron but are closely related to saffron to build up the bulk of the weight of a purchase. Turmeric is a primary example of a plant often used to help bulk up supplies. Distributors also use plastic as it helps add weight and eye appeal whilst actually providing nothing more than visual esthetics. Scientists can perform deoxyribonucleic acid examinations to determine if a sample is actually pure saffron or not. High quality saffron should have a humid scent which indicates that it was picked fresh. If the scent of saffron is slightly rancid, it means that it is old or of low quality

The Revolutionary Iron Age Technology of the Rotary Quern

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During the Iron Age, grain was milled by rubbing a smaller rock against a larger rock with the grain in between the discs. This was back breaking labor which is evidenced by the injuries found upon skeletal remains of ancient people. A quantum leap forward however emerged as the rotary quern, a composite tool comprised of a stone base with a wooden pole or dowel in the center, and a movable rotating top donut shaped piece which was also made of stone, but with a handle so that it could be turned. Grain was placed into the middle of the tool and because the tool was slanted upon a 45 degree angle, gravity would pull grain down. This allowed for a single person to mill much more grain than what would have traditionally been possible using antiquated Stone Age technology. This new design freed up both time spent working as well as the amount of people required to meet a specific quota (e.g. 150 – 200 grams per person per day). Because more people could be better fed, with less effort and resources, the population of those with access to the technology in Britain expanded quickly which occurred around 400 B.C.

The Potential of Ethanol Energy Production 

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Henry Ford called ethanol which is alcohol made from a variety of materials, “the fuel of the future”. John Rockefeller seen ethanol as a threat to his oil monopoly and therefore used his influence to push prohibition of alcohol. Virtually any plant can be used to create ethanol making it a readily available resource worldwide. Most vehicles of any decade require a $150.00 modification to their onboard computer system to be able to tolerate ethanol. Yellow gas caps are indicative of flex-fuel cars which are cars which are adapted to accept and effectively utilize either gasoline or ethanol. Brazil has successfully instituted laws which have made every gas station offer both gasoline and ethanol which has boosted the Brazillian economy into the trillions and allowed Brazil to pay back all foreign debts