Douglas DiCicco's Blog (14)

This has been getting some media attention lately, but I thought I would share this with the community here. This summer, scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California hope to use the world's largest and most powerful laser to create a sustainable fusion reaction. What was once science fiction may become fact sooner than expected. If successful, this experiment could potentially create a powerful new source of sustainable electrical energy. More information can be found… Continue

For this week's act, I took a very simple step to help me and those in my neighbors prepare in the event of an emergency situation. I prepared an emergency supply kit. The California Department of Health has some handy guidelines on creating one for yourself, which can be found at… Continue

San Francisco, like much of California, is in an area which is particularly vulnerable to strong earthquakes. The area has been nearly leveled by earthquakes in the past, and it could happen again. Luckily, strict building codes mean that most of the city's structures are designed with earthquake safety in mind, but a sufficiently strong quake could still be devastating.



Ushahidi could be an important part of recovery in the aftermath of a quake. It could be used to share essential… Continue

I've been really inspired by the work of Riko Kamachi (http://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/RikoKamachi) in taking the initiative founding and leading the EVOKE team at Kiva. For those who have not yet heard of them, Kiva is an outstanding organization using microloans to finance entrepreneurs throughout the developing world. It's a group that does a lot of good, and the EVOKE @ Kiva team really seems to have gotten people even more… Continue

Another EVOKE-er showed me the Water Calculator, a service of h20conserve.org. Basically, the Water Calculator is a simple tool which asks a few questions about your household and your water usage and gives you an estimate of your daily water usage. The calculator can be found here, at h20conserve's website: http://h2oconserve.org./wc_disclaimer.php



The results were eye-opening. Apparently, I use something in the neighborhood of… Continue

The Global Giving service linked to in this week's mission is a really incredible service. So many worthy projects, so many ways to help. Once again, I find myself in the position where I have a difficult time picking which of the many deserving groups I should try to help with my limited resources.



Eventually, I decided to donate to pay for feed and vaccine for a women-owned poultry business in Ghana for a year. I wanted to do something that would help the neediest people out there.… Continue

The plight of women in the developing world is truly sad. It is tragic how many suffer in places where they do not have the same rights and privileges as men. They are treated as property, abused, and denied opportunities at every turn. Those of us who live in places where that is not the case can be glad that we have a better attitude towards women.



But before we get TOO proud of ourselves, we should remember that even in the most 'developed' nations on Earth, women are still a long… Continue

I think part of the reason that "social innovation" can be a bit of an intimidating phrase is that it brings to mind big global problems. It can be incredibly difficult to think of ways to meaningfully combat a serious problem which has the biggest impact in a region completely across the globe. If you think you need to be making big waves to be doing something meaningful, it can become overwhelming and disheartening.



To avoid this, I encourage people to do what I am trying to do:… Continue

Access to clean water is a major issue in the developing world. But some research suggests that in a few years, it could be a problem even in places that don't give a second thought to water security today. One of the biggest threats to water quality here in the United States is the buildup of prescription medications and other drugs in our water supply. With the widespread use of treated wastewater in this country, pharmaceutical pollutants are building up in our water supply as they leave the… Continue

When I'm having dinner in 2020, I don't imagine there will be much change in what I'm eating. The basic components and ingredients will probably be much the same. What I hope will have changed is where the food is coming from. Today, I try to get as much of my food as possible from local sources, but it isn't easy. Most foods in local markets have been shipped very long distances, a process which takes a toll on both our environment and our global food security. Good luck trying to find a… Continue

Over the course of the past couple of days, it has become apparent that some people are joining this site simply for the purpose of spamming and creating links to commercial websites, likely to increase traffic through search engines. For example, this blog post:



http://www.urgentevoke.com/profiles/blogs/the-zebra-bikini-your-guide-3?xg_source=activity



These things seem to… Continue

At first glance, it might not seem like one of the wealthiest cities in the United States would have any major problems with food security. But that isn't the case. Unfortunately, a lot of people in this country are contributing to global food security issues. In particular, one of the biggest problem is reliance upon non-local food sources. Go to any major supermarket, and you'll find produce which has mostly been flown in from South America, in particular Chile. The problem is even worse in… Continue

When thinking about the future of money, we should not only be thinking about how it gets used and distributed, we should be thinking about the actual form it takes. The production of actual physical money takes a significant toll on our environment and our resources. Paper money lasts a surprisingly short amount of time before it must be reprinted and replaced. For example, the average United States five dollar bill spends only sixteen months in circulation before becoming damaged enough to… Continue

I'd heard of micro loans before this week, but this gave me the motivation to actually go out there and find someone in the developing world to invest in. After checking out http://www.kiva.org the first thing that strikes you is how many projects there are out there, and how many of them have so much potential to improve the lives of not only the entrepreneurs seeking the loans, but of everyone living in their communities. It was difficult to narrow it down to… Continue