To catch you up to speed, my journey began while doing soil chemistry research in Cambodia. My work contributed to a project that is researching the fate of arsenic concentrations in Southeast Asia. The project empowered me with a sense of altruism and it also reinvigorated my passion for studying the earth. Not only was this case study an opportunity to offer critical solutions to people who don't have the resources to find them themselves, it also offered me a new perspective on the dynamic that we share with the earth.
Initially excited at the idea of exploring a new perspective, I have to admit that I was extremely intimidated. The ideas that I wanted to explore were so simple that it was complicated-- the perfect riddle for a philosopher... Enter Heraclitus.
Heraclitus was an ancient Greek philosopher whose work focused on three main principles: flux, the unity of opposites, and the belief that all things are just manifestations of fire. Specifically poignant for me was the discussion of the unity of opposites. The unity of opposites is the belief that there are intrinsic qualities within ourselves that manifest themselves at different times and in different respects. These statements resonated strongly with the natural cycles of the earth that I experienced closely in Cambodia: carbon, nitrogen, silicate, and even the dangerous arsenic concentrations found throughout Southeast Asia-- an example of the universe being a collection of "wholes and not wholes; brought together, pulled apart, sung in unison, song in conflict, from all things one and from one thing all."
Heraclitus' philosophy strengthened the platform for which I am basing my exploration and I am excited about making the philosophy my own. Below is a photo of my lab notebook with my notes from Heraclitus.
Initially excited at the idea of exploring a new perspective, I have to admit that I was extremely intimidated. The ideas that I wanted to explore were so simple that it was complicated-- the perfect riddle for a philosopher... Enter Heraclitus.
Heraclitus was an ancient Greek philosopher whose work focused on three main principles: flux, the unity of opposites, and the belief that all things are just manifestations of fire. Specifically poignant for me was the discussion of the unity of opposites. The unity of opposites is the belief that there are intrinsic qualities within ourselves that manifest themselves at different times and in different respects. These statements resonated strongly with the natural cycles of the earth that I experienced closely in Cambodia: carbon, nitrogen, silicate, and even the dangerous arsenic concentrations found throughout Southeast Asia-- an example of the universe being a collection of "wholes and not wholes; brought together, pulled apart, sung in unison, song in conflict, from all things one and from one thing all."
Heraclitus' philosophy strengthened the platform for which I am basing my exploration and I am excited about making the philosophy my own. Below is a photo of my lab notebook with my notes from Heraclitus.
GLOBAL UPDATE; POISONED WELLS: In Asia, Cutting Arsenic Risk in Water Through Well-Drilling Techniques
ReplyDeleteBy DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
Published: June 1, 2010
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. .Arsenic is so common in groundwater in Bangladesh, Nepal, western India, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam -- all heavily populated countries in the flood plains draining the Himalayas -- that their drinking water has been called ''the largest poisoning of a population in history.''
But a recent study in Science magazine suggests simple well-drilling techniques that could lower the risk. The arsenic comes from eroding Himalayan coal seams and rocks containing sulfides; it is released into the groundwater only under certain chemical conditions deep underground. Some of those are affected by human activities, including pumping out huge volumes of water for irrigation. Different-colored sands may indicate how likely an aquifer is to be dangerous: rusty orange sands full of iron oxides often have less dissolved arsenic in the water around them than gray-colored sands do. Any village may have many orange and gray layers at different depths underneath it, and villagers may unknowingly live near both safe and dangerous wells. But testing is usually inadequate.
Therefore, the authors -- geologists from Stanford, Columbia and the University of Delaware -- suggest that wells for drinking water should be drilled in deep orange sands and connected to low-pressure hand pumps, while wells connected to high-pressure pumps for crop irrigation should be kept out of those deep aquifers so they do not empty them of safe water, which would cause arsenic-laden water to migrate downward into them.
Love the blog! Beth
Did you know that in the fresco in the Vatican "The School of Athens" Michelangelo is portrayed as Heraclitus? Apparently Raphael (the artist not the Mutant Turtle) was taught by Renaissance Humanists that Heraclitus was a grumpy guy and this fit how Raphael saw Michelangelo.
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