When you think "sustainability," building with wood isn't necessarily the first thing that comes to mind. But a deeper look at the growing trend begs the question: Could wood be a key sustainable resource of our future?
A US-based researcher has made an accidental discovery about longevity in a species of African ticks that live nearly 30 years and can go eight years without food.
European researchers have leaped closer to making nuclear fusion a practical energy source for humanity. It's the same power-generating process that makes stars, including our own sun, shine.
Work Places: The return of jute and hemp
Sumo belts and shrines
For centuries, hemp was a common crop found across Japan that was used in the sacred suzunoo ropes that adorn shrines and in the ceremonial belts of sumo wrestlers. On a more day-to-day basis, fibers from the stalks of hemp plants were used to produce clothing, including shirts, as well as mosquito nets, fishing nets, paper and in traditional medicine, while the seeds of the plant were used as spices in cooking.
The ban on cannabis and related products was introduced after Japan s defeat in World War II, when the primarily American occupation government effectively imposed a new constitution and laws on Japan that reflected US standards of the day.