Aspirin is a great painkiller and anti-inflammatory, but also has a variety of other benefits as a household remedy. Aspirin’s potency comes from the salicylic acid in its makeup. Check out these outside of the box uses for aspirin: 1. First aid for pimples. Crush an aspirin tablet and mix it with a little water to create a paste. Cover the pimple with the paste and rinse after a few minutes. Because aspirin is an astringent, the pimple will reduce in redness and size. 2. Fungus prevention in compost. Mix aspirin with potting compost in the greenhouse or garden to stop fungus forming near the roots of new plants. 3. Gets rid of grass and nicotine stains in hands. Mix fresh lemon juice with a soluble aspirin to create a mixture that will remove stains from hands. 4. Removes sweat stains from tee shirts. To do this, dissolve 2 aspirins in half a cup of warm water and apply the substance to the area of the fabric where the stain is. Leave the shirt soaking for a couple of hours before washing the shirt. 5. Dandruff treatment. Crush 2 aspirin tablets and add them to your shampoo. Leave the shampoo in your hair for a ...

Charcoal has a wide variety of uses. Instead of throwing out your used charcoal, keep it around for some easy and resourceful uses around the house. Be sure to use chemical-free, natural lump variety charcoal for the following applications. Chemically enhanced charcoal can be harmful to humans, animals, and plants. Stop Shoe Odor With Charcoal Put a piece of charcoal in an old sock and stick the old sock in your shoes before putting them away. Leaving the charcoal in your shoe will help get rid of odor and remove moisture left behind from your feet, which will make your shoes last longer. Composting With Charcoal Charcoal increases the carbon content of a compost pile when added to the pile in moderation. Freshen The Air With Charcoal Charcoal can be used as an air freshener. Charcoal absorbs moisture in the air that can result in mold and mildew yielding unwanted odors. Try stuffing a couple pieces of charcoal in a pair of old nylons and hanging the nylons in the smelly or damp room, which works especially well in basements. You can also put the charcoal stuffed nylons in closets, fridges, or drawers as an alternative to baking soda. Stop Rusting With Charcoal Place a couple lumps of ...

The main repository for influenza viruses is wild birds, which are capable of passing microbes of the virus to domestic poultry, which can ultimately infect human beings.  This is precisely what happened with the H5N1 flu virus, which is to blame for the deaths of 306 people in the last 7 years, as well as millions of chickens and other birds. International health authorities have reasoned that if they can control H5N1 in poultry, than they can stop it from being a threat to people. This is a tough job to pull off as there are around 70 billion chickens around the globe. A team of scientists in Britain recently tried to breed poultry that are genetically resistant to H5N1 or any other type of avian flu virus, and they were pretty successful. The result was that the genetically engineered chickens don’t seem to pass on the disease to other poultry even while they’re still vulnerable to H5N1. The scientists first had to figure out a gene that could interfere with the replication of the avian flu virus. A gene was identified that could make birds produce a piece of RNA that plays as a decoy to polymerase, which is an ...

There are a variety of reasons that the electric car industry has been met with setbacks: • Weak batteries • Lower prices for gasoline • Unsatisfactory cooperation between utilities and carmakers Advocates of the electric car industry are now suggesting that a group of regulators, automakers, and utilities are getting behind an initiative to make the state of California the national leader in providing electric vehicle accommodations. The group behind this project has made plans to construct thousands of charging terminals in shopping malls, homes and office buildings within the next ten years. The project is known as the California Plug-In Electric Vehicle Collaborative, and it revealed its plan following the delivery of the Nissan Leaf vehicle to Redwood City, California. Recently, the first 150 Chevrolet Volts were sent from an auto plan in Detroit to various California showrooms. Thus, efforts are being made in California to upgrade existing charging stations as well as install more to prepare for the new electric cars. Ecotality is a company that will soon begin work on installing 1,600 public charging stations in both Los Angeles and San Diego. These public-charging stations will resemble a large iPod with an attached cord and plug. The collaborative has created a step by ...

Plastic wrap is one way to wrap up food. It used to be made from PVC but there were concerns regarding the risk in the transferring of toxic plasticizers from PVC into food. PVC plastic wrap is supposedly still used by catering companies, however, the plastic wrap sold in most super markets is typically made from Low-density Polyethylene.  The Low-density Polyethylene is safe as far as health and the environment goes, but it usually cannot be recycled. Reusable plastic containers may be a more eco-friendly option for food depending on the quality of the product and the type of plastic used in its manufacturing. Quality is important when it comes to how long it will last and whether it will sustain over time or get warped or crack soon after its purchase. If it does, you may as well have used plastic wrapping. An eco-friendly plastic container will have a triangle with a number inside which indicates the plastic resin code. The resin code to look out for on a plastic container is 1 – PETE (Polyethylene Terephthalate) or 2, which is HDPE (High density Polyethylene). The better option is HDPE because PETE is intended for single use because of bacteria ...