22-Year-Old’s Ocean Cleanup Project Receives $21.7 Million, Will Launch This Year

Fri, 05/05/2017 - 05:16

by Amanda Froelich, True Activist

The foundation can now begin large-scale trials of passive plastic capturing technology in the Pacific Ocean.

Remember Boyan Slat, the ambitious teenager who founded the Ocean Array Plan, a project capable of removing 7,250,000 tons of plastic from the world’s oceans? Now twenty-two-years-old, Slat is still dedicated to the endeavor, as well is the CEO of The Ocean Cleanup. Yesterday, the foundation announced that it has raised $21.7 million and can now begin large-scale trials of passive plastic capturing technology in the Pacific Ocean.

On its website, the Ocean Cleanup claims that its technology “…could remove about half the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in 10 years, at a fraction of the cost.” This is incredible, considering the gargantuan patch floating in the ocean is presently 2x the size of Texas. The startup’s strategy for meeting its goal is to make use of the ocean’s natural tides and currents to purge the body of water of polluting plastic.

Last year, The Ocean Cleanup reached an important milestone when it tested a 100-meter-long segment of the barrier for four months in the North Sea – about 14 miles off the coast of the Netherlands. Slat commented that the purpose was to see how the barrier fared in open ocean water. Its durability during strong storms and turbulent waves was also being tested.

Plastic-Eating Caterpillar Could Help Solve The Globe Waste Crisis

Tue, 04/25/2017 - 20:32

by Amanda Froelich, True Activist

The wax worm has a special compound in its digestive tract that biodegrades polyethylene plastic, converting it into a form of alcohol found in antifreeze.

At present, landfills around the globe are full of polyethylene shopping bags, an item which takes approximately 100-400 years to degrade naturally. Not only does plastic slowly leach chemicals into the environment when it is discarded in nature, it is not uncommon for wildlife to ingest plastic bags or other items, harming themselves and in some cases, dying.

Fortunately, a handful of researchers may have discovered a potential solution to the global plastic conundrum. As the Daily Mail reports, scientist Federica Bertocchini accidentally discovered that the wax worm, a caterpillar known for ingesting the wax within beehives, is able to devour and biodegrade polyethylene plastic. The insect converts the material into a form of alcohol found in antifreeze.

The scientist who works at the Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology of Cantabria uncovered the worm’s unique abilities when she attempted to clean up a wax worm infestation in one of her home beehives. Reportedly, she collected the worms then placed them in a plastic bag, hopeful that they would die. After leaving the bag in her home, Bertocchini was stunned to return and discover that the worms had chewed through the plastic and escaped.

New Leaks Show NSA Hacked Crucial Infrastructure Of Middle East Banking System

Sat, 04/22/2017 - 01:20

by Whitney Webb, True Activist

A new release from the hacking collective known as the “Shadow Brokers” has revealed that the National Security Agency infiltrated essential infrastructure of the Middle East’s banking system, affecting several financial firms based in nations supposedly allied with the U.S.

After Trump took unilateral military action against the Syrian government, many of those who had voted for him lashed out, accusing the President of bowing to pressure from the Military-Industrial complex and other pro-war interest groups that – overtly and covertly – direct U.S. government policy.

Among those criticizing the President were the hacking group known as the “Shadow Brokers,” who emerged last year after claiming to have stolen extensive amounts of information from the National Security Agency’s (NSA) cyber-espionage division, known as the Equation Group.

The secretive hacking group, in a blog post published on Medium, warned Trump to remember his “base” and warned him to revert to his campaign promises. In an apparent attempt to persuade the President to do just that, the hackers released access to what NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden called the agency’s “top secret arsenal of digital weapons.”

This Innocent Prisoner Went From Felon To Lawyer Because Someone Believed In Him

This Innocent Prisoner Went From Felon To Lawyer Because Someone Believed In Him

Mon, 02/27/2017 - 07:38

by Brianna Acuesta, True Activist

This man went from proving his innocence while in prison to helping others prove theirs as an attorney.

When Jarrett Adams was just 17 years old, he was arrested and subsequently wrongfully convicted of sexual assault after being charged alongside two other boys of engaging in a group assault during a trip to the University of Wisconsin. While one of the boys was acquitted, Adams and the other boy were each found guilty and Adams was sentenced to 28 years in prison.

While it’s sad that Adams and the other boy were wrongfully convicted, it’s even worse when looking at why such a wrongful conviction occurred in the first place. The boy who was acquitted was able to hire a private lawyer, who located an alibi witness and presented conflicting evidence, but the other two couldn’t afford a lawyer and settled for court-appointed attorneys.

Adams’ lawyer did not attempt to contact the alibi witness, nor did they offer any sort of defense for the accusation. Other than the testimony from the victim, there was absolutely no evidence linking Adams to the crime, yet he was convicted and sentenced to a lengthy prison term.

Once Adams was in prison, he was assigned to a cell with an older man called “Pops” who was serving a life sentence. Pops overheard Adams talking on the phone about his innocence and set out to help him overturn the conviction. Adams said that Pops told him,

“I’m never in my life going home and you’re in here for some racist bull crap, where your attorney did not do his job–did not call any of your alibi witnesses.” It was the turning point for Adams, who said he had little hope after several local appeals were denied.

Credit: NowThis

Rather than fixate on his case alone, Adams began studying law heavily, inspired by the lack of effort put into his case and other innocent prisoners like him. Though he had never been to college, he used his motivation to fuel his in-depth research into the appeals process and other legal matters through the prison’s library. Through his research, he found that:

“There were a lot of young black people in there as a result of bad representation, not knowing anything about the law, pleading guilty to cases where they shouldn’t have plead guilty. I’m driven now, because not only do I want to prove my innocence, but I also want to advocate on behalf of those who I know were just like me.”

Since he knew he would have to file a federal appeal for his case, he decided to employ the help of the Wisconsin Innocence Project, who nearly didn’t accept him because the odds were slim that they could help him. However, at the request of Kevin Findley’s students, the co-director of the project, they took Adams’ case for one reason:

“We believed he was innocent,” Findley said, and “we thought the evidence used against him to convict him was horrifyingly weak.”

Thanks to the help from the Wisconsin Innocence Project and Adams’ active engagement in how best to fight his appeal, his conviction was overturned unanimously by three federal judges. After 9 years of serving time for a crime he didn’t commit, Adams was finally free and filled with ambition to help others like him. While in prison, he used his knowledge to win the appeals for 17 internal disciplinary appeals for others.

Credit: Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Since his release, he started school at a community college and later attended Loyola Law School in Chicago, where he recently graduated from. Adams has begun using his degree for good, as he has helped with a new project where the Loyola Dean David Yellen has been asked to identify cases where the conviction was based on confessions given after being tortured or abused by law enforcement.

“I would identify someone in prison who might meet the criteria of having been tortured and potentially being entitled to a new trial,” Yellen said. “Jarrett would pull the court document, review in detail all of the background information,” and offer recommendations.

This project has started to yield results with the overturning of a 1990 murder conviction, and Adams has moved on to become a clerk on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which is the court that ultimately overturned his conviction.