An amoeba is 14 microns big, but can fit through a hole that’s only 7 microns big. And since a micron is 1/1000thof a millimeter, that’s very small!
Amoebas and Water Filtration
Why do I care about amoebas? It’s one of the many things I’ve learned in my Missionary Technology class these last two weeks. Amoebas, along with bacteria and viruses, can be found in water, especially the water that I’ll likely have when I live in a tribal village. And so we learned about a 3-stage water filtration system that will clean our water by removing bugs, bacteria, viruses, and yes, even amoebas.
Zapping your Batteries
We’ve also learned how to zap ni-cad batteries. Before class that day I had no idea what that even meant, but by asking a lot of really basic questions I figured it out! You know how a lot of rechargeable batteries don’t last so long after you’ve recharged them a bunch of times? Well, if they say “nickel cadmium” on them, I now know how to zap them so that when you charge them they’ll actually be fully charged, as-good-as-new again!
Electricity
When I move into a tribal village overseas all the electricity in my house will likely be supplied by the sun through a set of solar panels. The electricity will then be stored on a bunch of car batteries and everything that needs electricity will use that power. So we’ve learned a lot about how to do the most with the least amount of power and I’m sure that we’ll learn a lot more in the next 4 weeks of that class! Did you know that the refrigerator they recommend uses 11 times less power than the normal refrigerators you can get here? Or that you can get a decent LED light that only uses a watt or two of power?
Well, I can’t share with you everything that I’m learning. 🙂 Let it suffice to say that I am really enjoying the start of this second semester in Missouri and I’m learning a lot!