How’s this for cannabis news? When cannabis can be used to power batteries and potentially rewrite modern energy, using the plant just to get high may prove to be one of its least impressive benefits.

According to engineering professor David Mitlin of Clarkson University in New York, industrial hemp, which is the non-psychoactive cannabis sister to marijuana, can be used to create “extremely efficient batteries” called supercapacitors.

But before all the tech talk ruins your buzz, listen up. It’s actually pretty simple: heating hemp fibers essentially rearranges the plant’s carbon atoms, which creates super thin two-dimensional sheets (nanonsheets), which work like electrodes to conduct electricity. Like, woah, man.

The research follows in the steps of studies on grapheme, which apparently holds the same ability to create nanonsheets and was being looked at to build better solar cells, water filtration systems, touch-screen technology, as well as batteries and supercapacitors. The problem is it’s expensive, the American Chemical Society reported in a press release. But cannabis proved to be not only more efficient than grapheme (a bunch of carbon atoms), but also about 1,000 times less expensive—which is super exciting because that means there’s now more money to buy the other cannabis plant and the ensuing Doritos and Twizzlers.

“Our device’s electrochemical performance is on par with or better than graphene-based devices,” Mitlin said in the ACS press release. “The key advantage is that our electrodes are made from biowaste using a simple process, and therefore, are much cheaper than graphene.”

According to Miltin, hemp supercaps “could largely transform the way electronics are powered going forward.” The technology could mean instant charging abilities—plugging a mobile phone into the wall for mere seconds before it’s completely charged. The thrill of that prospect is enough to get us high and keep us buzzing until the cannabis batteries hit the market.

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Phone battery image via Shutterstock

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SeriesA mound of dead batteries is reborn as a colorful sea creature.

A battery powers everything from appliances to watches to your car, and when it’s out of juice, well, that’s the end of it. Nowhere else to go but the landfill.

Artist Michel de Broin had another idea. He gathered hundreds of old batteries before they landed at the recycle facility and made his Dead Star, a colorful creation that seems to come alive, again.

Editor’s note: This is the latest installment of a new art series at EcoSalon, The Heart of Art.

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Read all about it! Entertainment Weekly has published the first video advert with built-in speakers to get the attention of readers conditioned to respond to screens.

A report by the BBC explains the screen is built into a wafer-thin, cardboard insert and contains an ad for Pepsi Max, as well as trailers for CBS television.

“This is an extraordinary way to refresh how we interact with consumers,” said Pepsi-Cola’s chief marketing officer, Frank Cooper.

Desperate ploy, marketing breakthrough or annoyance? The chip technology, which holds up to 40 minutes of video, is likened to those singing greeting cards which have gained popularity. They are activated when you open the card.

The cardboard can add bulk to the magazines, and some male consumer have already complained it makes it hard to roll up a journal and stick it in your pocket.

BBC News‘ Los Angeles correspondent, Rajesh Mirchandani, says the magazine advert is mounted inside a cardboard insert and is instantly distinguishable from a normal flimsy page.

“You can’t really flick through the magazine, because the 4-page insert that includes the video screen is relatively bulky,” he reports.

“And when you do open up the relevant page, the actual advert takes several seconds to load and play and that’s a lifetime’s lag in the advertiser’s world,” he added.

Magazine containing the screens have been sent to several thousand subscribers in Los Angeles and New York. Will they catch on by other magazines to save the trade? We shall see.

Some other facts about the adverts:

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