Speaking of water - I watched a gorgeous documentary on water, "Water: The Great Mystery."
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5123182744103122879#It is 1 hr 20 min long, moves at a quick pace, features several different scientists/researchers/specialists (from Nobel laureates to theologists) and high production values, and just ties a whole bunch of different stuff together with water being the common denominator.
I recommend watching the video when you have 1 hr 20 min 2 sec to spare, but there is a summary below. (While interesting, the summary doesn't do the documentary justice.)
Summary:
Water: The Great Mystery (Documentary)
To see the documentary Water is to wake up to water's profound mystery, interactive sensitivity and miraculous properties.
In 1956 in Southeast Asia there was a secret military meeting to develop a bacteriological weapon. The discussion was centered on what lethal properties the weapon should have. All at once, everyone present came down with food poisoning and needed medical attention - even though the only thing they ate and drank that day was water sitting in the middle of the room, which when tested, revealed it had no additives.
Several centuries earlier during the Inquisition a monk was thrown in jail and was served only stale bread and filthy water. Yet after 30 days he seemed healthier than ever. Under torture he revealed that he prayed each day over the water - and each day the rank water became transformed into fresh, sweet liquid.
These two examples suggest that water is an interactive substance that is affected by human emotions. Both stories are cited in Water, a documentary that reveals many startling discoveries about the earth's most ubiquitous natural resource.
Filmmakers Saida Medevedeva and Vasilly Anisimov have taken great pains to create a sense of wonder about a substance that most people have taken for granted. They make it very clear that human beings have squandered water, polluted it and degraded it to the point where it may not be available to large segments of the world's population in the future. In fact, some environmentalists interviewed in the film worry that water may become what oil is today - a resource that is in limited supply and is fought over by nations.
There is a Finite Amount of WaterIn the documentary, water researchers from around the world, including Kurt Wuthrich, the 2002 Nobel Prize laureate for chemistry, and the most famous water researcher of recent decades - Masaru Emoto, reveal many startling discoveries about water. For example, scientists report that there is just as much water today as when the earth was born. Yet human beings take water for granted, using it as though there is an infinite supply. It's time to realize, they say, that only one percent of the world's water is potable and that it may not recover from consistent, extensive abuse.
Other surprising findings include:Water has memory.
Gratitude and love are the best ways to revitalize water and maximize its healing and nourishing potential.
People are attuned to the water in the place where they were born, and that people suffering from amnesia have recovered their memories by drinking from their hometown supply.
Animals always prefer spring water to city water.
Holy water, which has been in the presence of prayer, can revive not only sick humans but also dying plants and ailing animals.
After seeing Water, it is impossible to look at water in the same way. The documentary inspires viewers to preserve one of the earth's most precious resources.
- Article Courtesy of Sylvia Somerville