We drink water filtered by it; breath air scrubbed with it; eat food purified through it; wear clothes made with it; grow our food and flowers in it; go to war with it and heal sick bodies with it; preserve things in it; enjoy hundreds of dishes cooked by it; we move mountains with it; we make the night sky sparkle with it; we take it with us to the bottom of the deepest oceans and out into space; swim in water washed with it; paint or draw our inspirations with it; and we record man’s history of successes and mistakes dipped in it. Not least and not last, activated charcoal is called upon to clean up many of our technological mistakes. No wonder we naturally warm up to it.