Soaring Solar

Solar boat It seems that every year solar power efficiency improves and that this increased energy production allows for more and more uses. People also figure out other ways to use the sun’s heat. And what’s technological innovation without a competition? Well, we all know there are solar-powered competitions around the world like the classic World Solar Challenge that travels across Australia.

Did you know that there are solar powered boat competitions? I didn’t. The Frisian Nuon Solar Challenge is all about raising boats that gather power from the sun’s rays. Recently, Technical University of Delft won the competition.

Tempted to get your own solar boat, check out all of these crazy looking solar boats.

Two Dads are Rad!

Nursery school teachers in the UK are being urged to promote acceptance of homosexual families. There is concern from the National Union of Teachers that children of gay couples aren’t being treated kindly and that children are being forced into stereotyped gender rolls. Encouraging openness and acceptance of all genders and people will help curb intolerance.

“The NUT said: “It is particularly important to begin to make three to five-year-olds aware of the range of families that exist in the UK today”. That would includes families with single parents or those with “two mums” or “two dads”, the union said.

The union added: “There will be parents who are gay or lesbian who will want to be reassured that that their children will be safe in the setting.””

Blogging in Beirut

People on blog sites such as livejournal are telling their personal stories about living with war and many are even engaging in civil and informative conversations with people on opposite sides of the conflict. In a recent article in Wired News there is a story of a young woman living in the center of Beirut whos has been doing just that.

“We have opportunities of directly talking to the person on the other side and figuring out what they want,” she said. “I get a lot of questions like: ‘Why didn’t your government kick out Hezbollah? Why didn’t your army stop them?’ Now people get a chance to find out.”

Through discussions and journal entries bloggers are reaching a new level of communication that would have been impossible throughout history during armed conflicts. It is allowing citizens to converse and relate to one another. This is an awesome story of people working to reach each other and tell personal accounts of what life is like when living in the heart of a war zone.
“A five-minute walk and I’ll be right in the middle of it,” she said. “I can hear everything very loudly — the building shakes. I can see the smoke, and so I know where they’re hitting exactly.”