Inspirational and good news.
In Colombia a hijacked plane lands, and people walk away while hostage-takers interviewed.
Two men who said they had a bomb hidden on a plane and, forced it to land, have had their plan foiled. All hostages on the plane have been set free including Congressman Luis Antonio Serrano.
The Register is reporting that “[r]esearchers in Singapore have developed a paper battery that is powered by urine. Despite sounding gloriously silly, the breakthrough promises a cheap and disposable power source for home health tests for things like diabetes.”
Go on and read more about the power your urine has.
A Stockholm-based company have been researching catalytic cement and concrete materials. Essentially they aim to make buildings and roads actually clean the air.
This is not a new idea but the technology being researched is newly discovered nanotechnologies.
“In Rome, the Dives in Misericordia church, designed by U.S.-based architect Richard Meier, is made of self-cleaning concrete that helps keep the surface shiny white. In Japan, several modern buildings including the Marunouchi Building in downtown Tokyo, are covered with photocatalytic tiles to reduce discoloring from pollution.”
The Canadian government pledges $250 million to help fight AIDs and tuberculosis. This aid may not take the form of direct aid, but rather money for the recipient nations accompanied by Canadian experts to help create/ improve/maintain health infrastructure. That way when the money runs out the infrastructure will exist and be owned locally.
Europeans have pledged 4 billion in aid for life-saving vaccines. The scheme that the money is tied to is predicted to save between 5 million children over the next 10 years. The European plan (backed heavily by England) has been criticized because it encourages borrowing of finance, that may take more aid to pay off in the future. Many economists have argued that the numbers don’t mean that more debt is inevitable.
Don’t panic. A new “book” knows where you are and will tell you about your surroundings. It is designed for tourists so that they can get more information about what they are looking at and provide a more enriching experience.
“If you go to a historic area there may be thousands of points around the site of importance, but on their own they don’t warrant a museum,” says Wellesley-Davies. “Our guide allows you to pull them all together.
This device can perhaps provide a better way to learn about history (and other subjects) by being interactive and more engaging.