Inspirational and good news.
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Nineteen years ago Ugandan President Ypweri Museveni seized power in Uganda and imposed a single political party on the country. In a recent referendum which he endorsed other political parties can now exist freely, the first time since 1986.
Critics are arguing that this is to appease donors and solicit more money from donor nations. Regardless of the motives behind the move to permit more political parties this is a step for improvement for the people of Uganda.
Or in this case, Cold War era destroyers to reefs. The Queensland Government has scuttled the HMAS Brisbane, a decommissioned destroyer, in an effort to create a new underwater habitat. Although this sort of thing has happened before, this time there are pictures! Double good news.
A proposed new law in the United Kingdom seeks to make it easier for art looted by the Nazis before and during World War II to be returned to its rightful owners or their decedents. In the run up to World War II, invading German forces would loot the collections of Jewish art collectors. In the aftermath, more than a few of these pieces found their way into museums, either because of an inability of their rightful owners to track them down, or because their rightful owners had been killed in the Holocaust.
Spurred by the example Jewish-Czech Arthur Feldman, whose collections was sold for pittance to a UK gallery after the Holocaust, Culture Minister David Lammy is trying to speed through the changes, which would make it a simpler process for families to file claims.
The CBC Radio show Quirks & Quarks has an excellent podcast on using aluminum to power mobile electronic devices (mp3 link).
“Instead of pumping gasoline, for example, you get a shoe-box of aluminum powder…”
More detail can be found in the podcast or on the Quirks & Quarks archive page.
In related battery news, Panasonic has created a new technology called Oxyride that is supposed to be just as big as the use of alkaline in batteries. The new batteries are supposed to have 1.5 times the life of an alkaline battery and cost the same as a regular set of batteries according to BetaNews.