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Samaritans in Taiwan turn plastic junk into items for the needy

“At the station operated by Taiwan’s largest charity group Tzu Chi Foundation, hundreds of volunteers help sort and recycle plastic waste along with used glass bottles and electronic appliances. Tzu Chi runs 5,400 recycling stations across Taiwan with the help of more than 76,000 volunteers and has distributed more than 460,000 blankets made from plastic bottles since 2007 for relief use at home and abroad. For the volunteers in charge of crushing the plastic bottles, who are from two nearby nursing homes for the mentally ill, the recycling work has also become part of their therapy.” Continue reading →

Peru’s engineers ‘make’ their own drinkable water in response to shortages outside of Lima

“The fresh, pure water on offer along a busy road in this dusty town some 90 kilometers (55 miles) south of Lima, has been extracted, as if by magic, from the humid air. Within the enormous, raised, double-paneled billboard inviting all takers is concealed a tube, wires and mechanical equipment that draws the water from the air and purifies it. Inhabitants from far and wide who flock here toting liter bottles and buckets say this purified water is a wonderful alternative to the stagnant well water that used to be the only water source for many in this town.” Continue reading →

Artificial Leaf Generates 100 Watts of Power from Dirty Water

“This development all of a sudden makes it practical to bring this solution to places like Africa, where power is undependable. Each one of these artificial leaves is capable of producing 100 watts of power, enough to keep the lights on at night, and a few more will keep a small refrigerator running. In the first world, putting these at the waste water outflows on houses can help with a household’s power needs and ease up on the grid. We’re still a few years away from seeing this as a viable solution on large scales, but hey, but the time the artificial leaf does hit the market, you should be able to run 15 light bulbs from a single plate. Isn’t that something?” Continue reading →

Got Dough? How Billionaires Rule Our Schools

. . .venture philanthropy—where donors decide what social transformation
they want to engineer and then design and fund projects to implement
their vision—investing in education yields great bang for the buck Continue reading →

Estonia launches national car-charging network

“Estonia’s reputation as one of the most wired-up countries in Europe has been boosted further with the opening of what is being billed as the world’s first nationwide electric car charging network. The network of charging points, which was opened officially on Wednesday but has been running for several months, uses direct current (DC) to charge cars in less than 30 minutes, rather than the alternating current (AC) technology used by most which can take up eight hours to recharge a car’s battery. There are believed to be around 650 electric cars in Estonia, more than 500 of which were Mitsubishi i-MiEVs given to social workers by the government in 2011.” Continue reading →

American teenager designs compact nuclear reactor

“The American teen, four years after designing a fusion reactor he planned to build in the garage of his family’s home, has designed a small reactor capable of generating 50-100 megawatts of electricity, enough to power as many as 100,000 homes. The reactor can be made assembly-line style and powered by molten radioactive material from nuclear weapons. The relatively small, modular reactor can be shipped sealed with enough fuel to last for 30 years. His reactors are designed to spin turbines using gas instead of steam, meaning they operate at temperatures lower than those of typical nuclear reactors and don’t spew anything if there is a breach.” Continue reading →

Flamboyant Australian tycoon unveils plan for Titanic replica

“Flamboyant Australian tycoon Clive Palmer unveiled his plan Tuesday for building a perfect replica of the Titanic — plus a lot of extra lifeboats. More than a century after the original, supposedly unsinkable ocean liner hit an iceberg and went down in the North Atlantic, Palmer thinks the time has come to complete the unfinished journey to New York. Featuring the same rigid divisions as in 1912 between first, second and third class, passengers will eat either in an ornate dining room or at a long common table. Passengers in the luxury section will enjoy the identical grand staircase and reproductions of the original Titanic’s Turkish bath and swimming pool.” Continue reading →

Special Privilege: Beyonce, Jay-Z Cuba trip was OK’d by US Treasury Dept

“Beyonce and rapper husband Jay Z visited Havana last week on a trip that was fully licensed by the United States Treasury Department, according to a source familiar with the trip, reports Reuters. The longstanding U.S. trade embargo against Cuba prevents most Americans from traveling to the island without a license granted by the U.S. government.” Continue reading →