Slippery business: Materials scientists invent new coating for self-cleaning, water-efficient toilets
Thursday, November 21, 2019 In findings published on Monday in Nature Sustainability, researchers mostly from Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) in the U.S. reported the invention of a new coating that could reduce bacterial growth, water waste, and odor when sprayed onto an ordinary house toilet by rendering its surface too slippery for anything to remain attached for long. A nice clean toilet. Image: Usein. According to the research team, half of all people worldwide are affected by limits on their water supply, while daily fresh water usage to flush the planet’s roughly 1 billion toilets and flush urinals is upwards of 141 billion liters (about 37 billion U.S. gallons, 31 billion imperial gallons); which they note is several times larger than the total rate of water consumption for the continent of Africa. Inventions that render the facilities more water-efficient, they reason, could have a profound impact on wastewater management,…
Hungary rebukes other EU members for their negative stance towards Croatia
Saturday, April 16, 2005 Hungary is one of Croatia’s biggest supporters within the EU The Prime Minister of Hungary, Ferenc Gyurcsány, has heavily criticised the governments of several other European Union countries over the decision not to start EU accession talks with Croatia in March. Hungary is one of the biggest supporters within the EU of Croatia joining the organisation. Croatia, which has the status of candidate country within the EU, said in 2004 that its target is to join the EU in 2007, along with Bulgaria and Romania, even though the EU has as of yet refused to start accession negotiations, which usually take in excess of two years. For this reason, the earliest Croatia could feasibly join is in early 2010, with accession negotiations ending in late 2007 and a further two full years during which the Accession Treaty is signed and the country prepares for final EU…
Blues musician Pinetop Perkins dies at age 97
Tuesday, March 22, 2011 Perkins in 2008 American blues musician Pinetop Perkins, a first generation Delta bluesman, died in Austin, Texas, on Monday at the age of 97. His death was announced by his agent, Hugh Southard. Perkins suffered from a cardiac arrest as he took a nap and paramedics failed resuscitate him. During his 80-year career Perkins remained active until the end, even performing publicly as recently as last month. A boogie-woogie piano player, he was a guitarist until a knife fight damaged his left arm. He was primarily a sideman. Throughout his career he worked with several big names including Sonny Boy Williamson, Ike Turner and slide guitarist Robert Nighthawk. He worked for Muddy Waters for more than a decade, including playing on Muddy’s great comeback albums of the late 1970s. He was 75 before an album was released under his own name. Perkins also made history this…
Wikinews interviews Joe Schriner, Independent U.S. presidential candidate
Saturday, April 17, 2010 Journalist, counselor, painter, and US 2012 Presidential candidate Joe Schriner of Cleveland, Ohio took some time to discuss his campaign with Wikinews in an interview. Schriner previously ran for president in 2000, 2004, and 2008, but failed to gain much traction in the races. He announced his candidacy for the 2012 race immediately following the 2008 election. Schriner refers to himself as the “Average Joe” candidate, and advocates a pro-life and pro-environmentalist platform. He has been the subject of numerous newspaper articles, and has published public policy papers exploring solutions to American issues. Wikinews reporter William Saturn? talks with Schriner and discusses his campaign. Retrieved from “https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=Wikinews_interviews_Joe_Schriner,_Independent_U.S._presidential_candidate&oldid=4497624”
Disposal of fracking wastewater poses potential environmental problems
Wednesday, April 25, 2012 A recent study by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) shows that the oil and gas industry are creating earthquakes. New information from the Midwest region of the United States points out that these man-made earthquakes are happening more frequently than expected. While more frequent earthquakes are less of a problem for regions like the Midwest, a geology professor from the University of Southern Indiana, Dr. Paul K. Doss, believes the disposal of wastewater from the hydraulic fracturing (or “fracking”) process used in extracting oil and gas has the possibility to pose potential problems for groundwater. Map showing significant earthquakes in the Midwest region of the United States. It was analyzed to show links between felt earthquakes and energy development. Image: United States Geological Survey. “We are taking this fluid that has a whole host of chemicals in it that are useful for fracking and putting…
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation gets new chairman
Saturday, April 28, 2007 Canadian Heritage Minister Bev Oda has appointed Timothy W. Casgrain as the new chairman of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Mr. Casgrain’s credentials will bring strong leadership to the CBC. I am confident that his experience and sound judgement will greatly benefit the CBC. “Mr. Casgrain’s credentials will bring strong leadership to the CBC,” said Oda. “I am confident that his experience and sound judgement will greatly benefit the CBC.” Casgrain was born in Montreal, Quebec and studied at McGill University. In 1969, he served as a teacher in a small African town in Chad for two years. Some years later, he became an accountant. In 1976, he was chairperson of Skyservice Investments Inc., a Canadian aviation company and was Executive Vice President of the Brascan Financial Corp. In 1988, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of NBS Technologies. Since then, Casgrain has served many…
Category:Cornwall
This is the category for Cornwall, a county in England. Refresh this list to see the latest articles. 15 May 2014: Cornwall police arrest coach driver after two killed in crash 15 February 2014: Two dead in storms with no sign of floods letting up in Britain 25 February 2013: Three die in Cornwall, UK caravan park of suspected carbon monoxide poisoning 12 March 2011: English policeman Nicholas Stone cleared of rape, facing jail for misconduct 7 May 2010: 2010 UK general election results 24 December 2009: Two killed, 47 injured in coach crash in Cornwall, England 21 December 2009: Man killed in harbour car crash in Cornwall, England 16 November 2009: Edward Woodward, English actor, dies aged 79 7 June 2008: Wikinews interviews manager of site ‘Lose The Game’ 10 March 2008: Strong winds and heavy rain across southern UK see older articles?Category:Cornwall From Wikinews, the free news source…
Political fallout from the sacking of Professor David Nutt gathers momentum
Thursday, November 5, 2009 The political fallout from the sacking of Professor David Nutt as chairman of the United Kingdom’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) by Home Secretary Alan Johnson on Friday is gathering momentum. Alan Johnson in 2007 Image: catch21productions. He was asked to go because he cannot be both a government adviser and a campaigner against government policy. Professor Nutt recently pointed out during the course of a lecture that a number of socially and legally proscribed drugs, amongst them cannabis, on most objective criteria of risk assessment are less dangerous than a number of other drugs, notably tobacco and alcohol. Alan Johnson took exception to this. In his letter dismissing Professor Nutt, Johnson asserted “He was asked to go because he cannot be both a government adviser and a campaigner against government policy.” An article was subsequently published in the online edition of The…
Wikinews investigates the reconstruction of Pichilemu, Chile after February earthquake
Sunday, October 24, 2010 Left: A recently constructed kiosk with the new design. Image: Diego Grez.Right: The original design of the kiosk, as shown in the plans by the Municipality. Image: Ilustre Municipalidad de Pichilemu. Eight months after a catastrophic earthquake, Wikinews has investigated the devastation caused in February and the reconstruction of Pichilemu, Chile. The February 27 earthquake and a subsequent tsunami completely destroyed Pichilemu’s most coastal street and its oldest villages. Wikinews has also had access to the original design plans of the new kiosks in Pichilemu, and conducted an interview with merchant Alejandro Mella, known locally as the King of the Cochayuyo (“El Rey del Cochayuyo”), who lost his kiosk after the earthquake. Pichilemu is a coastal city in the O’Higgins Region of Chile, known as one of the “best surfing spots” in South America. Its current Mayor is Roberto Córdova Carreño, who was elected internally by…
Interview with BBC Creative Archive project leader
Thursday, June 22, 2006 Paul Gerhardt, Creative Archive project leader The Creative Archive project is a BBC led initiative which aims to make archive audio and video footage available to be freely downloaded, distributed, and ‘remixed’. The project is still in a pilot stage, and is only available to UK residents, but the long-term future of the project could have a major impact on the way audiences interact with BBC content. The project is partly inspired by the Creative Commons movements, and also by a general move within the BBC to be more open with its assets. Additionally, educational audiences such as schools have expressed an interest in using BBC content within the classroom, both to watch and to create multimedia content from. So far, clips made available under the licence have included archive news footage, nature documentary footage, and video clips content designed for educational uses. “It’s done very…