Talk about recycling!; and a missing, floating priest
ASIA - What will they think of next? This is recycling at its finest. Pee-powered batteries are currently on sale in Japan.
The battery was in the testing phase in February, and, reportedly, the NoPoPo (Non-Pollution Power) Aqua Batteries are available in stores in both AA and AAA, although the company page states they are producing the technology for all sizes.
The batteries can be recharged with various fluids using the new development which forms electric power using liquid as a catalyst. The basic principle is a mixture of magnesium and carbon reacts when mixed with a liquid to produce – in the case of the AA battery – up to 500 milliamp-hours (mAh) of life.
Each time the battery is recharged it has a lower power level than the time before, and the life cycle allows for about three to five recharges before disposing of the battery. Each battery can potentially keep its charge for up to 10 years .
Since the battery does not contain mercury and other harmful materials, disposal is easy and without negative environmental effects.
BRAZIL – Up, up and away. Far away in this case and never found.
Reports state a Brazilian priest was carried away by hundreds of helium balloons in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on April 20. Rescuers in helicopters and fishing boats searched off the coast of Santa Catarina state after discovering pieces of balloons.
The Roman Catholic priest was trying to break a 19-hour record for the most hours flying with balloons. At take-off, he was wearing a helmet, a thermal suit and a parachute.
Rev. Adelir Antonio de Carli, 41, performed the stunt to raise money for a spiritual rest-stop for truckers in Paranagua, Brazil's second-largest port for agricultural products.
A video posted on the G1 Web site of Globo TV shows the priest slipping into a flight suit and being strapped to a seat attached to a huge column of green, red, white and yellow balloons. He then soared into the air as the crowd cheered.
About eight hours later he was reported missing after losing contact with port authority officials.
Denise Gallas, the treasurer of Carli's Sao Cristovao parish, told reporters that the priest soared to an altitude of 6,000 metres then descended to about 2,500 metres for his planned flight to the city of Dourados, 750-kilometres northwest of his parish. But, Gallas added, winds pushed him in another direction, and Carli was about 50-kilometres off the coast when he last contacted port authority. She said Carli had a GPS device, a satellite phone, a buoyant chair and is an experienced skydiver.
After a few days, Brazil's Air Force suspended its search, but the cleric's family chartered a private plane to continue the hunt.
Column completed through Internet research
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