To heaven or hell?
The Wikipedia has further details about the World's tallest structures and the Kola Superdeep Borehole.
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November 27, 2006
November 18, 2006
Water usage in Australia
Urban consumers in Australia are well aware of their water usage, because of the water restrictions currently in force in most cities. However, their water consumption is minor compared to agriculture: (from an Australian Bureau of Statistics report "Australia's Environment: Issues and Trends 2006")
Most of the water used for agricultural production was for irrigation of crops and pastures, with the rest used for other agricultural purposes such as stock drinking water and piggery cleaning.Household water use includes water for drinking, cooking, cleaning and outdoors (in gardens and swimming pools).
Recycling in Europe
From an Australian Bureau of Statistics report on Australia's Environment: Issues and Trends 2006 is this statistic on European municipal waste management in 2003:
November 12, 2006
Consuming Sony
In these days of environmental concern about energy consumption you might think that games consoles would be becoming more efficient. In fact, the increasing efficiency is completely overshadowed by the increasing demands placed on the console. This example, of the first and third generation Sony Playstations, shows the result of over 10 years technological advancement.
November 11, 2006
Cluster bombs civilians
A new report from Handicap Interational shows that cluster bombs are incredibly accurate — at targeting civilians:
Countries such as Britain, the US, China and Russia oppose the banning of cluster bombs.
November 8, 2006
Obesity in children
The West Australian notes that forcing children to walk to school each day would contribute to their fitness.
Apparently, Western Australia has a lot of fat kids:
Nutritional toxicologist Peter Dingle said some data showed as high as 25-30 per cent of WA children aged five to 12 were obese, compared with 20-28 per cent nationally and 30-35 per cent in the US.
November 4, 2006
Halal by default
Recently in Australia several major brands of yoghurt have started to use halal gelatine. This is stated explicitly in the ingredients, as shown for Yoplait Lite strawberry (pdf).
Gelatine is created by prolonged boiling of animal skin, connective tissue or bones
. For gelatine to be denoted halal the animal must be killed in a way permitted by Islam. In practice, this means that the animal is not stunned prior to being killed, unlike the typical modern manner of slaughter. This is somewhat controversial.
Although defenders of halal slaughter claim that it is humane, I find it impossible to believe that a method that puts religion before the welfare of animals can be more humane than a method that puts the animal first.
The big question is, why is halal gelatine used for products where only a tiny minority desire it? Could they not instead substitute a vegetarian alternative, which would make everyone happy?
Optimism, or delusion?
From The Guardian's review of Daniel Gilbert's book Stumbling on Happiness: Why the Future Won't Feel the Way You Think It Will comes this interesting statistic about how cancer patients view themselves.