March 2009
(31st March 2009)
I have been travelling, moving house and internet-less; apologies for the silence. Back now with this lovely story - not so lovely for Russian cosmonauts - about a lack of international love and generosity aboard the International Space Station. I thought that Russians couldn't use American toilets in space and vice versa because the toilets were different, and so was the toilet training. But ...
→ Space
(16th March 2009)
More on space toilets from Colonel Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency. I understand how space toilets work; but will someone explain the love of moustaches in the military?
→ Turkey
(16th March 2009)
Merhaba from Istanbul, where I am attending the World Water Forum. I say "am attending," but actually I haven't got there yet. The closest I've come is the masses of police lining the road from the airport protecting some head of state or other, and some more police in the hotel lift who were apparently in my hotel to protect the Iraqi prime minister, ...
→ TOTO
(10th March 2009)
So the Daily Mail has discovered TOTO toilets. In a surprisingly restrained article - only one "bizarre" - Middle England's paper of record reveals that the robo-toilet will be on sale in the UK from June. £2000, though? That's the easy answer as to why TOTO's products are failing to have great success overseas. In Japan you can buy a real Washlet for a ...
(9th March 2009)
Farmers like free fertilizer. But people who are suspicious of the benefits of sewage sludge think it's not only too variable and unknowable to be risk-free; it's also not a very good fertilizer. Via sludgewatch, a former federal microbiologist in Canada calmly outlines his objections to sludge-spreading in his neighbourhood. Another concerned citizen makes the case that sludge may be fertilizer, but it's ...
→ Bill
(9th March 2009)
Dating to January, a US bill proposed by Rep. Serrano that would like to see all foods grown on sewage-sludge fertilized land labelled. Whether the labels would specify what kind of sludge - Class A or B - is unclear. The aim of the act is "to amend the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the egg, meat, and poultry inspection laws to ensure ...
(9th March 2009)
Here I am on the Bob Edwards show on Sirius Satellite Radio (follow the links to the podcast page). Apparently though, according to a listener email, I said that Paris had 6000 miles of sewers. Oops. It doesn't. 1500 miles for Paris, 6000 for New York, 37,000 for London. Though as my thorough listener pointed out, these aren't definitive.