Smart hand pumps promise cleaner water in Africa

It is estimated that at any one time a third of
hand pumps are broken

Rural communities across Africa may soon benefit from improved water supplies thanks to mobile phone technology.

UK researchers have developed data transmitters that fit inside hand pumps and send text messages if the devices break down.

The "smart" hand pumps will be trialled shortly in 70 villages in Kenya.

Details of the new approach have been published in the Journal of Hydroinformatics.

Hundreds of millions of people across rural Africa depend on hand pumps for their water supplies. But it is estimated that around one third are broken at any given moment. Often located in remote areas, repairs can sometimes take up to a month.

　

But one of the big changes in Africa in recent years has been the expansion of mobile phone networks. It is now estimated that more people in Sub-Saharan Africa have access to these networks than have access to improved water supplies.

Speed is the key

So researchers at Oxford University have developed the idea of using the availability of mobile networks to signal when hand pumps are no longer working. They have built and tested the idea of implanting a mobile data transmitter into the handle of the pump. Patrick Thomson is a member of the research team and explained how it works.

"It measures the movement of the handle and that is used to estimate the water flow of that hand-pump," he told the BBC.

"It can periodically send information by text message back to a central office which can look at that data and when a pump breaks, very quickly a mechanic can be despatched to go and fix it."   (BBC.co.uk)

Fish egg 'miracle' needs cracking

The academics say that there were no
 breaks in the egg

Biologists at the University of Manchester want help in cracking their "miracle" discovery of three fish inside a sealed egg.
The group found the duck egg in a small pond on a field trip to the French Alps and noticed something moving inside it.
When they cracked open the shell, three live minnows were inside.
They have enlisted the help of other experts, but despite their extensive combined knowledge, the biologists admit they are "baffled".
Dr Matthew Cobb, a lecturer in animal behaviour at the university, said: "As 21st century scientists rather than 17th century antiquarians we think it's unlikely this represents a hitherto unknown mode of fish reproduction.
Predatory attack
"Perhaps the egg fell into the pond following some kind of predatory attack but we're baffled as to how the minnows got to be inside.
"Certainly, we didn't see any crack in the egg."
Dr Cobb and his colleague, Henry McGhie, head of natural sciences at the Manchester Museum, have written to the New Scientist magazine in the hope readers will help solve the mystery.
Minnows are small freshwater fish, often used as bait by anglers.

Stone Age animation: Scientists find cartoon techniques in cave drawings

Beware of the running beast! French scientists have found that Stone Age people around 30,000 years ago were using animation techniques in their cave drawings, to give the viewer an impression that the creatures in their pictures are moving.

Two French researchers – archaeologist Marc Azema of the University of Toulouse – Le Mirail in France and artist Florent Rivere, have spent 20 years looking into stone age animation techniques and came to a conclusion that stone age artists intended to give movement to their images, Science News reports.

Stone Age artists used many different techniques to represent movement. The large-scale drawing in the Chauvet cave unveils a hunting story, Azema says. Animal figures in one picture turn into to smaller ones in another to show the depicted animals have moved away from the scene.

In some drawings ancient artists merged several poses of an animal to show the movement of legs, tail and head while running. The researchers found that 53 figures in 12 caves in France superimpose two or more images to show movement.

The most exciting findings are the disk-shaped bones and stones typically with a hole in the middle covered with drawings. These were in fact the first animation toys of the ancient European people. These disks discovered in France and Spain show opposing images of sitting and standing animals. If you rotate them quickly enough you’ll see the animal actually sitting and then standing up.

These rotating objects can be called the ancestors of a movie camera.

Students Lead Global Movement for Education in 130 cities.

Chicago

Last night saw protests erupt around 130 cities across the world in during the second Casseroles Night in Canada. Protesters banged pots and pans in solidarity with the Quebec student movement and their on-going student strike, the longest in Canadian history, that is redefining what is possible for social movements in an age of austerity. The unlimited general strike (grève générale illimitée in French) continues to astound politicians and the media; the State's attempt to destroy the movement by declaring it illegal merely produced the largest act of civil disobedience ever in Canada and helped carry the spark of revolt across the globe.

Students, Occupiers, indignad@s, and social movements across the world have taken to the streets to show our support not only for our comrades in Quebec, but for a free, libertatory education system for all. We are rising up to resist a debt-based society and an economy built on exploitation. More than ever, our diverse and local movements are connecting in a massive network of global solidarity. And we are just getting started.

Oregon Students Hold Sit-In Against Tuition Increase:
In response to the recent approval of a of 6.1% tuition increase at the University of Oregon, the Tuition is Too Damn High Coalition marched on Johnson Hall, chanting “no cuts, no fees, education must be free!” and demanding a meeting with school president, Robert Berdahl. Berdahl agreed to meet today (June 7) with a closed group of around a dozen students.

Occupiers in Chicago, New York, and More March Against Debt In Solidarité with Quebec:
As Occupy Chicago led a noisy, but completely nonviolent, march in support of the infinite general strike in Quebec, Chicago Police turned out in huge numbers and pursued to march in a cat-and-mouse game through the city. Police tried to force students onto sidewalks before brutally attacking protesters around Michigan and Ohio streets. According to Occupy Chicago activists, women were dragged across the pavement and many others were struck with metal batons. 12 people, mostly core organizers who appear to have been targeted, were arrested.

OAKLAND

One of the largest demos outside Quebec took place in Toronto, where around 2000 marched. Other demos were also held last night in Berlin, Frankfurt, San Francisco, Phoenix, Vancouver, Zagreb, and Seattle. Around 10 people were arrested at the march in New York.
Last Wednesday, May 30th, solidarity demos erupted during the first Casseroles Night in Canada in New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Brussels, Buenos Aires, Berlin, London and many other cities. Other cities in the U.S., including Washington, DC, Atlanta, Oakland, Denver, and Little Rock have also marched in solidarity.

PARIS

(http://occupywallst.org)

High winds shake planes landing in Bilbao Spain

Extremely strong winds caused planes to sway as they attempted to land in Spain.

High winds tested the skills of pilots trying to land at Bilbao's Loiu airport.

The wind was so severe some planes were unable to land.