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Designing a Cleaner Future: Bicyclean Helps Recycle E-Waste in Developing Nations

 

July 1, 2013 — A slum on the outskirts of Accra, Ghana, received major media attention in 2010 and 2011 when the outside world realized where computers go to die. In an area called Agbogbloshie, impoverished residents were burning broken electronic parts, discarded and dumped by wealthier nations, to extract the metal components. Crouched around bonfires, they inhaled toxic smoke and unwittingly leached heavy metals into a nearby river, just to eke out a living.

Harvard undergraduate Rachel Field '12, an engineering sciences concentrator, read the news reports and devoted her senior thesis project to addressing the problem.

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From theory to modelling : urban systems as complex systems

 

 

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Amazing world of Indian shoestring creativity

CNN - By Arion McNicoll - 07/25/13


(CNN) -- In 2001 a huge earthquake shook the state of Gujarat in India.
2,000 people were killed, 400,000 lost their homes, and countless more lost their businesses in the

devastation.

One young entrepreneur, Mansukhbhai Prajapati, lost everything, but found an innovative way to get back on his feet. Prajapati designed a low-cost clay fridge which required no electricity and continued to function in the event of major catastrophes or blackouts such as the one that devastated his village.

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Exclusive: Egypt has less than two months imported wheat left

A worker is seen at a wheat store after the harvest at Damanhour city in Al Beheira, governorate, about 135 km (84 miles) north of Cairo May 4, 2013. Picture taken May 4, 2013. REUTERS/StringerImage: A worker is seen at a wheat store after the harvest at Damanhour city in Al Beheira, governorate, about 135 km (84 miles) north of Cairo May 4, 2013. Picture taken May 4, 2013. REUTERS/Stringer

preview.reuters.com - July 11th, 2013 - Sarah McFarlane

Egypt has less than two months' supply of imported wheat left in its stocks, ousted President Mohamed Mursi's minister of supplies said, revealing a shortage more acute than previously disclosed.

Speaking to Reuters near midnight in a tent at a vigil where thousands of Mursi supporters are protesting against the Islamist president's removal, former Minister of Supplies Bassem Ouda said the state had just 500,000 tonnes of imported wheat left. Egypt usually imports about 10 million tonnes a year.

(VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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Shelter in a Day - Disaster Relief Housing

submitted by Stan Pleskunas

      

http://www.shelterinaday.com/

Shelter In A Day provides not only safe, secure and sturdy emergency and disaster relief housing, but Shelters are also termite, rust and rot resistant and come equipped with lockable doors and windows.  Shelter In A Day’s homes are eco-friendly as they are crafted from waterproof, recycled wood fiber material.

But perhaps the most valuable quality of Shelter In A Day is that homes can be erected in one day, without tools or electricity, using a new patented “Tool Free Joint.”  Shelter's Tool Free Joint reinvents a simple, yet solidly constructed, carpenter style joint with a secure locking peg that is very easy to assemble. 

Shelter In A Day's homes are earthquake and windstorm resistant, built to last and provide those in need a very appealing alternative to traditional "box car" type shelters. Roof overhangs keep the noonday sun off the walls, keeping Shelter's cool inside.  A sturdy and lockable door and windows allow light and ventilation. 

http://www.shelterinaday.com/about.html

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If You Thought What ALEC and the Koch Brothers Are Doing Was Bad ...

By Mitch Jones, Food and Water Watch

16 July 13, RSN 

e've all seen the results in states across the country of the influence that ALEC and the Koch Brothers have amassed. And if you think the results of their agenda to hand more and more power to corporations at your expense are bad, you should really hate the new "trade" deals being negotiated to hand even more power to corporations at our expense.

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Wind at parity with new coal in India, solar to join by 2018: HSBC

By on 11 July 2013

Wind energy is now cost competitive with new-build coal capacity in India, and solar is likely to follow suit sometime between 2016-18, according to a report by HSBC.

The report on India Renewables, Good bye winter, hello spring, published on April 30, says the growing cost-competitiveness of renewable energy with new-build coal – and the arrival of wind parity, despite the upper wind FiT range being around 15 per cent lower than the upper tariff range for new coal capacity (see chart 3 below) – is helping to drive strong renewables growth on the sub-continent.

India’s share of renewable generation in the total electricity mix increased to around 6 per cent in the 2012/13 financial year – an amount the government is hoping to grow to 20 per cent by the end of 2020, to help meet the nation’s a peak power deficit of 12GW, or around 9 per cent of its demand....

 

FULL ARTICLE HERE

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India Floods In June Leave Over 5,700 Missing And Presumed Dead

      

A rescue boat sailing through the water logged lanes during flood in river Yamuna on June 20, 2013 in New Delhi, India. Low-lying areas along the Yamuna remained submerged for the second consecutive day though the water level in the river started receding today. (Photo by Arijit Sen/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

CLICK HERE - Red Flood alert in India from 23/06/2013 00:00 UTC to 15/07/2013 23:59 UTC -
Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS)

huffingtonpost.com - by BISWAJEET BANERJEE - July 16, 2013

LUCKNOW, India -- More than 5,700 people missing since floods devastated northern India last month are being presumed dead, even as rescue officials struggle to bring aid to affected villages, top officials said Tuesday.

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Air Pollution Killing Over Two Million Annually, Study Says

      

New Delhi: Air pollution accounts for over 500,000 deaths in India annually, a new study says.

CLICK HERE FOR STUDY - Environmentsl Research Letters - Global premature mortality due to anthropogenic outdoor air pollution and the contribution of past climate change

cnn.com - by Matthew Knight - July 16, 2013

Article Highlights:

  • Air pollution responsible for more than two million premature deaths worldwide annually
  • Study assesses impact of fine particulates and ozone using atmospheric climate models
  • East Asia worst affected region with over a million deaths per year
  • Study also found that climate change hasn't had huge impact on effects of air pollution

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE HERE)

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The Effect of Exclusive Breastfeeding on Infant Morbidity in Guinea Conakry

Infant morbidity caused by infectious diseases is prevalent in Guinea. However, a study shows that exclusive breastfeeding significantly protected the infants against many of the studied morbidities (OR: 0.28, CI: 0.15-0.51) and specifically against diarrhea (OR: 0.38; 95% CI: 0.17 – 0.86), respiratory infections (OR: 0.27; 95% CI: 0.14 – 0.50), and low growth rate (OR: 0.11; 95% CI: 0.02 – 0.46), but not for otitis, urinary infection, or meningitis. This is to suggest that public health officials should encourage breastfeeding in order to reduce incidence of those diseases.

For more information please read here

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