The cleaning product made in Portugal that does not use water (with video)

In the Isodet, a family-owned company founded 14 years ago, all are trained in chemistry. Started by professionals with a wide experience of multinational companies linked to the sector of industrial maintenance and hygiene products, the company has always sought to bring environmental concerns for their products.

The result of these concerns, the company has developed seven years ago, a product washing cars, boats and motorcycles without water, Waterless V8. To use it, simply a packaging and two Microfiber cloths.

"With the spraying, the product does flow dirt to the surface of the plate. That's the secret of the product. He can take the dirt that is in the micropores of the plate, and, to do this, simply pass the cloth under the surface ", explained to the green economy Jorge Antunes, one of the Government leaders of the Isodet, which in 2013 invoiced € 250 000.

"Then, with the first cloth, collect the dirt that was removed from the plate. The second makes polishing cloth and activates a wax product itself, which gives it that glow. And seals the plate ", he continued.

The charge claims that a car needs 165 litres of water to be washed. With this process, the vehicle can be cleaned in its entirety â€" yet, the process becomes more efficient with regular maintenance. "There is no need to be cleaning the bottom many times", Jorge Antunes Government advances.

According to Isodet, if all cars were washed Portuguese, twice a month, by this process, would it be possible to save 6,400 Olympic pools of water per year.

The product is already used in the Portuguese Navy and has been exported to France and North Africa. In the near future, the Isodet aims to create a washing machine that does not use water. It would be an innovation certainly very well-received in Portuguese homes.

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Giant isopod died after five of hunger strike

A giant isopod, a crustacean resembling a bug but much larger account, was found dead in his tank by attendants. The event would not have anything out of the ordinary, hadn't the animal refused to eat for five years.

This giant isopod, called paragraph 1 to be distinguished from nine other isopods that inhabited the same tank in Japan, didn't eat since January 2009, when you ate a whole mackerel.

However, in addition to having made a hunger strike for five years, the animal has another unusual behaviour: fooled the keeper. According to the handler, Takeya Moritaki, the animal tricked him, since sometimes the animal was eating when moving the mouth and front legs around the food, to please the Aquarium team. However, the animal never swallow the food.

Moritaki was preparing a mackerel to the biannual ration of paragraph 1 and after entering the food in the tank noticed the isopod froze when food entered the Aquarium. Realizing that something was wrong, the attendant removed the paragraph 1 of the tank and found he was dead. The animal made a hunger strike for five years and 43 days.

According to the available data, this crustacean was the animal that was on hunger strike during the greatest period of time. Paragraph 1 has been autopsied but not found the cause of death, but everything indicates that may have been due to the hunger strike. The animal will be now frozen for preservation. However, researchers continue to study the No. 1 to understand why refused to eat.

The giant isopod paragraph 1 was taken from the Gulf of Mexico to the Toba Aquarium in September 2007, measuring 29 inches and weighing a pound. The giant isopods are crustaceans related to shrimps and crabs and isopods earthlings (animals of account). It is thought that these animals are abundant in the cold waters and deep Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Ocean.

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German couple wants to buy electrical network of Berlin

"If we are going to make a difference, so our only option is to buy the entire electricity grid of Berlin". It was this conclusion reached a young couple of Germans â€" Arwen Colell and Luise Neumann-Cosel-with a passion for adoption of sustainable energy sources.

All this couple needs are €400 million â€" corresponding to 40% of the capital requirement the estimated value of the network, about $ 1000 million. To this end, the couple created a cooperative â€" Bürger Energie Berlin-, open to all who wish to participate in the project. Every investor has the right to one vote, regardless of the value that invista. Profits are then distributed according to the amount invested in the project. "The aim is to attract as many people as possible who wish to have a say in the way that the power supply is managed," says Colell in the Guardian.

The energy network of Berlin is sold through tender every 15, 20 years and anyone can buy the network and manage it. The Government of Angela Merkel has already spent millions on "Energiewende" (energy transition) and the program is being implemented very slowly. Many argue that the program has been a disaster: energy prices have increased dramatically, energy poverty has increased and subsidies have resulted in one of the biggest transfers of wealth from the poor to the rich-taxpayers with fewer resources financed subsidies for the program after transiting to the shareholders of the power companies and the owners of the land where are installed the solar panels and wind farms. Faced with these management problems, this couple wants to improve the efficiency of the electricity grid of the German capital and implement alternate forms of energy.

The first challenge of the cooperative was being taken seriously. The first year of the project was passed to manage local policies and establish partnerships. "This is putting the knowledge and financial power of many. We need partnerships with energy management firms, a strong network of financial partners and community involvement, "explains Colell.

This first hurdle was crossed successfully. Efficient communication campaigns and simple and the presence established in the debate of energy management makes it difficult for politicians and sector operators ignore them.  Currently, it is possible to see, through their website, the amount of partnerships established by the cooperative. The next step is to present the technical and financial details for the management of the network and be able to find entities that finance the project.

Foto: tsaarni/Creative Commons

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Sochi 2014: British training centre abandoned and covered in trash

In recent years, the British team that participates in the Winter Olympics in Sochi, in Russia, trained at Sheffield Ski Village, a purpose built centre to host Olympic athletes on the outskirts of the former British industrial town.

Now, the Center is abandoned and, curiously, covered in trash-proof that it's not just in Portugal that the sports equipment, designed specifically for an event, have difficulty in being used.

The decline began in April 2012, when a fire destroyed part of the property. Later, the vandalism has transformed the once high-performance Center in an abandoned property.

The Sheffield Ski Village was the largest artificial ski resort in Europe but, according to British media, the owner of the land has started a process to build 70 homes on the site, which has 6.6 hectares.

See some of the pictures from the Center.

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Friendship between Japanese and stray cat octogenarian gives rise to bestseller

In 2003, a hot bitch gave birth to a little white kitten in the barn of Misao Ihara, an elderly woman in Japan. Quickly, the small animal was adopted by Misao and became inseparable friends.

The small animal was called "Fukumaru" in hopes that the god of the lucky (fuku in Japanese) came and everything becomes better (maru). Since the little cat was adopted in 2003, the granddaughter of Misao, the photographer Miyoko Ihara, who lives with her grandmother, began documenting the relationship between the elderly and Fukumaru. The pictures gave rise to a book, which is a bestseller in Japan and was well-received in the United States.

Despite his 88 years, Misao is still quite active and will every day to his small farm in Chiba. Fukumaru is a constant presence, helping with the chores.

"In part, because they are a little deaf, my grandmother and the Fukumaru are always take care of each other. Are very close, "said Miyoko, quoted by the Huffington Post. "The Fukumaru's so happy beside my grandmother. When I take a picture of the two is like you're shooting in small ".

The photographic project entitled "Misao, the great mother and Fukumaro, the cat". Misao believes that the success of the book the granddaughter is due to the tranquility that is retractada in the photographs. "When I see the way my grandma lives life really feel she has a kind of strength that my generation can't match. She rises with the Sun and go to bed when he goes down. Loves the cat and the vegetables that grow on Thursday as if they were children, "says Miyoko.

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Facebook creates application that unites flood victims with local volunteers

Facebook is uniting, automatically, users who live in the areas affected by floods in the United Kingdom with local volunteers who would help. The social network has developed the application during one day and already put into practice, says The Guardian.

The functionality arose from an event organized recently at Google's Office in the United Kingdom, in which joined programmers of Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft, as well as Google's own, with the aim of developing computer applications that could help the public affected by the floods.

The British environmental agency granted their information to programmers and Facebook made use of these data to find out where your users reside. Then, the social network began sending links to the Flood site Volunteers to persons residing in the areas affected by floods.

The service will be implemented gradually over the next few days to ensure that volunteers can manage the increase in requests for help, said responsible of Facebook. The American company says it will not make this a permanent feature functionality on your site.

Access to data from the British environmental agency will be closed in may, Facebook can only run the application for a given time. Still, if these solutions get revenge in the near future, Facebook can lead voluntary processes related to technology all over the world â€" and that's no small feat, considering the challenging period in the history of the world in which we live.

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The world's largest vertical garden opens in 2015 in Sri Lanka

Bosco vertical and from Milan, is not yet fully built and the architecture firm Milroy Perera Associates (MPA) is already working on a project that will build the (new) vertical residential garden the world's tallest. The project will be built in Sri Lanka, referred to Inhabitat.

The architects of the MPA has aligned with Mäga Construction Engineering firm to conceive the Clearpoint Tower that will house 46 apartments 164 floors filled with vegetation.

The Tower will be located 10 kilometres from the Centre of Colombo, the largest city in Sri Lanka. In order to reduce the heat inside the Tower, the architects have designed the glass surfaces in the building in order to not be directly exposed to the Sun's rays.

Already the air conditioner will minimised thanks to a correct orientation of apartments that will allow natural ventilation. In addition, the plants will serve as sound damping and heat and will provide cleaner air.

The vertical garden will be watered by an automatic drip that saves water and works independently of the residents. Some of the building's energy requirements will be met through solar panels installed on the roof, which will be used for public lighting, elevators, recycling systems and other services.

These measures will be in place to reduce energy and water consumption in a building that is intended to be a pioneer in terms of sustainability. Torre wants to keep a balance with nature and the environment, and be completed by the end of 2015.

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