Green Options » swedish

European Birds Dying From Lack of Vitamins

Andrew Williams — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 10:30:07 +0000

Swedish scientists have discovered that vast numbers of wild birds in the Baltic Sea area are dying of a strange paralytic disease caused by advanced thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency in eggs, young, and adults.

In a new research paper the team, from Stockholm University, Sweden, report that levels of Thiamine, vital for the proper functioning of the nerves, were found to be deficient in the eggs, livers and brains of several local bird species, contributing to significant declines in many bird populations over the last few decades.

Hearteningly, it seems that paralysed individuals can be successfully remedied by thiamine treatment

Swedish Inventor Demonstrates Solar-Powered Water Purifier

Andrew Williams — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 15:04:08 +0000

A Swedish inventor has unveiled a solar-powered water purifier that could provide billions of the world’s poorest people with access to clean and disease-free drinking water [video].

The device, called the Solvatten, (Swedish for ’sun water’), looks much the same as a standard jerrycan and can be filled with up to ten liters of water, opened out, and left in the sun. A simple indicator shows either a red or green face to let users know when the water is safe to drink (typically after 3-4 hours), thus avoiding the risk of contracting water-borne diseases.

Dead People Will Provide Heat to Crematorium Facilities

Ariel Schwartz — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:26:20 +0000

If you’re dead and worried about the carbon emissions created from your cremation, relax. The Swedish town of Halmstad has a solution. After an environmental review showed that Halmstad’s crematorium was pumping too much smoke into the air, the facility’s director decided to re-use heat from the cremations to warm up the crematorium’s buildings.

Milk Used to Heat Swedish Castle

Max Lindberg — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 10:17:54 +0000

The Swedes are an inventive lot, but this article in The Local really takes the cake, or milk, if you will.

They milk 1000 cows at Wapnö castle outside Halmstad, Sweden, and during the process of cooling the milk from 37 to 3 degrees C, they have devised a way to capture that heat and use it to warm up the castle and workshop buildings.

Jumbo 747 Hostel

Max Lindberg — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 14:06:15 +0000

Visitors to Stockholm could soon have a new option for cheap airport accommodation – a Boeing 747 at Arlanda airport.
Uppsala businessman Oscar Diös has been given permission by airport owner LFV and the Swedish National Roads Administration to open a youth hostel in a Jumbo Jet parked by the airport entrance.

Read all about it at The Local