New Shiny Urine Recycling Center...Wanna Try?

So would you be the first person to try this out? Imaging your own sweat, bodily excrement, etc. being pumped through a machine so you could drink it again. Still thirsty?

After five days of ill-fated attempts, International Space Station astronauts today ran two successful tests of equipment on board designed to turn urine, sweat and moisture from the air into drinking water, NASA.gov reports. NASA now must decide whether the contraption, deemed essential for hydration of future astronauts traveling farther out into space, should return with the space shuttle Endeavour on Sunday or remain on the ISS for further testing.

After some tinkering by station commander Mike Fincke and shuttle mission specialist Don Pettit, the Urine Processor Assembly, successfully finished a full five-hour run. The astronauts successfully operated the system again three hours later after it cooled down. The $154 million water recycling system is part of a $250 million regenerative life support system designed to sustain larger space station crews with fewer supply drop-offs from visiting spacecraft; the first six-person crew is due to arrive at the orbiting lab next May.

The space agency even added a 16th day to the astronauts' mission in the hope they could get the urine processor flowing smoothly. Last week, the water-and-urine recycling system malfunctioned during four tests, including one in which the processor shut itself down after running for only two hours and another in which it triggered an alarm on the space station.

Crew members today are transferring materials set to return to Earth from the station to the Endeavour. If all goes well, water made from recycled urine will be added to the menu during extended space missions, alongside astronaut cuisine cooked up by food scientists in the Space Food Systems Laboratory at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, who have been trying to spice up space fare.

Can't Pay the Bills...Try Some Different Methods

If only this or similar ways worked:

Cell Phone Stops Bullet...but Fees Don't Stop

While riding on his John Deere, Richard suddenly felt a “hard punch” hit him in the chest just over his heart. The Tammany News reported that when he grabbed his sweater to find out what the heck slammed into him a .45-caliber slug fell on the ground. What was going through his mind?

The bullet struck the cell phone that was in his chest pocket, tore it in two, and slowed the bullet just enough to keep it from entering his chest and piercing his heart. It is unknown, as of the writing of the article review, where the bullet came from but officials believe that it came from nearby hunters.

Not only did this incident make Ronald appreciate his life more, I’m assuming, but it also motivates him to be more active for stricter restriction of firing guns in the area. The Richards already sent a letter to Chris Cooper, the St. Tammany Parish District 2 Councilman, in attempt to compel him to do what he can to pass more strict ordinances concerning firearms. Now that this story has worldwide attention, I assume changes will soon be made.

I wonder what he’s going to be doing with the bullet. Who needs a bullet proof vest when you’ve got a cell phone?

DPS Portrait Contest Over

Thanks to everyone who voted and gave support on the portrait contest I entered last month. There were almost 2000 photos entered in the contest and I ended in the top 25.

Would You Use This Toilet?

This toilet is located in an extremely busy intersection of some city. From the inside you can see everything that passes by. From the outside, no one can see you. So, would you still use this toilet?

note: I just realized that the last two posts have involved toilets. This possibly because of the political mess and slander that has been "dumped" on us without limitation in the past several months?

Man Gets Arm Stuck in Train Toilet

This is pure genius...who is really attached to their phone this bad? If you are, please let know so I can hang around just to knock your phone down something just as disgusting. It's all for a good laugh, you'll see. Enjoy the read...

Here's something you don't read about happening every day. The BBC has this story about a man traveling on the TGV in France Sunday who got his hand sucked down the train's toilet.

Apparently the man's cell phone had fallen in and he was trying to retrieve it.

The train had to stop for two hours while rescue crews responded, cutting through the train's plumbing to free...the toilet [and the retard that was attached to it].

That's right: The man was taken off the train with the toilet still attached to his hand (or, his hand still stuck in the toilet). A witness tells the BBC that emergency responders had to saw the toilet in half to free the man's hand.

Probably a good thing this happened on the TGV, whose toilets are typically in a little better shape than, say, the toilets on an overnight train in Ukraine.

Sunlight Melting Hotdogs & Steel?

Using just the power of the sun a fancy setup, you can cook whatever you want in about 3 seconds. Don't try this at home...

British Columbia Man Paralyzed after Flu Shot

A New Westminster man is raising a warning flag after he contracted a rare and debilitating condition linked to the flu shot that left him paralyzed for almost five months. Every fall, health care workers across Canada distribute 10 million influenza vaccinations, and for the vast majority of people, the flu shot causes no major problems.

Within two weeks of getting his annual flu shot in 2007, however, Richard Ryan, 44, went from being happy and healthy to being in excruciating pain. At first, Ryan thought he had injured his back, and he checked into the local hospital emergency room, he told CBC News on Wednesday.

But Ryan was also suffering some numbness, and when a neurologist tested his reflexes, he found Ryan had none, he said. "The doctor asked me what was going on in my life. And as soon as I said I was feeling ill after getting a flu shot, he said, 'Stop right there, I know what you have,'" Ryan said.

The neurologist diagnosed Ryan with Guillain-Barré syndrome, an autoimmune disease that attacks the nervous system. According to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, the chance of developing that particular disease from a flu shot is one in a million.

But as Ryan learned the consequences can be severe. By the time the emergency room exam was over, he was unable to get up. He spent the next 10 weeks recovering in hospital, including three weeks in intensive care, barely able to breathe or eat for himself. "My face was paralyzed. I had no feeling inside my mouth. I couldn't feel my tongue. My left eye wouldn't close so it had to be taped shut to sleep," he said.

The illness progressed into a lifelong condition known as chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), and a year later he remains heavily medicated, unable to work, and has memory problems. Although the disease is in remission, he is not expected to make a full recovery, and the chronic condition could return at any point in the future.
Worth the risk?

Now Ryan say he is concerned that public health officials are promoting the flu vaccine while most people are not fully aware of the risks. However, Dr. Danuta Skowronski, an epidemiologist at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, says the benefits of the flu vaccine still outweigh the risks for the vast majority of people.

"Nothing is completely risk-free," she told CBC News. "It is always a matter of weighing the benefits and the risks." Medical information provided with flu shots does mention the one-in-a-million chance of getting Guillain-Barré syndrome.

But it is especially important for people with heart and lung problems, the elderly and the chronically ill, to get the influenza vaccine because it could save their lives, Skowronski said. "Influenza itself can be life threatening, and it's those groups that we want to make sure are not put off from receiving influenza vaccine unnecessarily," said Skowronski.

There are more than 2000 flu-related deaths in Canada every year. Seniors, people with weak immune systems and some children are at highest risk. More common possible side-effects of vaccinations can include fever, muscle pain and weakness.

For his part, Ryan maintains that he's a good example of the fact that the benefits of the vaccination don't always outweigh the risks. "I think if people knew how serious the illness is, they would think twice about the flu shot," he said.

Oh by the way, I just got my shot this morning. Slight chance of risk...take the risk already!