GPS Device Strands Couple in Desolate Desert
Failing to Raise Fares, American Hikes Fuel Surcharges
Goodbye Global Food Shortage? Britain Unveils Massive Greenhouse
TSA Bans ID-Less Flights for Constitution-Quoting Passengers
Some European Towns Abolish Traffic Lights — To Make Driving Safer
GPS DEVICE STRANDS COUPLE IN DESOLATE DESERT - Philadelphia Inquirer
Although GPS devices can be handy, you might want to carry a backup map because they may get you stranded in a desert—literally. A retired couple was forced to survive only on crackers and soda for four days when they became stranded in their small car in the Utah desert. “We each had three crackers every morning and we savored them like juicy steaks,” Sue Beard said. Their portable navigation device pointed them to a desolate, way-off-the-radar destination in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, 1.9-million acres of rugged terrain. Realizing they weren’t going to live much longer, they set out on foot to search for help, in hopes of finding a main road.
Link: Philadelphia Inquirer
FAILING TO RAISE FARES, AMERICAN AIRLINES HIKES FUEL CHARGE - MSNBC
Another airline is nickel-and-diming its passengers—what’s new? American Airlines hiked up its fuel surcharge by $20 on myriad routes yesterday, just days after it failed to raise fares. The surcharge affects domestic flights, save those that compete with low-fare airlines. Airlines nationwide have increased fares 19 times this year, but American Airlines failed in its latest attempt to raise fares because no other carrier jumped on the bandwagon. Beyond fuel surcharges, the carrier will be charging passengers $15 for them to check a single bag; many airlines already charge $25 for passengers checking a second piece of luggage.
Link: MSNBC
GOODBYE GLOBAL FOOD SHORTAGE: BRITAIN UNVEILS ITS LARGEST GREENHOUSE – Daily Mail (UK)
Equaling roughly 10 football fields, Britain unveils its largest hydroponic greenhouse—dubbed Thanet Earth, which grows vegetables in nutrient-enriched water, heat and artificial light. Located in Kent, the greenhouse will cover 91 hectares. By 2010 this site will consist of seven gigantic greenhouses and will grow more than 1.3 million tomato, pepper and cucumber plants—all without soil. Controversy surrounds this method of growing food because critics argue that nothing can replace the way vegetables and fruit tastes when it properly is grown in soil. Each greenhouse will be 1,240 feet long and fed by its own reservoir.
Link: Daily Mail (UK)
TSA BANS ID-LESS FLIGHTS FOR CONSTITUTION-QUOTING PASSENGERS - CNET News
As long as the TSA has been in existence, any passenger unwilling or unable to show an ID were subjected to a secondary search of baggage and personage to prove that they presented no danger to other travelers, but those days are over. As of June 21, passengers who refuse to show valid identification—while claiming a constitutional right not to do so—will not be allowed to fly. Passengers claiming to have lost or forgotten their IDs, and who are cooperative with officers and airport personnel, however, will still be permitted to fly. The TSA claims that this is a measure to increase security; critics of the new policy, however, say that those who “forget” or “lose” their IDs could be terrorists who, after a second search, would board the plane.
Link: CNET News
SOME EUROPEAN TOWNS ABOLISH TRAFFIC SIGNALS TO MAKE DRIVERS SAFER - The Atlantic
In the late 1940s R.J. Smeed found out that safe driving is directly related to the amount of time a driver is watching the road. That means the more traffic signs, speed limit signs, traffic lights and stop signs, the more accidents that will occur. As a result, a few European towns are abolishing many things that distract drivers—including traffic signals and sidewalks. Drachten in Holland, Kensington High Street in London, Prince Charles’s village of Poundbury, and a few others have removed traffic control in pedestrian areas, which seems drastic, but has resulted in more careful, courteous and attentive drivers. Accidents involving pedestrians have been reduced by 40 percent in some of these places, and traffic flow has not been affected.
Link: The Atlantic
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