01 November 2012

Random Recent Dutch News

Dutch invention
Dutch doctors have successfully tested a pill that can be
controlled electronically to deliver medicine directly to the
stomach and intestines. The pill is 2.5 cm by 1 cm and
is one-third filled with medicine. The rest of the capsule
houses a transmitter that communicates with the outside
world and a tiny motor. The capsule uses a pH sensor to
determine where it is located. Once it is thought to be in
position, the motor sprays out the medicine. The technology
has been tested on ten healthy volunteers who took the
capsule filled with radio isotopes which could be followed
on a scan. In nine out of ten cases, there was successful
communication between the capsule and doctors.


Heated cycle lanes to be tested
Tests are about to start with heated cycle lanes in two parts
of the Netherlands in an effort to reduce winter accidents.
By stopping snow settling and ice forming, cycle lanes will
become safer and there will be thousands fewer accidents.
The tests, an initiative led by civil engineering group Tauw,
will start in the town of Zutphen and in parts of Utrecht.
The system will work by using 'asphalt collectors' to collect
the summer heat which will then be stored underground
and used to warm cycle lanes in winter.


Oldest Dutch person
The Netherlands' oldest resident, Egbertje Leutscher-De
Vries, celebrated her 110th birthday October 22, with a
day of events at the nursing home where she lives in the
Drenthe village of Havelte. Her daughter, Mina Smit, told
news agency ANP her mother is delighted with all the attention
and thinks it is great she is the oldest person in
the country.

4 comments:

  1. The heated cycle lanes sound super cool...uh, I mean warm ;)

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    1. Hoping the lanes will stay clear on their own this year! I'm not looking forward to frozen/snowy commutes this year!!

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  2. Heated cycle lanes? That is so crazy. In Melbourne the state government recently took away all funding for cycling infrastructure!

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    Replies
    1. Oh NO! I love my cycle lanes!! Have you seen this video about how we got our cycle lanes here? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuBdf9jYj7o

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