Hengelo, Overijssel looks to be taking a rather unique approach to cleaning the air, with it now testing out a new type of “air-purifying concrete” developed by the University of Twente that promises to soak up the nitrogen oxide particles emitted by car exhausts. This is done with the aid of a titanium dioxide-based additive which, with the help of some sunlight, binds with the nitrogen oxide particles and turns them into harmless nitrates, which can apparently just wash away with the next rain shower. Hengelo is not fully sold on the idea just yet, with it only paving half of a road now under construction with these “green bricks”, while the other half is getting paved with plain old concrete. They will then take some air measurements from each section early next year and decide whether to continue paving the town green or not.
(Link: engadget.com)
Seven artists escaped an abandoned gaol at the Oostereiland prison island in Hoorn last week. The “prisoners” were participating in an experiment that would see them creating art in a secluded setting for a month, but when they got there, they found the setting a little bit too barbaric. The artists had to sleep on air mattresses and carry chairs from other parts of the complex to their cells.
Amateur astronomer by night and primary school teacher by day Hanny van Arkel discovered this little green man-cloud in the sky, and promptly got it named after herself: Hanny’s Voorwerp (voorwerp = “object”). When I say little, I mean huge.
Lingerie designer Marlies Dekkers won a Contours International Lingerie Award (CILA) in the category Maternity last Monday with her “Maternity Collection,” three lingerie sets for mothers with babies. The nursing bras have broad shoulder straps and cups that can be opened, and a “milk marker” made from black satin ribbon to indicate which breast was last used to feed. The jury of this third installment of the CILAs particularly liked the Starlet Nursing Bra (see photo) for its combination of comfort and style.
A gang robbed two Belgians of 70 kilos of gold last week after one of them had stopped the transport dressed as a policeman. The Belgians, driving an inconspicuous BMW, had just left Schiphol and were on their way to their country when a policeman on a motor cycle signaled them to leave the highway towards a tunnel near De Meern (Utrecht). There his accomplices waited with a van and another car. The two Belgians were forced to leave their car at gunpoint. The robbers took all 70 slices of gold, totalling about 1 million euros in value.
12 April 1961: the Soviet Union launched the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin.
Nefarma (the industry association for innovative medicine) and its members are found not innovative enough. In a study commissioned by Nefarma itself Amsterdam marketing research agency Motivaction further concludes that manufacturers shirk their social responsibility, and are not transparent about their price-making process. Nefarma itself is portrayed as a messenger boy for the industry, with lack of clout, and invisible in the public debate. 
Until August 30 visitors of the Triënnale in Apeldoorn will be able to walk 
We’re in the middle of the six week school holiday period, so Dutch travel trailers have once again spread out across Europe. Not only do we have a reputation of traveling with trailers but also of bringing along our own food—what do you mean, we have to integrate too?
