Chernobyl world heritage site?
Thirty-five years ago, the world's worst nuclear disaster occurred at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Pripyat, Ukraine — the reactors at the plant exploded during a mismanaged safety test. It's thought up to 54 workers and firemen died in the immediate aftermath, thousands developed illnesses due to
radiation poisoning and 50,000 people were evacuated. The now-abandoned city has become a major tourist hotspot for the country. Now, the country is applying for it to be a Unesco World Heritage site, a status designated to landmarks or areas with legal protections that have cultural, historical, scientific, or another form of significance. Notable sites include Stonehenge, Machu Picchu, and the Great Barrier Reef. The Government wants to develop the exclusion zone as a tourist destination, officials told Reuters. "The importance of the Chernobyl zone lays far beyond Ukraine's borders ... It is not only about commemoration, but also history and people's rights." If the application is eventually approved, it would make the power station the most recent building rather than a natural feature to make the list. The current title-holder is the Sydney Opera House, which was opened in 1973.
Great inventions that never took off
Charles Adler, Jr. of Baltimore invented a horn for aeroplanes that was granted a patent in 1947. I imagine the last thing you'd want to hear as your flight is cruising at 30,000 feet is the pilot suddenly honking the horn. Though, of course, the horn was intended for small planes, not passenger jets. Adler himself used it to nag his wife by flying low over his house and honking the horn so that she'd know to start preparing his dinner.
Did a rooster write this?
