The Daily Populous

U.K. startup uses recycled plastic to build stronger roads

We’ve seen the birth of futuristic solar roads and even a return to retro gravel roads, but now there’s a new player on the street: recycled plastic.

British engineer Toby McCartney has devised an innovative process to replace much of the crude oil-based asphalt in pavement with tiny pellets of plastic created from recyclable bottles.

The result is a street that’s 60 percent stronger than traditional roadways, 10 times longer-lasting, and a heck of a lot better for the environment, claims McCartney’s company MacRebur.

McCartney first conceived of the idea after getting fed up with the potholes in the roads near his house and remembering how he’d seen people fill potholes in India by filling them with plastic trash and melting it into place.

Typical roads are made of about 90 percent rock and sand with 10 percent bitumen.

MacRebur’s product essentially bulks up the bitumen with recycled waste plastic, so the roads are stronger and less of the oil product is required to bind together rocks.

McCartney paved his own driveway using the plastics-augmented process, and the English county of Cumbria has already adopted it for new public roadways. »

Hiker found alive after seven weeks lost in Himalayas

Authored by cnn.com

(CNN) Two Taiwanese hikers have been found after going missing in Nepal for almost seven weeks, but one had died three days before help arrived.

On March 9, the couple headed toward Langtang in Rasuwa district, but did not turn back when confronted with a snowstorm.

After losing their bearings they fell 100 meters off a cliff into a ravine, where they took shelter in a small cave. »

New law orders Va. insurers to cover 12-month supply of birth-control pills

Authored by washingtonpost.com

He was introduced by Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam (D), who hopes to succeed McAuliffe in the governor’s mansion in November.

The difference this year was that Filler-Corn personally lobbied Republicans, said Tarina Keene, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia.

“It’s much cheaper to supply a woman with a year’s worth of birth control than cover an unexpected childbirth. »

Billionaire Paul Allen pledges $30M toward permanent housing for Seattle’s homeless

Authored by seattletimes.com

Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist Paul Allen will donate $30 million toward a permanent housing facility for as many as 100 low-income and homeless families in Seattle.

The facility will include a service center open to residents and the wider community, said Bill Rumpf, Mercy Housing Northwest president.

Residents of permanent housing such as this generally pay no more than 30 percent of their income for rent. »

Global Reddit Meetup Day Is Coming. Set Your Calendars for June 17, 2017!

Authored by redditblog.com

One such idea came in late 2009, when users in r/meetup suggested a GLOBAL Reddit meetup.

Since then, every summer, we (deliberately) encourage you to get off Reddit (for at least one day) and meet fellow redditors IRL.

If you’ve never attended a Global Reddit Meetup before, it’s a day where redditors from around the world come together and enjoy each other’s company, laughs, and camaraderie. »