Landfills receive 30% less trash
Due to the sputtering economy, landfills are getting up to 30 percent less trash. People are buying fewer new consumer items, so there’s less packaging to discard. Manufacturers are creating less waste, and a stagnant housing market means less construction debris.
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1 million applicants for Census Bureau jobs
More than 1 million people have applied for the first 140,000 jobs offered by the U.S. Census Bureau to help conduct the 2010 census. “We’re getting a very highly qualified group of applicants,” says agency spokesman Stephen Buckner, “people that have college degrees, graduate degrees, doctorate degrees, former lawyers, bankers, even Wall Street–type individuals.” The jobs pay $25 an hour.
Los Angeles Times
Japanese develop female robot
Japanese robot developers have unveiled a new walking, talking robot with a beautiful female face. The $200,000 robot can make a variety of life-like facial expressions, and has a tiny, feminine voice.
Associated Press
The Pentagon's spy blimp
The Pentagon is spending $400 million to develop a giant spy blimp that could station itself 65,000 feet over a targeted region—so high up it would be out of the range of enemy radar, missiles, and fighter jets.
Los Angeles Times
Households worth $1 million drop by 25%
The number of U.S. households with a net worth of more than $1 million fell by more than 25 percent last year, from 9.2 million to 6.7 million.
Bloomberg.com