Swedish man arrested after trying to split atoms in his kitchen; says it was only a hobby

By Associated Press

STOCKHOLM — A Swedish man who was arrested after trying to split atoms in his kitchen said Wednesday he was only doing it as a hobby.

Richard Handl told The Associated Press that he had the radioactive elements radium, americium and uranium in his apartment in southern Sweden when police showed up and arrested him on charges of unauthorized possession of nuclear material.

The 31-year-old Handl said he had tried for months to set up a nuclear reactor at home and kept a blog about his experiments, describing how he created a small meltdown on his stove.

Only later did he realize it might not be legal and sent a question to Sweden’s Radiation Authority, which answered by sending the police.

“I have always been interested in physics and chemistry,” Handl said, adding he just wanted to “see if it’s possible to split atoms at home.”

The police raid took place in late July, but police have refused to comment. If convicted, Handl could face fines or up to two years in prison.

Although he says police didn’t detect dangerous levels of radiation in his apartment, he now acknowledges the project wasn’t such a good idea.

“From now on, I will stick to the theory,” he said.

© The Washington Post Company

Almost invisible mirrored tree house built in Sweden

By Lloyd Alter, TreeHugger
From: http://green.yahoo.com/

They said it couldn't be done. When we first wrote about the almost invisible tree house to be built in Sweden by Tham & Videgard, 899 commenters thought it was computer-generated eye candy, impossible to build, and death for birds.

But the architects built it, one of six units in a "Treehotel," which recently opened 40 miles south of the Arctic Circle in Sweden.

The four-meter glass cube looks as spectacular in reality as it did in the rendering. Kent Lindvall, co-owner of the TreeHotel, has been quoted as saying:

Everything will reflect in this -- the trees, the birds, the clouds, the sun, everything. So it should be invisible nearly in the forest.

And what about the birds? According to Designboom, Lindvall says that a special film that is visible to birds will be applied to the glass.

The units are constructed from sustainably harvested wood and have electric radiant floor heating and "a state-of-the-art, eco-friendly, incineration toilet"

(Although I've owned an incinerating toilet, and it wasn't that eco-friendly. It used a lot of electricity and created noise and some smells. But perhaps they've improved.)

But other than that minor quibble, this appears to be a truly "eco" resort. The owners say in Designboom:

"This is untouched forest, and we want to maintain it the same way. We decided, for example, to not offer snowmobile safari which is very common up here," says Selberg. Instead, wilderness walks will be offered.

Where do I sign up?

All photos courtesy of Tham & Videgard.

Ford agrees Volvo sale to Geely

From BBC UK

Volvo has been for sale for a year Ford has agreed the terms of the sale of its Swedish business, Volvo Cars, to China's Geely. Ford said "some work still remains to be completed" but the deal will be finalised early next year ahead of completion soon after Easter. Ford put Volvo up for sale a year ago to help pay off its debt and make its business more focused. Geely was named preferred bidder in November. If completed, it will be the largest purchase by a Chinese car firm. ANALYSIS Emily Young, Business reporter, BBC News Agreement has been reached at last. Volvo will almost certainly be sold to Geely. The question for Volvo is whether its new Chinese owner will do more for the marque than Ford did. On one level, the decade-long US-Swedish partnership can be seen as a successful. They benefited from each other's technology and expertise. But although many new models have been introduced in recent years, Volvo sales have not increased much. That may change under Geely, which will market Volvo in the fast-growing Chinese market. Ford said that while the "substantive commercial terms" had been settled, financing still needed to be completed and government approval was also necessary. The update on the sale is necessary for Geely to apply for government approval of the deal and with it, it is thought, the firm's financial backing. No details were given of how much the deal is worth, but it is widely rumoured that Geely will pay Ford $2bn (£1.2bn; 1.4bn euros), less than a third of the $6.45bn Ford paid for Volvo in 1999. Ford said it expects to continue co-operating with Volvo Cars, but did not intend to retain a shareholding in the business after the sale. Benefits for all Industry observers say the sale is good news for Volvo. VOLVO First Volvo made in 1927 Bought by Ford in 1999 Employs 20,000 worldwide In 2008 sales fell 18.3% to 374,297 Will Swedes work on a Chinese menu? "In theory, the Chinese market could be an opportunity for Volvo," Nomura's auto specialist Michael Tyndall said. "It's a well-known brand, has a good heritage and a range of products that should appeal to the Chinese consumer." Equally, the deal should help Geely get into the Western market. It is thought that the main sticking point in the talks between Ford and Geely had been disagreement about how to deal with intellectual property rights - setting the parameters of Geely's use of Volvo's technology, such as its famous safety equipment, and the extent and cost of using any technology needed from Ford's research. Moving to China Professor David Bailey from the Coventry Business School said that he expects much of the Volvo production to be moved to China, which recently overtook the US to become the world's largest market for cars. GEELY Founded in 1986 Started as refrigerator parts supplier Employs 12,000 Production capacity of 300,000 cars a year Profile: Geely Automobile "I would expect development and research to remain in Sweden, and maybe some production, but the big scale production will probably come from China," he said. "In the long run the question is whether they can continue to develop Volvo's safety profile and advanced engineering technology" he added. Geely said that Volvo would continue to lead the trend of world auto technology in safety and environmental protection. "It will quickly increase its unique competitive status in the Chinese market," the firm added.

4G Goes Live in Sweden and Norway

By Zee

4G network technology has arrived in Oslo and Stockholm thanks to wireless carrier TeliaSonera.

As of Tuesday, people in Norway and Sweden will be able to buy a mobile dongle that supports the long-term evolution (LTE) of 4G.

The technology can deliver speeds of up to 100 megabits per second–ten times faster that its 3G predecessor.

In a press conference in Stockholm on Monday, Karlberg said LTE makes it possible “to do everything that you can do on the fixed network, but on top of that, [the network adds] the mobility dimension”. He said this combination of mobility and fixed-line-quality speeds and bandwidth would allow for “applications that we haven’t seen so far”.

At launch, TeliaSonera’s LTE services cover around 400,000 people in the centres of Stockholm and Oslo. However, the operator said it is adding base stations every day. That aside, users primary frustration will lie in the fact that no handsets can yet use 4G meaning customers will initially only be able to connect via a dongle and a laptop.

Until July 1, consumers keen to try out the technology will receive the modems for free and pay a subscription price of just 4 kronor a month. The price will then will increased to 500 kronor a month.

TeliaSonera said it expected the boost in speed to drive many novel applications including gaming on the move and much greater viewing of video on laptops.

Sex-mad men search for 'lesbian' Chako Paul City

• By staff writers
• From: news.com.au

SWEDISH tourism bodies have been swamped with inquiries from millions of men captivated by a mythical town rumoured to be home to 25,000 sex-mad lesbians.

The town of ‘Chako Paul City’ is said to have been founded in 1820 in the northern Swedish woods by a wealthy man-hating widow.

Two blonde women are rumoured to stand guard at the town, which also features a medieval castle.

Many of the town’s female residents turned to homosexuality “because they could not suppress their sexual needs”, Chinese news service Harbin News reports.

The myth has been embraced by the Chinese media, with millions of men crippling the country’s internet providers trying to find out how to get to the town.

However, men have been warned by media reports that they risk being “beaten half to death” by police if they dare pay a visit.

"I've no idea where this came from but it's not true," local authorities' spokesman Claes Bertilson told Sweden’s new service The Local about the rumour.

“At 25,000 residents, the town would be one of the largest in northern Sweden, and I find it hard to believe that you could keep something like that a secret for more than 150 years.”

Mr Bertilson said he did not know where the fictitious account could have originated.

“I have no idea where something like this could have come from,” he said.

Although Per Wilhelmsson of the tourist office in Umea in northern Sweden said he had never heard of Chako Paul City, he did confirm that tourism in the area is bustling.

“Our tourism industry is doing quite well, among the best in northern Sweden,” he said.

Long-lost World War II sub found off Swedish coast

(CNN) -- Lighthouse keeper J.A. Eckerman was the last person to see World War II Soviet submarine S-2 before it sank in January 1940 between Sweden and Finland.

A team of Swedish and Finnish divers had been searching for the Soviet submarine S-2 since 1999.

As the submarine dove near the island of Market, northwest of Aland, Eckerman heard a loud explosion and saw smoke rise from the water.

The long-lost wreck was missing for 69 years until a team of Swedish and Finnish divers -- including Eckerman's grandson Ingvald -- discovered it this year.

What remains of the sub was found between the Swedish coast and the Finnish island of Aland, northeast of Stockholm, in late February, the divers announced Tuesday.

The submarine was very badly damaged by the explosion, said Marten Zetterstrom, one of the divers. The front gun is still there, and a torpedo is still in one of the tubes, but about 20 meters (about 65 feet) of the vessel is missing.

The search had been going on for nearly 10 years, the divers said in a news release.

The sub had a crew of 46 and four passengers when it sank.

Sweden and Finland claim credit for sinking the submarine with mines. Russia has contacted Swedish and Finnish authorities to clarify what caused the submarine to sink, the divers said.

Finland was at war with the Soviet Union at the time the sub sank. A deal between Germany and the Soviets had put the Nordic nation within the Soviet "sphere of influence," and Soviet troops had invaded Finland late in 1939.

The fighting was mostly confined to Finland's eastern border. Just two months after the submarine's sinking, a temporary peace agreement was reached.

Sweden remained neutral in World War II