
On 27 July 2010 the Dutch court ended supervision of Dekker, and decided it was "up to the girl's parents to decide whether she can make the trip." Dekker reported that she will depart "within two weeks".
Laura Dekker can't wait to set sail.
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If you'd like to learn more about the birds in your area, then building a bird feeder is a great way to do that. A well-placed feeder will attract birds, allowing you to get a close-up look without disturbing the birds from behind a nearby window.
This project shows you how to design and build a four-part feeder that will make it easy to figure out what types of seeds your local birds like best. The project is based on an entry to the 2007 California State Science Fair (Fukumitsu, 2007). With this design, you can easily measure the rate at which different types of seeds are consumed. You can also observe which species of birds prefer which part of the feeder. This will give you insight into species-specific seed preferences for your local bird population.
You should do background research on the types of birds in your area. Find out about each bird's preferred habitat and diet. With the right food, you may be able to attract some birds that you don't normally see otherwise. So spend some time in your wood shop, then get out your binoculars and start watching birds!
Who would have thought that a robot might actually consume actual food and generate organic instead of nuclear waste? That's what a group of researchers at the University of Bristol are doing, working on robots which draw power by digesting food. The Ecobot III is the culmination of their work so far, as it feeds on processed sewage thanks to its 48 microbial food cells. Microbes within will extract energy from the food by digesting it, while the robot will extract some of it by harvesting the electrons put off by the microbes. There was enough energy extracted for the robot to move around, not to mention returning to feed and purge when necessary.