The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Ukrainian SSR (now Ukraine). An explosion and fire released large quantities of radioactive contamination into the atmosphere, which spread over much of Western Russia and Europe. It is considered the worst nuclear power plant accident in history, and is one of only two classified as a level 7 event on the International Nuclear Event Scale (the other being the Fukushima I nuclear incident, which is considered far less serious and has caused no direct deaths). The battle to contain the contamination and avert a greater catastrophe ultimately involved over 500,000 workers and cost an estimated 18 billion rubles, crippling the Soviet economy.

The disaster began during a systems test on 26 April 1986 at reactor number four of the Chernobyl plant, which is near the town of Pripyat. There was a sudden power output surge, and when an emergency shutdown was attempted, a more extreme spike in power output occurred, which led to a reactor vessel rupture and a series of explosions. These events exposed the graphite moderator of the reactor to air, causing it to ignite. The resulting fire sent a plume of highly radioactive smoke fallout into the atmosphere and over an extensive geographical area, including Pripyat. The plume drifted over large parts of the western Soviet Union and Europe. From 1986 to 2000, 350,400 people were evacuated and resettled from the most severely contaminated areas of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. According to official post-Soviet data, about 60% of the fallout landed in Belarus.

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Anti-NEP propaganda

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More than 10,000 gather in Times Square outside the New York Times building to receive updates on the fight between boxers Jack Dempsey and Georges Carpentier in July, 1921.

NY Times Tower held a celebration of the opening of its new headquarters with a display of fireworks on January 1, 1905, at midnight. This celebration at Times Square continues to this day. The famous New Year's Eve Ball drop tradition began in 1907.

Yes really.

Illustration for a roll banner of an Android event.

The image was rendered in 9600 x 24000 pixels (about 80 x 200 cm in 300 DPI).

Lunch atop a Skyscraper (New York Construction Workers Lunching on a Crossbeam) is a famous photograph taken in 1932 by Charles C. Ebbets during construction of the RCA Building (renamed as the GE Building in 1986) at Rockefeller Center.

I think by now, it's pretty clear I like things in my home to be neat and tidy. Or as ordered as it can be with a hoarding husband, 3 small children and 2 demented cats.
Now recently when Husband and I were stuck down with the equivalent of the ebola virus, we spent alot of time lying on our bed talking weakly about our plans for the future; providing we survived this life threatening illness probably a bad chest infection but it FELT like ebola
Initially the plan was to replace our kitchen cupboards, as our present ones are either falling off or held together with masking tape.
So we duly asked someone, called *Fred, to give us a quote.
Fred was affable and measured it all up. He said he'd be in touch within a week with a quote. We never heard from Fred again. When we phoned his business a week later we heard they had gone into receivership. Bad news indeed for Fred. Sad news for us.
Next phonecall was to a company a friend recommended. We later discovered she'd accidentally given us the name of the company she hadn't ended up using, but by then it didn't matter.
So *Ivanka arrived wielding a clipboard, killer stilettos and an accent that reminded me of my mother in law. She barely glanced at our kitchen, insisting instead we take her on a guided tour of our home. We dutifully did so,  and both of us listened in silence as she berated us for the shoddy planning of the home. Never mind we weren't the original owners. My husband seemed as cowed by her accent as I was.
Ivanka point blank refused to even draw up plans for our kitchen as it was "unacceptable" for her to be associated with this work apparently.
We decided that having Ivanka do anything with us would be a bit stressful. The plans were duly shelved.
But there was no doubting she had planted a seed, that maybe if we were going to redo the kitchen we should do it properly.
So one night, I tweeted in desperation about the sorry state of my home and a friend recommended a lady called Felicia (which is her real name)
I phoned her and we chatted at length.
Husband and I worked out a P.L.A.N about what we wanted to do with the kitchen.
Having had our fingers burnt a few times now we were apprehensive to say the least about meeting her. We needn't have been.
We were both enchanted with her.
Felicia is a tiny powerhouse.
She listened carefully and made suggestions.
While the plans involve a bit more than changing the kitchen cupboards, I am excited about what is in store for our little house.
The inevitable mess and chaos we'll be living in a few weeks time?
That's a whole other post.
*Fred, not his real name
*Ivanka, not her real name

Cover illustration for the Dutch Volkskrant Banen magazine.

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Earlier this year, the British government announced an ambitious target of having all new homes built carbon neutral by 2016. This week saw the first step towards that goal as the "Lighthouse" was recognized as the nation's first zero carbon home.

The prototype is being billed as "the most environmentally friendly home yet built" in the UK, and it is the first to meet the government's highest standards for sustainability. Energy efficient construction methods were employed in the construction of the two bedroom house, which also features renewable and sustainable energy technologies such as solar powered water heaters and top notch water efficiency devices. In fact, a spokesman boasts that the building will only require heating 6 weeks of every year.

The Lighthouse also hopes to put money back in the pockets of consumers both through energy savings and lower price. By reaching "level 6" of the new government sustainability code, the Lighthouse is exempted from the federal stamp duty of 1% on new homes.

The unveiling is the first step in what housing minister, Yvette Cooper sees as a revolution in housing.

"A quarter of carbon emissions come from our homes. That's why zero-carbon homes are so important," said Yvette Cooper.

"We need a complete revolution in the way we design and build our homes. Many of the technologies exist already, as these new homes show. Now we need more work to test them and deliver economies of scale."

See the BBC article for a diagram of the interior layout or take the vidoe tour below.