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That's the recommendation from a new report by the US National Research Council, who say reclaimed waste water is needed as a necessary substitute for the dwindling supply of freshwater. What's more, reprocessed urine might actually be cleaner than freshwater. More »
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Yesterday we discussed the horrors of the Russian drug krokodil. This flesh-eating heroin-like substance may seem like the most nightmarish of all nightmares, but there are plenty of other toxic (and just plain grody) substances out there, ready to be consumed for no good reason. Here are 10 more intoxicating things that would give McGruff the Crime Dog angina.

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Some chimps and gorillas were given a long vertical tube with a peanut at the bottom. To reach the treat, the primates realized they had to add water to the tube...and one chimp came up with a uniquely gross solution. More »
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I can't imagine a more moving tribute to the final flight of the space shuttle Discovery. This shooting star photographed on March 8 is almost certainly the waste water from Discovery...in other words, a whole lot of astronaut urine. More »
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No question is too small for science, and there is a body of research devoted to determining the whos and hows of the asparagus smell of human urine. Here's a snapshot of said research. More »
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A revolutionary new fuel cell could take in urine and produce electricity and clean water. It might sound silly, but a prototype already exists, and it could provide the unlikeliest possible solution to third world energy and clean water problems. More »
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That's no comet. This photo, taken Wednesday night, actually shows a trail of urine and waste water streaming out of the shuttle Discovery. The waste froze upon release, then quickly sublimated into a sparkling, glowing vapor. [SpaceWeather via Yahoo!] More »
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Click to viewIf you're going on a long space trip, you'll soon realize that you can't carry all the fresh water you'll need with you. The cost of getting all that water into space would destroy your budget before you ever built a single photon torpedo launcher. The answer, of course, is recycling. Those childhood dreams of traveling to space probably didn't include drinking your own sweat and pee. More »
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