
"All for water, water for all," was Laliberte's cry. Clowning around with water it may be: the cost of his trip was $35 million, and some critics suggested that the money would have been better spent digging wells in Africa. Laliberte's broadcasts were linked to a 2-hour 14-city worldwide extravaganza here on Earth with celebrity guests that included Al Gore, Bono, Peter Gabriel. This certainly highlights water conservation issues in a new way.
In a related water-in-Space topic, NASA crashed a rocket into the Moon's south pole hoping to find water in the impact debris. Spectacular idea - just the photos were a bit boring. The point of it all? If we want to colonise the Moon or other planet, we need drinking water - and not just recycled from our pee. Water would also have other uses, as a radiation shield (!) and when broken down into its constituents, hydrogen and oxygen, for humans to breathe and use for energy: fuel cells and rocket propellant. There have also been tell-tale signs of water on M

The European Space Agency is to launch a new satellite (how many are up there??) to follow the Earth's water cycle and its constant flux. Yawn? Maybe not. It is to characterise global changes in soil moisture as well as the salinity of seawater - yep, it will track the drinkable water that we need, leading to improvements in climate models. In turn, these will help water management programmes focused on agricultural and drinking water activities.
In another water-related stunt last month, the Maldives Government 'sank to a new

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