CLEANING WATER:
     WATER IS A SOURCE OF LIFE FOR ALL HUMANS.  YET IN THIRD WORLD
COUNTRIES IT CAN BE A SOURCE OF DEATH, TOO.  EVERY HOUR, CONTAMINATED
DRINKING WATER KILLS 400 CHILDREN BELOW THE AGE OF 5, WITH DISEASES LIKE
CHOLERA AND TYPHOID AND HEPATITIS.  BOILING DISINFECTS THE WATER, SINCE THE
INTENSE HEAT DESTROYS THE CONTAMINANTS. BUT BOILING TAKES A LOT OF FUEL
AND TIME IF YOU HAVE TO DO IT EVERY TIME YOU'RE THIRSTY.  MODERN TECHNOLOGY
MAY HELP.  PHYSICIST ASHOK GADGIL AT LAWRENCE BERKELEY NATIONAL
LABORATORY HAS BEEN WORKING ON A SIMPLER WAY TO CLEAN WATER--RUN IT
UNDER A UV LIGHT. 
     GADGIL: "We are talking about using a single 40 watt lamp which is like a single lamp in a
typical kitchen disinfectinga ton of water per hour."
     IN YOUR KITCHEN LIGHT, THE GLASS BULB PROTECTS YOU FROM UV RAYS, BUT
IN GADGIL'S MACHINE, THE RAYS ARE ALLOWED TO TRAVEL THROUGH THE WATER.  UV
RAYS ARE AT JUST THE RIGHT FREQUENCY TO ROCK CERTAIN MOLECULES IN THE DNA.
AS THESE BITS ROCK BACK AND FORTH, THEY LOCK ON TO EACH OTHER, AND THE DNA
STOPS FUNCTIONING.
     GADGIL: "As a result the organism can no longer reproduce and can no longer infect the body. 
That's the beauty of it, that's why one needs incredibly small amounts of energy to disinfect drinking water
using UV light. Just for a rough comparison, one can disinfect water with 20,000 times less energy using
UV light compared to the energy needed for boiling the same amount of water over a cook stove. "
     GAGDIL HOPES THAT SOME DAY A COMMUNITY OR VILLAGE COULD BUY ONE OF
THESE SIMPLE MACHINES FOR AROUND 2 HUINDRED DOLLARS, LIGHTING THE WAY FOR
CLEANER WATER AND HEALTHIER KIDS.