h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

'Scientists have developed a way of charging mobile phones using urine.

Dr Ioannis Ieropoulos, from the Bristol Robotics Laboratory, claimed harnessing power from "the ultimate waste product" was "a world first".

"One product that we can be sure of an unending supply is our own urine," he said'.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-23333533

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23318301 Neptune's 14th moon has been discovered, the first since 2003. Which is astonishing considering I've been working on A87734406 since January 2012 and finally finished it at the weekend, then I submitted it into PR. It will now have to be tweaked! It was my "13 in 13" project as well

GB

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23337754
Make the rest of the world aware that London is not the centre of the UK.

I read that one, an airport claiming that it'd be better to give it the money than to give it to its competitors. Whoda thunkit?

The airport is there, it has been a major airfield for years. (Finningly). It's destined to become a transport hub for the 'North'.
Take the load off London. Are all flights into Heathrow carrying passengers for London only ?
Make travel agents aware that there are alternatives to Heathrow. Tourists to the Uk can easily get to London from other airports.
Push the UK, London needs no publicity.

I think it would be best for England if they moved the "capital" out of London to somewhere more central, how about Bradford? I.e. relocate Parliament, the stock exchange, and the mint there. I think this would be best for England in the long run. Wales, Scotland, N. Ireland already have national assemblies and this is the reason why I didn't suggest moving the British Parliament there.

Let's be honest: Manchester is England's real second city now so if it was going to be outside of London, Manchester would be the obvious choice.

Stone Aart, Bradford isn't central. In terms of transport it's very much on branchlines. If I want to get a train somewhere from Bradford I invariably have to change at Leeds or Manchester.

Not too keen on having more politicians in Manchester than we've already got.

I am thinking of opportunities to build up infrastructure (including communications) elsewhere in the country - it would also relieve pressure off London (house prices etc). The movement from London would be staged and the exact relocation would be open to debate / analysis but somewhere from the Midlands northwards.

To be honest, Manchester is ideal. It's got great network links to all parts of the UK, it's got a booming tech industry, and it's got the industrial towns nearby with *very* cheap housing and services.

Oh, and we've got some pretty good pubs too.

yeah but the politicos would never go for the idea
which is a shame really because I think they get stuck in the little world of london bubble sometimes

Manchester seems to be in pole position then. There would need to be some campaign to try to persuade the politicians who tend to think in one dimension.

The Campaign to relocate back to Winchester starts here

It may be in pole position, but we don't want them

I don't really see why they would have be based in the same place

You guys miss the point. Robin Hood/Finningly is an airfield in a greenfield site, provide it with 'specialised' hospitals, helipads and fast rail terminals with other main services. Start from the beginning and make the area a national business centre. Leave all the others, move on with modern and up to date facilities. Everyone/anyone can commute. The tourists can have London.

It's on the move but thinking is not fast enough or big enough.
http://www.robinhoodairport.com/corporate-community/about-us/master-plan

my husband says to move it to preston
because no-one would mind if you knocked something down in preston and it's got most of the same rail/car links as Manchester, though it does lack an airport...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/nick-clegg-rank-children-aged-11-by-ability-to-drive-boost-in-primary-school-standards-8711798.html

The lay out of the link on the front page meant that I read it as one fit for the neighbouring threads with surreal connections thread

Nick Clegg: Rank children aged 11 by ability to drive
boost in primary school standards

well if you insist on ranking children at age 11 like this on your own head be it