Bacteria in petri dish

Cleaning Dirty Money

A study titled “Supercritical Fluid Cleaning of Banknotes” has been published in the Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research journal, where scientists claim they have created a method to “remove human grease, microbes and motor oil” from banknotes using supercritical fluid (“substances that maintain liquid and gas properties through manipulation of their temperature and pressure”). The…

Map of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Coin Shortage

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka has recently said that around 22 tonnes of their rupee coins are currently in India, having been left in religious places such as temples, churches and kovils. Sri Lankans on religious pilgrimage leave the coins as offerings, as well as items such as food, flowers or incense. However, the…

EU flag

Latvia Joins Euro

At midnight on the 1st January 2014, Latvia became the 18th country to join the euro currency. The changeover has caused a mixture of emotions, with some opinion polls suggesting almost 60% of the population did not want to move to the euro currency. However, business owners as well as the government believe it will…