News Makers

Fuel-cell industry pioneer dies at 76

Geoff Ballard, a Canadian pioneer of the fuel cell industry and an entrepreneur Time Magazine once named one of its "Heroes for the Planet," died over the weekend.

A company official confirmed on Tuesday that Ballard died on Saturday at age 76. The cause of death was not disclosed.

Ballard developed the world's first hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered, zero-emission transit bus. Science World, a science center in Vancouver, British Columbia, unveiled the vehicle in 1993.

In 1979, Ballard founded Ballard Power Systems Inc, which makes hydrogen fuel cells that are used in materials handling, residential cogeneration, backup power and transportation. He served as chairman of the company until 1997. In 1999, he started General Hydrogen, which was bought by Plug Power Inc last year for US$10 million.

"His name will forever be associated with this company's fuel cell products, which are being deployed as an energy source for applications in a growing number of important global markets," John Sheridan, Ballard's president and CEO said in statement.

In 1999, Time magazine named Ballard as one of its "Heroes for the Planet," alongside the environmental work of Robert F. Kennedy Junior and his partner John Cronin.

Paris Hilton spoofs back

Paris Hilton, the blonde, doe-eyed celebrity thrust into the presidential campaign in an ad by Republican candidate John McCain, issued a tart rebuttal on Tuesday, albeit in a scantily clad, tongue-in-cheek kind of way.

Last week, McCain launched an ad comparing Democratic rival Barack Obama to Hilton and Britney Spears, suggesting Obama was no more than a celebrity candidate unready to lead the nation.

Hilton initially shied away from the debate over the ad and its effectiveness. But she responded on Tuesday with a spoof on the comedy website Funny or Die.

"Hey America, I'm Paris Hilton and I'm a celebrity, too. Only I'm not from the olden days and I'm not promising change like that other guy. I'm just hot," Hilton said, speaking as she reclined in a pool chair in a revealing bathing suit and a pair of pumps. "But then that wrinkly, white-haired guy used me in his campaign ad, which I guess means I'm running for president. So thanks for the endorsement white-haired dude."

"I want America to know that I'm, like, totally ready to lead," she said.

One of the last Kaweskars dies

Alberto Achacaz Walakial, one of the last surviving members of the nomadic Kaweskar tribe that once plied the waters off South America's Patagonian coast, has died of blood poisoning, local media reported on Tuesday.

Government documents listed Achacaz's age at 79, but some believe he was close to 90.

Experts estimate that only about a dozen full-blooded Kaweskars, or Alacalufes, survive and the group is destined to disappear in the near future as there are no women of fertile age left.

Achacaz was hospitalized at the end of June in Punta Arenas, 3,500 kilometers south of Chile's capital, after appearing before doctors malnourished, dehydrated and weighing under 60 kilograms, said Dr Hector Gomez, director of the Armed Forces hospital. Septic shock affected his lungs and gall bladder.

Local newspaper La Prensa Austral reported that he died on Monday. Achacaz lived alone in a modest home, which lacked a proper drainage system, after his wife died 11 years ago, the daily reported in January.

Agencies

(China Daily 08/07/2008 page37)