The capital of the Maldives, Malé, only has a limited quantity of
ground water. Instead, ocean water is desalinated into drinking water.Do the Maldives have fresh water?
HOW THINGS WORK · How does remote central locking work?
A remote door lock includes a radio transmitter with a
reach of 5-20 metres. A chip in the remote control uses
a random generator to produce a code of 40 numbers –
either zeros or ones. The signal is synchronised with
the car computer, which carries out the action required.2 When you use the remote control, the radio transmitter
sends the code to the car together
with a function code which tells the
car to lock or unlock the doors or to
open the boot.3The car computer checks if it has
arrived at the same code as is
received from the remote control. If
the codes match, the action is carried
out. Otherwise, nothing happens.GEOLOGY The Maldives’ capital
and main island, Malé, gets its water
from different places. The island,
which is nearly entirely covered with
buildings, has a little ground water
that is bound in fresh water lenses
under the atolls. But excessive use of
ground water means that salty ocean
water has entered the lenses, and the
natural water resources are now
almost dry. Instead, the city collects
rainwater, imports bottled mineral
water, and desalinates ocean water,
which now makes up the majority of
the water in the taps.
In 2014, Malé experienced a
drinking water crisis when a fire
rendered the desalination plant
useless. For a period of several weeks,
water in plastic jars and bottles had
to be flown in as emergency aid from
India, Sri Lanka and China.SH
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Remote control
Signal
Radio transmitter
1
A radio transmitter in the key
uses the same number generator
as the car’s receiver, so transmitter
and receiver are always synchronised.
When one code is sent off, the number
generator produces a new code, which
is saved. The car does the same thing.
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