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This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Steve Mirsky . Got a minute ?

You might think that the World Toilet Summit was a meeting of Wall Street bigwigs. But no, it’s actually about toilets. The three day conference opened on November 4th in Macau. The event brings together U.N. agencies, industry leaders, civil engineering groups and others to talk about tackling the world’s sanitation¹ challenges, especially improving hygiene² standards in developing countries. Toilet humor aside, two-and-a-half billion people still do not have access to a hygienic toilet. One of the U.N.’s Millennium³ Development Goals is to cut that number in half by 2015.

Delegates to the summit will do some hands-on learning, because state-of-the-art public toilets will serve as educational tools. The Sustainable Sanitation Pavilion showcases the latest in dry toilet technology. Also on exhibit: self-cleaning toilets, solar-powered commodes and even systems that convert waste into biogas that can be used for heating.

Global codes for toilet design are also on the table. The first initiative under discussion will look at ways to increase the traffic flow at women’s public rest rooms. That session is called Potty Parity⁴.

Thanks for the minute for Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Steve Mirsky .

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1 sanitation
n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备
参考例句：
The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。 Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

2 hygiene
n.健康法，卫生学（a.hygienic）
参考例句：
Their course of study includes elementary hygiene and medical theory.他们的课程包括基础卫生学和医疗知识。 He's going to give us a lecture on public hygiene.他要给我们作关于公共卫生方面的报告。

3 millennium
n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世
参考例句：
The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。 We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

4 parity
n.平价，等价，比价，对等
参考例句：
The two currencies have now reached parity.这两种货币现已达到同等价值。 Women have yet to achieve wage or occupational parity in many fields.女性在很多领域还没能争取到薪金、职位方面的平等。