With more international boats patrolling the high seas, piracy in 2011 dropped for the first time in five years. Pirate attacks in the South China Sea were cut by almost two thirds and Bangladesh incidents plunged by more than half. -Associated Press
Stunning Millenium Goal Progress on Educating Children
Over the past 12 years, the world has made stunning progress toward the goal of increasing the number of children attending primary school — adding 37 million kids to school rolls, an increase of 35 percent. – NY Times
Biofuel Breakthrough: Seaweed Could Power Cars
Energy experts believe that seaweed holds enormous potential as a biofuel alternative to coal and oil, and US scientists say they have unlocked the secret of turning its complex sugar into energy.
Unlike other microbes before, the Berkeley, Cal., team engineered a form of E. coli bacteria that can digest all the seaweed’s sugars into ethanol, potentially making it a cost-competitive alternative to petroleum fuel, without the use of agricultural land, said the report yesterday in the journal Science.
UPDATE: Homeless Science Whiz Given $50K Scholarship on Ellen Show
New York high school senior Samantha Garvey appeared Thursday as a guest on the “Ellen” talk show, where she received a $50,000 scholarship from AT&T to the college of her choice.
Last week, Garvey was named a semifinalist in the prestigious Intel science contest. The story of the aspiring marine biologist attracted national attention after it was reported that she and her family were forced to move to a homeless shelter on New Year’s Eve. (See original story on GNN.)
She hopes to attend either Brown or Yale universities.
(READ the AP story in Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Thanks to Julie Frerichs for submitting the link!
World Makes Stunning Progress in Education of Young Children
Over the past 12 years, the world has made stunning progress toward the goal of having more children attend primary school.
In sub-Saharan Africa, enrollment in primary school is up 18 percent; and globally, we added 37 million kids to school rolls, an increase of 35 percent — a huge achievement.
Countries have made progress on this UN Millennium Goal by abolishing school fees, building schools in remote areas, switching the language of instruction to the one the children actually speak and giving families incentive to send children to school.
Teenage Sailor Laura Dekker Becomes Youngest to Circle the Globe
A year and a day after she set out to sail single-handed around the globe, Dutch teenager Laura Dekker will finish her 27,000 mile voyage on Saturday.
Miss Dekker, who is 16 years and four months old, has cut six months off the unofficial record set in 2010 by Australian teenager Jessica Watson, who was days away from her 17th birthday when she completed her own non-stop voyage.
The voyage, on a 38 ft boat called Guppy, also raised money for Sea Shepherd Netherlands, an organization whose mission is to end the slaughter of wildlife in the world’s oceans.
(READ the story at the Telegraph)
Billionaire Philanthropist to Give Millions to Help Fix Washington Monument
The billionaire philanthropist David M. Rubenstein will donate $7.5 million to help fix the shuttered, earthquake-damaged Washington Monument, government officials announced Thursday.
The gift once again confirmed Rubenstein’s status as a generous repeat benefactor for Washington’s endangered national icons.
It comes a month after he donated $4.5 million to the National Zoo’s cash-strapped giant panda program and seven months after a $13.5 million gift to the National Archives.
Math Prodigy Proud of His Autism
Jake Barnett, an Indianapolis 13-year-old, has been acing college math and science courses since he was eight years old. At 13, he is a college sophomore taking honors classes in math and physics, while also doing scientific research and tutoring fellow students.
No one could have predicted that Jake would even make it to college. At age two, Jake began to regress – he stopped speaking and making eye contact. The diagnosis: autism.
Jake is proud of his autism. “That, I believe, is the reason why I am in college and I am so successful.”
(WATCH the 60 Minutes Video below, or READ the story at CBSNews)
Lost Gray Monkey Thought to be Extinct ‘Rediscovered’ in Indonesia
Scientists working in the dense jungles of Indonesia have “rediscovered” a large, gray monkey so rare it was believed by many to be extinct.
They were all the more baffled to find the Miller’s Grizzled Langur — its black face framed by a fluffy, Dracula-esque white collar — in an area well outside its previously recorded home range.
8 US Lawmakers Withdraw Support for SOPA After Websites Go Black in Protest
The blackout of Wikipedia and other websites protesting against the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act, have prompted eight US lawmakers to withdraw their support for the law.
Two of the bill’s co-sponsors, Marco Rubio and Roy Blunt, are among those backing away.
Wikipedia and Reddit shut down their operations for 24 hours yesterday urging American viewers to call their Congressmen to protest the bill that would use court orders to immediately shut down websites whose users upload copyrighted content. Craigslist, Google, Facebook and WordPress also protested against the bill, believing that its severe tactics to combat to piracy constituted the wrong approach.
12 Things Happy People Do Differently
Studies conducted by positivity psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky point to 12 things happy people do differently to increase their levels of happiness. These are things that we can start doing today to feel the effects of more happiness in our lives. (Check out her book The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want
I want to honor and discuss each of these 12 points, because no matter what part of life’s path we’re currently traveling on, these ‘happiness habits’ will always be applicable.
12 Things Happy People Do Differently
Studies conducted by positivity psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky point to 12 things happy people do differently to increase their levels of happiness. These are things that we can start doing today to feel the effects of more happiness in our lives. (Check out her book The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want
I want to honor and discuss each of these 12 points, because no matter what part of life’s path we’re currently traveling on, these ‘happiness habits’ will always be applicable.
NM Veteran Uses Own Money To Help Homeless Vets
About 5,000 disabled veterans live on the streets in New Mexico. So Shane D’Onofrio, a disabled vet who served in the U.S. Navy, created a non-profit organization called “What Would U Give“.
D’Onofrio opens his home to veterans to help get them off the streets. He uses his own disability checks to run the job-training and resource programs — about $1,700 a month. He also gets local and national businesses to donate services and items to the veterans in need.
El Salvador Apologizes for State Violence on 20th Anniversary of Peace Accords, Offers Reparations
On January 16, crowds gathered in the small community of El Mozote to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Peace Accords that ended El Salvador´s 12-year-long civil war. Rural El Mozote is the site of a 1981 massacre of more than 1,000 civilians and children, carried out by the Salvadoran Armed Forces.
At the solemn event, El Salvador’s first leftist president, Mauricio Funes, named the military officers implicated in the horrific massacre, stating, we must “remove the veil that has blinded us for three decades.”
Funes asked for forgiveness from the victims and the Salvadoran people on behalf of the State and then announced a series of reparations for the victims and their families.
El Salvador Apologizes for State Violence on 20th Anniversary of Peace Accords, Offers Reparations
On January 16, crowds gathered in the small community of El Mozote to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Peace Accords that ended El Salvador´s 12-year-long civil war. Rural El Mozote is the site of a 1981 massacre of more than 1,000 civilians and children, carried out by the Salvadoran Armed Forces.
At the solemn event, El Salvador’s first leftist president, Mauricio Funes, named the military officers implicated in the horrific massacre, stating, we must “remove the veil that has blinded us for three decades.”
Funes asked for forgiveness from the victims and the Salvadoran people on behalf of the State and then announced a series of reparations for the victims and their families.
Playing Online Game, Words with Friends, Saves a Life Thousands of Miles Away
For many it is just a game, but for two couples who live half a world away from each other, Words with Friends was more that that, it was a life saver.
While Georgie Fletcher was playing the online scrabble game with Beth Legler, she happened to mention in passing that her husband was not feeling very well.
Mrs Legler told her to explain her symptoms as her husband Larry is a doctor.
When she relayed the symptoms to him, he immediately diagnosed the Australian native with a heart problem, and told him to immediately see a doctor.
A lucky move.
The situation had indeed reached a critical point and there were perhaps just hours before the man would die.
(READ more of the story in Daily Mail)
Julie Leven Brings Classical Music to Homeless Shelters
Through her program Shelter Music Boston, professional violinist Julie Leven brings live music to residents that feeds their souls and makes them feel ‘elegant.’
At their first performance, Leven says, all the women looked tired. But she was bowled over by the interest the women took in the music – and their attentiveness.
“They were extremely responsive,” she says.
Va. GOP Moves to Scrap Loyalty Oath as Requirement for Primary Voters
The Virginia Republican party voted overwhelmingly to reverse its December decision to place on their ballot a “loyalty oath” that would have required March primary voters to support the eventual GOP nominee for president.
Scrambling to meet a Friday deadline for finalizing primary ballots, Virginia Republican chairman Pat Mullins polled the state party’s governing central committee by phone and e-mail.
Transplant Nurse Donates Own Kidney to Patient
The way Clay Taber looks at it, he’s got three moms now, after a transplant nurse, practically a stranger, donated one of her healthy kidneys so that he might start married life untethered to a dialysis machine.
Allison Batson first heard about Taber, now 23, when a nurse at Atlanta’s Emory University Hospital told her “it looks like we’ve got a 22-year-old in renal failure,” Batson recalled. “It just tore me up.”
Tests revealed he had Goodpasture syndrome, a rare autoimmune disease that attacks the kidneys or the lungs.
(READ the full story in TODAY)
Photo from Emory University Hospital
Clooney, DiCaprio and Kardashian Bring in $5 million at Sean Penn Haiti Benefit
Hollywood’s biggest stars marked the two-year anniversary of the massive Haiti earthquake last week, gathering on Saturday to raise five million dollars for Sean Penn’s J/P Haitian Relief Organization, which was set up to support thousands of displaced people living in a settlement camp there.
At the event, which featured an auction of celebrity items, Penn was also named “ambassador at large to Haiti” by Haiti’s foreign affairs minister.
Kim Kardashian was a surprise guest, having just visited Haiti in December on a humanitarian trip.
“I can’t wait to go back,” the reality TV star said.
(READ the story at E Online and WATCH videos about the extraordinary work of Penn’s group)
Click to donate and help Haiti now.
