Sir James Dyson, the inventor who revolutionized the bagless vacuum cleaner, revealed his latest invention: a fan with no blades.
The Dyson fan works very differently to conventional fans. With no blades or grill, it’s completely safe, effortless to clean. It uses Air Multiplier™ technology to draw in air and amplify it 15 times, producing an uninterrupted stream of smooth air that doesn’t cause unpleasant buffeting.
Watch the United Press video below (Ad at the top):
Visit a new exhibition in Kabul and see a selection of some 2,000 Afghan artifacts which were illegally smuggled out of the country during three decades of conflict and civil war, treasures altogether weighing 3.5 tons.
No less remarkable than the craftsmanship on display at the National Museum of Afghanistan, is the story of the antiquities’ return after customs officials stopped smugglers trying to take the looted goods through British airports three years ago.
Half belong to the pre-Islamic period before the seventh century. “Each piece is priceless.”
About 70 percent of the museum’s 100,000-piece collection was looted by mujahideen fighters in the 1990s. Exhibits were also damaged by rocket fire or the Taliban, on a rampage to destroy “un-Islamic” artifacts.
(Continue reading AFP story from Drexel University)
National Museum of Afghanistan, head of a Buddha
Around the world millions of children are not getting a proper education because their families are too poor to afford to send them to school. In India, one schoolboy is trying to change that.
A BBC reporter travels to meet Babar Ali, whose remarkable education project is transforming the lives of hundreds of poor children.
800 students travel in the late afternoon to Babar’s home and study beneath lean-to structures.
Click to read or watch the BBC report. (Watch also the two other videos about Babar that follow the main story.) Photo from BBC video
For 35 years, hundreds of villagers living in northern Guinea-Bissau have been too scared to cultivate the land around their villages for fear of exploding landmines.
Their town of Suar in the Cacheu region, near the northern border with Senegal, was contaminated by landmines and unexploded ordnance laid by the Portuguese in the 1974 liberation war.
“The area was not safe,” Daniel Camara, 28, said as he cycled along a path once surrounded by mines. “But now we can move around. We are no longer living in fear – they’ve taken our bad luck away.” (Cashew fruits in Guinea-Bissau ©Manoocher Deghati/IRIN)
Can we get more people to throw their trash in the bin by making it fun? Can fun encourage more people to sort recyclables? Will more people exercise if it’s fun… Volkswagen says yes, through a set of experiments in a new project called The Fun Theory.
Documenting the effects, their whimsical YouTube videos show that changing people’s behavior is easy — when it’s fun.
The first experiment showed that subway riders’ use of a staircase dramatically rose 66% over normal when the stairs played a tune.
The second experiment showed that people would actually pick up trash surrounding a public bin just so they could dump it, when a fanciful sound effect played every time the litter entered the can. Almost double the amount of trash was collected compared with the bin up the street.
Stay tuned for Volkswagen’s next stunt. They are creating an arcade game that will make it more fun for you to sort recyclables… Watch all the videos below, or at TheFunTheory.com. Take part in a competition to find fun ways to change other behavior. Entries are being accepted for a contest that ends November 15.
Can we get more people to throw their trash in the bin by making it fun? Can fun encourage more people to sort recyclables? Will more people exercise if it’s fun… Volkswagen says yes, through a set of experiments in a new project called The Fun Theory.
Documenting the effects, their whimsical YouTube videos show that changing people’s behavior is easy — when it’s fun.
The first experiment showed that subway riders’ use of a staircase dramatically rose 66% over normal when the stairs played a tune.
The second experiment showed that people would actually pick up trash surrounding a public bin just so they could dump it, when a fanciful sound effect played every time the litter entered the can. Almost double the amount of trash was collected compared with the bin up the street.
Stay tuned for Volkswagen’s next stunt. They are creating an arcade game that will make it more fun for you to sort recyclables… Watch all the videos below, or at TheFunTheory.com. Take part in a competition to find fun ways to change other behavior. Entries are being accepted for a contest that ends November 15.
Turkey and Armenia may finally be on the verge of reconciliation, after nearly a century of hostile relations between the two nations. On Saturday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Zurich to give a final needed push toward the signing of agreements to establish normalized diplomatic relations between the Turkish and Armenian governments and to reopen the sealed border between them.
The United States has been engaged in the Turkish-Armenian reconciliation process and will “remain ready to work with both governments in support of the process”, which will likely be difficult, requiring ratification from each of the parliaments.
The football diplomacy also resumed as the Armenian president said today that he will attend a football match in Turkey later this week accepting an invitation by his Turkish counterpart to watch the two nations’ teams in the second leg of their World Cup qualifier. Last year the Turkish president watched the first leg of the qualifier in Armenia.
(Armenian and Turkish presidents at May 5 meeting- CC license)
Hollywood actor Orlando Bloom will be working to make the world a better place for young people as he steps into his new role as Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Mr. Bloom, who has starred in the highly successful “Lord of the Rings” and “Pirates of the Caribbean” films, was appointed by UNICEF in recognition of his commitment to the rights of children worldwide.
“We are proud to have Orlando Bloom as one of the strong voices for vulnerable children,” said the agency’s Executive Director, Ann M. Veneman.
The Hollywood actor has already experienced firsthand the work carried out by UNICEF in Nepal, Russia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
If you haven’t increased your vitamin D intake in recent years, you haven’t been reading the recent research — and perhaps your doctor hasn’t either.
Necessary for the body to build strong muscles and absorb calcium, vitamin D has also been found in recent years to play a role in preventing falls among older people, boosting the immune system and helping the body fight depression and headaches.
Meanwhile, the Institute of Medicine is expected to come out with revised dosage recommendations in 2010, increasing the 23-year-old recommendations that are still on the books. (Continue reading in San Mateo County Times)
The world’s oldest female athlete has won a gold medal and broken her own world record in the shot put on the second day of the World Masters Games in Sydney. The 100 year-old pensioner regularly lifts weights, doesn’t eat or smoke, but never eats vegetables.
Watch the Reuters video below, or on their website …
An Irish republican paramilitary group responsible for dozens of murders during Northern Ireland’s three decades of sectarian strife is to officially renounce violence today, reports said.
On the eve of a visit by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Northern Ireland, the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) is expected to say that it will pursue its campaign by peaceful means in the future.
(Continue reading AFP story on Google or at Ireland Online)
Photo: INLA paramilitary group, by Joel Hogberg, 2005
87-year-old goaltender Jim Martin was the oldest player on the ice at the Geriatric Hockey League matchup in Burnaby, B.C.
Cliff Ronning, a former forward for the National Hockey League’s Vancouver Canucks, was the game’s referee. It was inspiring, he said: “To be able to see the passion of these guys at the age of 80, I hope one day I get there and [am] able to put the skates on.”
Kenneth Brown discovered meditation, yoga and Buddhist teachings three months into his 20-year sentence behind bars.
Inmates say meditation — an ancient practice that develops mental awareness and fosters relaxation — is teaching them how to cope in prison.
Programs and workshops educating convicts about meditation and yoga have been sprouting up across the country for at least a decade.
Billionaire George Soros said on Saturday that he would invest $1 billion in clean energy technology as part of an effort to combat climate change.
“I will look for profitable opportunities, but I will also insist that the investments make a real contribution to solving the problem of climate change,” Soros said.
The Dow Chemical Company today unveiled its line of DOW Powerhouse Solar Shingles, revolutionary photovoltaic solar panels in the form of solar shingles that can be integrated into rooftops with a standard asphalt contractor.
Putting the power of solar electricity generation directly and conveniently in the hands of homeowners, Dow will distribute the shingles in limited quantities by mid-2010, and broaden their availability in 2011.
The Powerhouse system integrates low-cost, thin-film CIGS photovoltaic cells into a roofing shingle design, reducing the installation costs of solar panels because the shingles are installed alongside conventional ones simultaneously by roofing contractors — cutting solar’s overall costs. Reuters reports, “Dow is using CIGS cells that operate at higher than 10 percent efficiency, below the efficiencies for the top polysilicon cells — but would cost 10 to 15 percent less on a per watt basis.”
No specialized skills or knowledge of solar array installations are required for roofers. “This is just one example of how Dow’s $1.5 billion annual R&D investment is allowing us to deliver practical solutions for some of the world’s most critical challenges,” said Dow Chairman and CEO Andrew N. Liveris.
Dow’s technology addresses two of the biggest challenges associated with solar power – cost and acceptance.
“This is about providing roof protection and electricity generation all from one product, with lower costs, improved aesthetics, easier installation and long-lasting performance,” said the product specialist.
The Company received $20 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop “building integrated” solar arrays for the residential and commercial markets.The shingles were showcased early last week at an event at Dow’s Michigan at the Company’s headquarters in Midland, Michigan with the governor in attendance: “Making Michigan a leader in manufacturing green energy products continues to be a key part of our economic plan to grow the economy and create jobs,” said Michigan’s Jennifer M. Granholm. “Dow’s solar shingles are another example of local research and development helping grow our green economy.”
Residents of a West Bank village with no electricity have been ushered out of the darkness by an unlikely aid group: Israelis installed solar panels and wind turbines to illuminate the Palestinians’ makeshift homes.
Two Israeli physicists, Elad Orian and Noam Dotan, formed Comet-ME, a group of pro-peace Israeli scientists and activists that brings power to the dusty, desolate shanty towns of Hebron Hills. Now an entire village of 300 people has access to energy that is reliable, free and green.
Comet-ME was selected as one of 12 finalists in the BBC world challenge competition for innovative grassroots projects (watch the video there). Vote online until November 13 to help them carry on their renewable energy projects.
(Continue reading inspiring AP story at USA News)
2,000 unemployed workers in Puerto Rico will be able to attend the Gloria Estefan concert and dance in the upper deck courtesy of the Cuban-born singer who purchased the tickets in a gesture of sypathy for the island’s recession-hit laborers.
In May 1993, Estefan received the Ellis Island Congressional Medal of Honor, which is the highest award given to a naturalized U.S. citizen. She and her husband support many charities including their Gloria Estefan Foundation dedicated to childhood illnesses, paralysis research and animals
In Oslo this morning it was announced that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 will be awarded to President Barack Obama for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” The Committee has attached special importance to Obama’s vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.
In a press release, the Norwegian committee explained their decision:
In every town, big and small, there are people feeling turmoil and fear. Maybe they lost a job, a home, or a loved one. Maybe they struggle with disease or economical hardship. In every case, hope is needed. In every case, hope can be shared with a very simple action.
We hope this homemade sign donated to the local Salvation Army will be viewed at moments when it is needed the most and that it can provide the simple word someone needs in their darkest hour.
The sign reads ‘HOPE’. The Salvation Army Captain in the Wisconsin town had an idea where to put it as soon as he read it. The look on his face showed appreciation, with a touch of bewilderment. This organization sees first hand the struggles of so many people. The reason for the sign is to help lives who are in need of believing in a better tomorrow. A simple word can say so much. Life dishes out hard hits and unjust situations for all of us at one time or another. We hope for an answer, a change of circumstance, or even a miracle. Some are hanging on to hope with all the strength they have.
What would life be like, living with no hope? What would the world be like? I have often heard ‘there is no hope’ for some people or circumstances. I do not believe it. I have seen that things can change.
We spent about 6 hours making the sign. Each letter was cut out, sanded, stained, and made to spell out the word. You’d think that it would be hard to part with something upon which we worked so hard. It wasn’t.
A car was filled with people outside this building. Everything they owned was tied to the top. I felt bad that I could not give more. I wanted to reach in my pocket and give them the money needed. My pockets were empty though. I’ll probably never forget the looks of despair on their faces.
I am not one who can walk away and pretend that I didn’t see someone hurting. I was asked by one of the people if I could help them out with some gas money. I told him that I was flat broke today and had brought only a sign saying the words ‘hope’. I felt stupid and it was clumsy. I was sure they were thinking that ‘hope’ would not fill their gas tank. The answer back I will also always remember “Thank you. Hope is what we need most right now”. With that our lives went two separate directions.
What an uplifting project this would be for craft hobbyists. Maybe someone reading this will work on a similar sign. The places that can use these simple messages are all around us. It will make a difference.
UPDATE: The response received from Captain Brian was what fuels this project.
Thank you so very much. I read your post on the blog and was very touched by it and the comments posted by others. My plan is to place “Hope” in our homeless shelter in such a way that it’s the first thing the residents see as they walk in the doors, ushering them into a place of hope.
–Capt. Brian
This story has also been featured at a website which has brought over 5000 viewers since September 13,2009. Skipping a stone takes on a life of it’s own. Thank you.
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