The United Nations is citing dramatic improvements in security in Haiti, saying that a larger, more potent police force has pushed the crime rate down and broken the hold of armed gangs over large sections of the country.
Good News on Security in Haiti
Read All About it: New Car Runs on Air
It’s not every day that we get to drive a car that could change the world. Then again, maybe this is just another bizarre footnote in the rush to develop zero-emissions vehicles.
This car runs on air, taking 2 minutes to fill up giving a 100 mile range. Cost is just 2 cents a mile and it emits zero pollution. No expensive batteries ever need to be replaced. They’re fun to drive with fast steering response and come in 3-or-4-wheeled versions. Filling stations are much cheaper to set up than hydrogen power (it’s just a very powerful air pump). Plans for extending range and power include running gasoline and air combined, with the addition of a small device.
The 2010 MDI AIRPod emits no emissions and runs on nothing but compressed air. Yes, it sounds like another one of those crackpot inventions, but we traveled to Nice, France, for an exclusive test of the world’s only “air car.” And here at the research and development center of Luxembourg-based Motor Development International (MDI), the AIRPod seems like more than just a bright idea.
(Continue reading the review at Edmunds.com)
Woman Finds Cabbie is a Kidney Match
Taxi driver Thomas Chappell has a favorite new passenger. After driving the Arizona woman to regular dialysis appointments, he suddenly shocked her with his offer to donate a kidney. But even more shocking to her, doctors said they couldn’t have been better matched unless they were siblings.
Attorney Gives Jena 6 Teen Chance at New Life
An attorney in the racially-charged trial of the Jena-6 rescued the youngest of the incarcerated youth, bringing him to New York to live with his family.
In the Deep South, Jesse Ray Beard said he was constantly in trouble — even when he behaved. Now he is 18, interns at a New York law firm, and prepares for his senior year at Canterbury School, a prep academy where he is highly regarded among peers and teachers.
Watch the video below, or read the story and watch the video at CBS:
Who Needs Gasoline if You Have Old Beer?
How would you like to have a fuel pump right next your house supplying “organic e-fuel” for your car made from old beer and wine? Well, that’s exactly what inventors of the E-Fuel MicroFueler in California are providing.
Sugar may be the key to fueling your car cheaply and efficiently, and there’s support for the idea in government and industry: MicroFueler buyers are eligible for a $5,000 tax credit when buying the pump.
Former L.A. Laker Shaquille O’Neal is an investor in the system’s distributor, Green House Energy, which brings the ethanol waste mix in a truck to your pump at home.
Watch the video below, or read the story from the L.A. Times.
Post to FACEBOOK, or send to any friend (need not be a subscriber to view), by clicking here!
Who Needs Gasoline if You Have Old Beer?
How would you like to have a fuel pump right next your house supplying “organic e-fuel” for your car made from old beer and wine? Well, that’s exactly what inventors of the E-Fuel MicroFueler in California are providing.
Sugar may be the key to fueling your car cheaply and efficiently, and there’s support for the idea in government and industry: MicroFueler buyers are eligible for a $5,000 tax credit when buying the pump.
Former L.A. Laker Shaquille O’Neal is an investor in the system’s distributor, Green House Energy, which brings the ethanol waste mix in a truck to your pump at home.
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Watch the video below, or read the story from the L.A. Times.
POST to FACEBOOK, or other social networking sites, with links below…
College Adventurers Row for a Cause
Two college rowers with engineering backgrounds decided to travel 2000 miles in a self-designed rowboat from Cleveland to Key West, and work on Habitat homes along the way.
Watch the video below, or at CBS Evening News.
Using Solar Heat to Cool Office Buildings
Everyone knows solar power can heat homes and generate electricity.
But on a rooftop in Downey, Southern California Gas Co. engineers are using solar mirrors to cool down their offices.
Engineers are testing two technologies from HelioDynamics that use mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto pipes with water running through them. The heated water powers a thermal process in a chiller that cools the cold water used in air conditioning units.
Solar Cell Phones Take Off in Developing Nations
Kenya’s biggest mobile phone company, Safaricom Ltd., launched the nation’s first solar-charged phone this month. The handset comes with a regular electrical charger and a solar panel that charges the phone using the sun’s rays.
Retailing at about $35, Safaricom plans to make 100,000 of the phones available in the first wave, and expects to sell out in a week.
Image by Sun Star
Wikimedia Receives $500,000 Grant
The nonprofit organization that operates Wikipedia has received a $500,000 grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to expand its effort to make educational information freely accessible.
“The enormous popularity of Wikipedia and its collaborative premise make the Wikimedia Foundation an ideal vehicle for spreading the open educational resources movement,” Barbara Chow, director of the education program at Hewlett, said in a statement.
Reverse Pick-pockets Distribute Money on the Sly
Talk Talk, a British phone and broadband provider, has hired a team of 20 ex-pickpockets to put money into Londoners pockets on the sly. They call it Put-Pocketing, the act of secretly putting money into someone’s pocket without them noticing.
The video below illustrates the game. On the tube or on the street, money – ranging from a £5 to a £20 note – is placed in the pocket with an attached note from the project sponsors, TalkTalk.
Former pickpocket and now “Head of Put-Pocketing”, Chris Fitch, said: “It feels good to give something back for a change – and Britons certainly need it in the current economic climate. Every time I put money back in someones pocket I feel less guilty about the fact I spent many years taking it out. Put-Pocketing is just as much of a challenge, and requires all the same stealth and skills.”
Mark Schmid of TalkTalk said “with so many scams out there, Britons have become very sceptical of companies giving money away so we have turned to Put-Pocketing to give something back. Whilst unconventional, we dont think anyone is going to mind finding a crisp £20 in their pocket courtesy of the activity.”
Put-Pockets are given a specific ID to show to public if caught in the act, and have plain-clothed minders who will intervene to calm and explain the situation if spotted. In addition, the Metropolitan police have been briefed on the activity so Put-Pockets aren’t arrested. However, to date, no-one has been caught red-handed.
The Put-Pocketing initiative has been piloted in London since July 1st, and will continue until the end of August before being rolled out nationwide to major UK cities. (Talk Talk blog)
Dog Takes New York Art World by Storm
Tillamook Cheddar is one talented canine, showing off his talents, painting up a storm in a New York studio and making a pretty penny to boot.
Watch video (with ad) below, or at ClipSyndicate …
Professional Makeovers Lift the Homeless (Video)
A South Florida businessman Frank Kelly learns that homeless people are not unworthy of good jobs, they simply have lost hope.
Through mock interviews, speaker training, and clothing makeovers, Kelly’s Project Vacant Streets prepares homeless citizens for new jobs. Dozens of success stories prove his method and highlight the goals of the Community Partnership for Homeless in Miami.
Ohio GM Plant Reopens After Summer Shutdown
2,200 people are back to work at General Motors’ Lordstown Assembly Plant in northeast Ohio, the result of a surge in sales at least partly due to the government’s “Cash for Clunkers” incentive program. GM announced this week that they will be joined by nearly 1,100 more this fall. (Continue reading or listen to the story at NPR)
Elsewhere, Hyundai is bringing 3,000 workers back to an Alabama plant, and Ford is increasing production of its vehicles.
New Cancer Drug Zaps Cells Before They Spread
A cancer drug that destroys the deadly cells which give birth to tumours has been developed by U.S. scientists.
It has already worked against breast cancer and offers hope to those with cancer of the prostate, skin or bowel.
The drug selectively kills cancer stem cells which help tumors grow and spread the disease through the body. Unlike other cancer cells, stem ‘mother’ cells are resistant to radiotherapy and chemotherapy, allowing cancer to return after treatment.
AmeriCorps Hiring Largest Class in 16 Years
The Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency created in 1993 to engage Americans in service, today announced grants to eight organizations including funds to hire 553 new AmeriCorps members.
The additional staff will teach and tutor at-risk youth, construct homes, promote health in rural and immigrant communities, expand parental involvement in schools, provide elder services, and mobilize and manage other volunteers.
Yesterday’s announcement puts AmeriCorps on track to support nearly 75,000 members, the largest class in its 16-year existence.
The eight grants, which total more than two million dollars, will support national service work as well as local programs in Alaska, Maryland, Ohio, and Wisconsin that were selected in a nationwide competition after being recommended by Governor-appointed commissions.
Street Turned Into Life-size Candy Land Game
Dozens of children in San Francisco played a life-sized board game to celebrate Candy Land’s 60th birthday, along a quarter mile of the famous zig-zagging Lombard Street.
It was also a trip down memory lane for adults. The winners took home, what else, candy.
Watch the video below, or at TheNewsRoom.com…
The Northern City of Peace and Prosperity in Afghanistan
U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry traveled to a place that offers a vision of a different future for Afghanistan, peaceful and prosperous: the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif.
Governor Atta Mohammad is the man who is credited with making this entire province secure enough to prosper after he helped drive out the Taliban. He is one of the most successful examples of a warlord, turned politician. An educated man, striding through the bazaar in a well-tailored suit alongside the American ambassador.
“There’s prosperity. There’s hope. There’s order there,” said Eikenberry. “And yes, it should give us confidence that if we can get the government up and running in parts of the country where there is insecurity right now, yeah, I’d leaved a place like Mazar-e-Sharif saying that it’s possible to get things quite right in this country.”
Autistic Teens Master Social Cues, Find Friends
Autism is a poorly understood brain condition which affects the way people communicate and interact with others. In the PEERS class (Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relationship Skills) autistic teens are learning to work around their challenge.
Watch the video below or at TheNewsRoom.com…
Chihuahua Rescues Neighbors from Fire
A tiny Chihuahua’s yapping is credited with waking up neighbors in an Oregon apartment complex on Tuesday as a fire broke out.
“Jack started barking and I told him, ‘Go back to sleep,’ but he wouldn’t give up and I saw all the flames and woke my husband up.”
