"Soon after birth, infants are keen and sophisticated generalists, capable of seeing details in the world that are visible to some other animals but invisible to adults, older children and even slightly older infants, such as…" (Live Science)Thanks to Sergio Orozco for the link!
World War II Heros Meet for Last Time (Video)
America’s 1.8 million World War II veterans, now in their 80’s and 90’s, are dying at the rate of 1,500 a day, but 150,000 of them came together with their families in Washington, D.C., to witness the dedication of the WW II Memorial in 2004. Tune in this weekend as PBS airs a beautiful film that follows a group of these vets, from Air Group 16, who have been meeting as friends for 40 years to reminisce about their experiences and remember their fallen comrades. Through stunning archival footage, period music and dramatic first-person accounts, experience their final reunion during this last great gathering of World War II vets. Poignant, verité cinematography captures the bittersweet moments as Air Group 16 celebrates together, for what will be the last time… (Click Read more to see an amazing VIDEO clip)
Lack of Short-Term Memory Doesn’t Stop New Grad
College freshman Andrew Engel was diagnosed in 1995 with a malignant brain tumor, and after treatment was left without any short term memory. His doctors told him to forget about college, yet he never gave up. He made medical history in an experiment that taught how to store memory by reading things four or five times. Now, after studying at the University of Maryland in Baltimore for 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, never missing a class, Andrew is graduating with a 4.0 average. (Listen to NPR interview)
Encouraging Failure as the Currency of Success
As you develop, grow, and do your best there will be setbacks. In fact you’re going to run headlong into the path of something most of us will go to great lengths to avoid: failure. The important thing to remember is that leadership success comes from failure. Sometimes many, many failures.
Tragically some of us avoid failure by avoiding those activities in which we aren’t sure we can succeed, but here’s the truth: if you aren’t failing at least occasionally, you aren’t doing anything of long-term value for yourself or others…
Sheryl Crow and Son Get Behind UN Food Agency
Sheryl Crow, the American singer-songwriter, has become the latest star to sit in a photo shoot with her new baby in exchange for a large donation to charity. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt sold photos of their newborn last summer raising millions of dollars (GNN-i). Crow, with her newly adopted infant, funneled a donation to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) after being inspired by its ambassador, actress Drew Barrymore, discussing child hunger on CNN.
“I was so struck by this story that our relationship with the WFP was born,” the singer wrote on her blog. She described the moment she learned about “an amazing organization called the World Food Programme” after hearing actress/producer Barrymore on television talk about her new role as a WFP Ambassador against Hunger. She was holding her son at the time and made the donation in the infant’s name.
“Wyatt is now a humanitarian!” said Ms. Crow, whose hits include “All I Wanna Do,” “Soak Up the Sun” and “If It Makes You Happy.”
In an exclusive interview published in this week’s OK! Magazine, the 45-year-old singer praises the agency and its ambassador. “It is absolutely amazing, the number of kids that they feed. They have an unbelievable spokesperson in Drew.”
During her CNN interview, Ms. Barrymore, appointed as ambassador against Hunger earlier this month, gives a moving account of her recent visit to WFP-supported school feeding projects in Kenya.
“In a nutshell, this United Nations non-profit organization feeds millions of starving children at schools in third world countries as an incentive for them to attend school, which in turn might better their futures,” writes Ms. Crow. “They do so much more but I was so struck by this story.”
By providing nutritious meals to over 20 million school children in 71 countries, WFP’s school feeding programme ensures a child’s healthy development and education and gives hope for the future.
Ms. Crow’s blog encourages readers to visit the WFP Web site to make an online donation. For just $21, the agency said, it can feed a child in school for a year.
Photo: CC Wikimedia Commons
The Rise — and Rise — of Consumer Power
A growing tide of health-conscious and environmentally aware consumers are prepared to stop buying products and even protest when companies fail to meet standards, from prices and food labelling to sourcing and ingredients. This week, vegetarians in the UK prevented an animal product from being added to Mars chocolate bars. (BBC)
Thanks to Andrew in the UK for the link!
URGENT: Vote For Good News on Public Radio!
EDITOR’S BLOG
If you haven’t voted for my entry into the National Public Radio’s Talent Quest, please do so by this weekend. That’s when voting ends at the website and ten finalists are chosen for three slots as new on-air hosts. I submitting a two-minute sound file that introduces me along with my proposal for a weekly Top Ten Countdown of Good News.
1368 radio hopefuls are vying for the chance to compete in round two. While nine of them will be chosen by a panel of judges, one of the winners is to be chosen by viewers of the Web site who vote for their favorites. If you want good news on the radio, now is the time to let your voice be heard. Vote NOW by clicking on the banner to the right (I get points if you do) and REGISTER. Then, come back to this page and click on my entry here. You’ll be glad you did!
Boy Who Slept in Trash Bin is Student of The Year
“At one point, he slept in a trash bin to stay warm outside of Jackson, Miss. Today this eleven-year-old is student of the year,” thanks to hard work and a caring relative. “There were times when he told me he’d like to go back to living on the streets because it was easier for him.” (AP)
Smokies To Rid Areas Of Nonnative Plants
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park received special funding this year to remove nonnative plants from 11 wetlands, a Knoxville newspaper reported. If left unchecked, invasive plants introduced here, often by accident — like Kudzu, a fast-growing Asian vine that now smothers some seven million acres in the south — will continue to overtake native species upsetting the delicate balance in America’s most visited National Park. (AP)
Executive on a Mission: Saving the Planet
It hit Ray Anderson like a spear in the chest: “I was running a company that was plundering the earth,” he realized. “I thought, ‘Damn, some day people like me will be put in jail!’” "Today, Interface, the carpet tile company he founded, is on a path to be a sustainable operation that takes nothing out of the earth that cannot be recycled or quickly regenerated, and that does no harm to the biosphere." (Enjoy, the NY Times)
Happiness on Your License Plate
Caroline Miller, besides being a coach and motivational speaker, is also known as “the license plate lady” to her children’s friends who have become accustomed to riding in a car with the mom who suddenly yelps at the sight of a unique vanity plate. Sometimes a camera is thrust into their hands with instructions to zoom in and snap a picture. Caroline uses license plates as a teaching tool about the power of words in shaping our moods…
NYC’s Yellow Cabs to Go Hybrid Within 5 Years
Every yellow taxi cab in New York city will be a fuel-efficient hybrid by 2012, and in the meantime, better gas mileage will be phased in, Mayor Bloomberg announced today. Air quality in the city will certainly improve, global warming slowed. Passenger comfort will be the cost. (CBS-2 NY)
Finding Airfare Bargains Easier With New Websites
New websites, like the easy to use farecast.com, will help you find the lowest of the low airfares, even forecasting when fares will rise or fall. They suggest that you can still find low fares even within 21 days of your flight. (KCAL-TV)
New Fuel for 21st Century – Aluminum Pellets?
Aluminum pellets combined with water may be the answer for automakers who have been searching for an easy way to produce hydrogen as fuel for their environmentally-friendly prototypes. Jerry Woodall, a professor at Purdue University, accidentally discovered the potential energy source when he was cleaning a crucible containing aluminum with water…
NIKE Donates Shoes to Every Teen in New Orleans
The Nike Summer Shoes program kicked off in New Orleans, La., yesterday with a free pair of shoes for every middle and high school student in the city, a donation of more than 13,000 pairs of trainers and high tops. At a gymnasium ceremony, piles of shoe boxes coaxed excitement from teens, many of whom had lost everything in the hurricane two years ago…
18 Year-Old Has Climbed ‘7 Summits’ (Video)
“An 18-year-old California woman has reached the summit of Mount Everest, becoming… the youngest person to scale the highest peaks on each of the seven continents.” (AP)
More info at 7summits.com; Click Read more below to see the video about the adventurous teen who is now off to college…
13-Year-Old CEO Mixes Fun with Science
“The buzz on the expo floor of the big technology conference yesterday was about Silicon Valley gaming startup Elementeo and its precocious 13-year-old founder and chief executive, Anshul Samar. ‘We inject fun into education,’ the fast talking entrepreneur confidently proclaimed, touting his new fantasy role-playing board game which he believes will change the way kids learn chemistry.” (VentureBeat) For example, a card representing Sulfur (right) is a character in an army of chemical elements and compounds that players command. Thanks for the story idea, Nic!
UN to Plant 9 Million Trees in Refugee Areas
The United Nations refugee agency has pledged to plant more than 9 million trees this year in areas of human displacement where refugees have used the trees, wood, bark and leaves for survival. The effort will be coordinated with the UN Billion Trees Campaign, which has already planted 14 million seedlings since November…
