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Urine-Powered Fuel Cells: Pee Power to the People!

2010-09-08T20:03:45Z

Researchers have figured out a way to make the world's first urine-powered fuel cells -- a significant feat, because most fuel cell systems today are too costly to be a source for renewable energy or allow for easy commercial use, especially in poorer developing countries. And, they're safer too. Fuel cells usually rely on flammable hydrogen gas or toxic methanol to generate electricity.

Chemistry researchers at Heriot-Watt University's School of Engineering and Physical Sciences in Edinburgh have developed a cheaper prototype that instead relies on the organic compound urea to create electricity and clean water.

Urea is a mass-manufactured industrial fertilizer as well as a major component of human and animal urine. Dr. Shanwen Tao thought about incorporating urea because he had seen it used as a fertilizer while growing up in eastern China.

MBA Grads who are Optimists Find Jobs Faster and With Less Effort

2010-09-08T15:36:49Z

We've seen the studies that show optimistic people are less likely to get heart and lung disease or breast cancer, and are generally happier.

A new study out this week provides evidence that optimism also helps when looking for a job.

A working paper issued by the National Bureau of Economic Research unveiled a study of MBA students who were looking for a job. The results are in, say the study's authors, business professors Ron Kaniel, Cade Massey, and David T. Robinson: An optimistic disposition is an important factor in job search success.

Using a novel longitudinal data set to track job searches, the researchers found that dispositional optimists experience "significantly better job search outcomes than pessimists with similar skills."

Potomac River Now Healthier Than in '50s, Study Shows

2010-09-08T13:14:38Z

The Potomac River, once so polluted it was labeled a "national disgrace," is now the cleanest it has been in decades - its comeback signaled by the re-growth of large areas of underwater grasses.

A new scientific study, released Tuesday, paints an evocative picture of the Potomac's rebound from the 1960s, when its bottom was bare mud and its algae-choked water was AstroTurf green.

Today, the river is clearer and heavily carpeted with grass. Scientists found that the Potomac's critical grass beds had doubled in size since 1990.

(READ the story in the Washington Post)

Oprah Winfrey Among Five Recipients of 2010 Kennedy Center Honors

2010-09-08T13:05:51Z

In an odd coincidence, on the day before both the 39th anniversary of The Kennedy Center and the 24th anniversary of the first Oprah Winfrey Show, the queen of daytime talk was named one of five recipients of this year's prestigious Kennedy Center Honors.

The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced Tuesday that Oprah Winfrey, along with Paul McCartney, Merle Haggard, dancer-choreographer Bill T. Jones and Broadway lyricist Jerry Herman, will be receiving the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors at a Washington, DC gala in early December.

(READ the story in the Washington Post)

Natural Cosmetics: Ingredients That Deliver Pure Beauty From Nature

2010-09-08T00:41:40Z

Do pure, topical ingredients from nature have any science behind them? As it turns out, yes, many of them do.

Authors of No More Dirty Looks: The Truth About Your Beauty Products and the Ultimate Guide to Safe and Clean Cosmetics have compiled a list of eleven natural ingredients that, when added to your cosmetics regimen, may actually deliver...

Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon Raises $58.9 Million

2010-09-07T13:31:23Z

Despite the struggling economy, officials with the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon say contributions and pledges from this weekend's 45th annual Labor Day event totaled $58.9 million.

"I'm heartened by the unique ability of Americans to help others in need, when they themselves are likely struggling financially," said Lewis, national chairman of MDA.

Through Lewis's telethons, more than 2.5 billion dollars has been raised to help fight neuro-muscular disease.

(READ the AP story via NPR)

Heat From Paris Metro and its Travelers Will Warm Housing Project Above

2010-09-07T11:57:28Z

Heat from trains moving along tracks in the Parisian metro combined with the warmth generated by human bodies will help heat a public housing project in the city center.

The project, which is based on geothermal technology, aims to draw heat from subterranean passages and move it to heat exchangers before supplying heating pipes.

Carbon dioxide emissions should be slashed by a third compared to using a boiler room connected to district heating.

(READ the story in Reuters)

Students Reenact Day When 720 Pupils Walked Out to Protest Inferior Black School

2010-09-07T04:31:29Z

Nearly 60 years ago, and without telling their parents, five high school students led 720 of their fellow pupils on a walkout to protest the inferior facilities at their all-black school in segregated Kinston, North Carolina.

Some mark that peaceful march to the courthouse by Adkin High School students in November 1951 as the start of the Civil Rights Movement.

Over the weekend, a reunion of original students reenacted the protest that eventually succeeded in getting many of their demands met by the school board, like the construction of a gymnasium.

The Unsung Hero Behind the Polluted Rouge River's Rebirth

2010-09-06T17:47:21Z

Ed Bagale was honored with an Unsung Hero Award for his efforts to help transform the Rouge River from among the most polluted bodies of water in Michigan to one that is showing promise.

"We went, in the matter of 10 years, from a river that only one or two days a year had enough oxygen to support life ... to a river that has 27 species of fish swimming around," Bagale said.

Bagale's Rouge River Gateway Partnership convinced a Ford vice president that the company should join the group -- a partnership that influenced Ford's $2-billion renovation of its Rouge plant. It was turned into a model for green and sustainable industrial development.

(READ story in the Detroit Free Press)

German Woman Gets to Thank American in Person for Post-WWII CARE Packages

2010-09-06T15:41:05Z

A now-67-year-old German woman finally got to thank in person an 88-year-old American woman for her middle-class family's generosity toward 'the enemy' after World War II.

The American family had made sure that life was just a bit more bearable for a German war widow and her young daughter, by sending 70 boxes of clothes, food and supplies --one every month, or so, for years.