An inner city public high school consisting of poor students — mostly immigrants — has become a remarkable example of what a school can do. One hundred percent of the students graduate, and almost all go to some of the nation’s top colleges. Noble Street College Prep is one of seven in Chicago’s network of charter school campuses on which longer school days, longer school years and mandatory weekend tutoring prepare the students for college. Dress codes are part of life for the small student body, under 500 kids per school. (Read or listen to the report at National Public Radio)
Chicago Charter Schools Defy Expectation for Poor Students
2 Share Nobel Prize for Work on AIDS and Cancer
Three European scientists shared the 2008 Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for separate discoveries of viruses that cause AIDS and cervical cancer, breakthroughs that helped doctors fight the deadly diseases. They will share the prize money.
(Associated Press)
Russian Troops Start Dismantling Their Posts in Georgia
Russian troops began dismantling positions Sunday in the so-called security zones inside Georgia they have occupied since August’s brief but intense war, a Georgian Interior Ministry official said. (Oct. 5 Video)
Aussies Save Man From Car’s Icy River Plunge
A street sweeper who helped save a driver whose car plunged into a Gold Coast river says he is not a hero. “Undoubtedly, without the help of these three people from the Gold Coast community, that victim would have drowned,” he said. (News.com.au in Australia)
Man Decorates Basement with $10 Worth of Sharpie Pens
This makes me want to start doodling on my walls. . . A central Kentucky man decorates his cream color walls with Sharpie drawings of columns, bookshelves and more. Great panoramic (VR) photos at the Lexington Herald-Leader website… (Tip: Make the picture move faster by grabbing and dragging with your mouse)
Man Becomes Hero to Nation of Farmers
Almost everyone knows Shykh Seraj in Bangladesh, where farming offers a lifeline to most of its 140 million people, half of whom live on less than one U.S. Dollar a day.
He teaches impoverished farmers how to better work their fields and rise above grinding poverty.
A decade ago the journalist, interested in agriculture, launched a TV show and YouTube channel, more recently, focusing on farmers and giving solutions for their problems.
“Every day there is new reports, new techniques, and new crops.”
1875 Pound Pumpkin Headed for World Record
A Taunton Massachusetts man is an extreme gardener, growing a 1,800-pound pumpkin, according to his estimate, that he plans to have weighed Oct. 11. He’s going for a spot in the Guinness World Records. (Taunton Daily Gazette) Refresh your page if you don’t see the photo of the pumpkin patch … Thanks to Sun Star for the link.
90,000 Homes To Be Powered By Chicken Manure
The world’s largest biomass power plant running exclusively on chicken manure has opened in the Netherlands, converting one-third of all chicken manure residue there into green energy. The power plant will deliver renewable electricity to 90,000 households. (Environmental News Network)
Plant Tweak Could Let Toxic Soil Feed Millions with New Crops
Thanks to a genetic breakthrough, a large portion of Earth’s now-inhospitable soil could be used to grow crops — potentially alleviating one of the most pressing problems facing the planet’s rapidly growing population. Scientists at the University of California, Riverside made plants tolerant of poisonous aluminum by tweaking a single gene. This may allow crops to thrive in the 40 to 50 percent of Earth’s soils currently rendered toxic by the metal. (Wired Magazine online )
New Machine Scrubs CO2 From the Air
University of Calgary climate change researchers say they are close to figuring out how to commercialize the capture of carbon dioxide directly from the air with a simple system that could be set up anywhere in the world.
If they can make it work, it would allow greenhouse gas to be removed from ambient air and reduce the effect of emissions from transportation sources such as cars and airplanes.
(Read the full story in CBC News)
(Right- University of Calgary climate change scientist David Keith with his CO2 scrubber. (University of Calgary))
New Machine Scrubs CO2 From the Air
University of Calgary climate change researchers say they are close to figuring out how to commercialize the capture of carbon dioxide directly from the air with a simple system that could be set up anywhere in the world.
If they can make it work, it would allow greenhouse gas to be removed from ambient air and reduce the effect of emissions from transportation sources such as cars and airplanes.
(Read the full story in CBC News)
(Right- University of Calgary climate change scientist David Keith with his CO2 scrubber. (University of Calgary))
4.2 Million New Green Jobs Predicted
A major shift to renewable energy and efficiency is expected to produce 4.2 million new environmentally friendly “green” jobs over the next three decades, according to a study commissioned by the nation’s mayors. The report makes “a very compelling economic argument for investing in the green economy and that we’re going to get a huge return for it.” (Associated Press at MSNBC)
Southern California Ports Clean up Polluting Trucks
The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, comprising the busiest U.S. cargo complex, launched a landmark clean-air program Wednesday banning some 2,000 older trucks blamed for half the pollution spewed by the ports’ diesel haulers. (Full report at Reuters News )
Once a Stutterer, James Earl Jones Gets Lifetime Achievement Award for Vocal Career
James Earl Jones, who remained mute as a child because of a stuttering problem, but went on to give voice to some of entertainment’s most memorable characters, will receive the 2008 Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award for a vocal tenor that is “without peer.” (Associate Press has a good article, too)
Leo, Ellen, Halle And More Celebs’ New Message: Don’t Vote (Video)
Don’t vote? A new public service announcement uses big-time celebrities and reverse psychology to urge citizens to vote.
Leonardo DiCaprio, Halle Berry, Jennifer Aniston, Tobey Maguire, Eva Longoria Parker and other stars “just say no” to young people to get them into voting booths on election day.
In a new public service announcement that hit YouTube and other online outlets Wednesday, DiCaprio says: “Please — just don’t vote.” Others echo his plea: “Don’t vote.”
But the stars soon twist the message: Voting is a civic duty and the only way to effect change.
“I mean, seriously, … after this whole video — if you’re not gonna vote, I don’t even know what to say. … You know you have to vote,” says DiCaprio, who produced the PSA.
Also appearing: Ellen DeGeneres, Forest Whitaker, Dustin Hoffman, Demi Moore, Sarah Silverman, Jonah Hill, Ashton Kutcher, Courteney Cox, Laura Linney, Natalie Portman, Jamie Foxx, Usher, Kyra Sedgwick and will.i.am.
Celebrating Amazing Weight Loss
Patients of weight-loss surgeries celebrated their slimming success by throwing a red carpet party. Their success stories include more exercise, eating healthier, and diseases and symptoms subsiding. Amazing “before and after” photos… (on the video below)
Nevada’s First Green Convenience Store
Nevada’s first full-sized alternative fuel station and LEED-certified convenience store opened in Minden Tuesday. With solar panels and skylights, bamboo shelving and biofuels, the idea was to “take a Whole Foods market, and shrink it down to the size of a 7-Eleven.”
A Good News Network fan submitted the story link and said a friend of theirs stopped in to the store yesterday, the second customer for Don Bently, owner of Bently Biofuels Outpost.
“She was told that if there was anything natural that she would normally get from a health food store or order online, just to let them know and they will order it for her… so we’re very excited.”
California Launches Broad Effort to Control Hazardous Chemicals
California on Monday launched the most comprehensive program of any state to regulate chemicals that have been linked to cancer, hormone disruption and other deadly effects on human health. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the broad laws…. (Read more in the Lost Angeles Times)
Stars Gather to Honor Britain’s Citizen Heroes
The annual Pride of Britain Awards were held last night to pay tribute to hero members of the public whose selfless, courageous and caring acts earn them honors from the stars of stage, screen and society. (The Daily Mail, which sponsors the awards, has the full story of the heroes)
Also, take a look back at the last ten years of award-winners at this link.
Caring Makes Us Human — Even the Prisoners
“After more than two decades in prison, I know that kindness is not a value that’s encouraged. It’s often seen as weakness.” But, when a cat wandered into the prison yard, normally gruff men turned into pussy cats, and a lesson was seared into the heart of Troy Chapman. “There’s a lot of talk about what’s wrong with prisons in America … but I think what we really need is a chance to practice kindness ourselves. Not receive it, but give it.” (Read or listen to the essay at NPR)