Scientists are using signals from the brain to enable paralyzed individuals to gain more control over their lives. Recent developments have enabled people to control computers and drive wheelchairs using only their thoughts. In the future, scientists hope that similar technologies will allow paralyzed individuals to control prosthetics or even their own paralyzed limbs with help from artificial circuitry. (CBS News/60 Minutes has the story)
The Vatican Tuesday opened historic inter-faith talks with top Muslim leaders, opening “a new chapter in the long history” of dialogue between the two faiths, two years after Pope Benedict XVI sparked outrage among Muslims for a speech seen as linking Islam with violence.
China and Taiwan signed a landmark accord Tuesday launching economic and financial cooperation to ease six decades of hostilities that often took them to the brink of war. The historic signing ceremony was televised live on both sides.
The incidence of malaria in Gambia fell substantially in five years — between 50 percent and 85 percent from 2003 to 2007 — thanks to insecticide-coated bed nets that protect children.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has signed the decree which will put into effect a long-sought protected area, home to half of all remaining Far-Eastern leopards.
The leopard, also known as the Amur leopard, the only species in the world able to survive long cold periods, is on the brink of extinction with only about thirty surviving members. However, this decree will bring a more concerted protection effort to those already in place.
Two golden retrievers refused to leave the side of their Colorado owner even after 26 days, when he died in the fields having wondered away from home. Such devotion reminds us why dogs are known as Man’s Best Friend.
Click the small arrow at the bottom to watch the video, or read the report at WZZM.
US President George W. Bush has accepted Saudi King Abdullah’s personal invitation to attend a November 13 UN inter-faith conference to promote a global dialogue about religions, cultures and common values, the White House said Wednesday.
Everyone knows crime happens. But there are angels and “Good Samaritans” who come to the rescue reviving our belief that most people care — and care enough to intervene at their own peril. Here is a news report from Kansas City, Missouri that demonstrates such a truth.
3rd UPDATE, NOV 8 The number of votes counted after Nov. 4 has already shattered all records. But the turnout rate appears to be shy of a new record. We won’t know until January.
Some things we do know: 22 of 47 states studied showed increases in turnout this year and Southern states set the biggest records.
The greatest increase in overall turnout was in North Carolina, where 9.4 percent more voters turned out, a record high. Georgia also had a record high turnout, up 6.7 percent, as did South Carolina with a 6.0 percentage point gain. Others setting new records included Alabama, Virginia, Mississippi, and the District of Columbia.
The dramatic increases are attributed to a dramatic rise in Democratic — and especially African-American — voters. North Carolina, Georgia and Virginia recorded huge gains for Democratic voters.
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2nd UPDATE, NOV 5: The overall share of young people in the population voting ticked up a bit, but the youth turnout numbers is not yet available. This figure is the only one which will show if there was an increased percentage turnout of youth voters this year. The youth share as a portion of the total turnout has stayed about the same, 17%, since 1996 because more people of every age have voted. However, youth turnout has grown, from 37% in 1996, to 41% in 2000, to 47% in 2004.
UPDATE: Americans turned out at the polls in record numbers today — unprecedented since women were given the right to vote in 1920. Secretaries of state estimated turnouts may be up to 80 percent or more in big states like Ohio, California, Texas, Missouri, Virginia. Colorado and Maryland.
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Some thoughts from me on election day:
There is a decency that comes through on election day… and an indecency surrounding politics in general that must end. I hope all Americans will start treating others who are of an opposing political party with the respect and benefit of the doubt that is hopeful.
Congratulations to the grassroots of American politics who Got Out the Vote while campaigned decently for their candidate. May we come together in a spirit of improvement and solve our problems while being respectful of each other. Congratulations to John McCain for a gracious concession speech, a wonderful step toward this end.
Enthisiasm which is positive is a powerful force!
(photo by geri – Obama speaks to Manassas crowd of more than 80,000, November 3, 2008)
China’s top negotiator left for Taiwan early Monday for high-level talks in a further sign of warming ties between the traditional foes. The two plan to exchange rare animals, two pandas from China and two Formosan serows in return.
Los Angeles based Fresco Painting School is proud to announce it’s new Video Channel on YouTube featuring video clips and tutorials on fresco painting techniques. The Fresco Video Channel debuts with the release of the detailed video tutorial on plastering tools.
(Right: fresco by Dionisius of St Nicholas)
Inmates of the minimum-security facility, 25 miles from Olympia, the state capital, raise bees, grow organic tomatoes and lettuce, compost 100 percent of food waste and even recycle shoe scraps that are made into playground turf. (Associated Press via Seattle Times)
Mark Johnson is the co-director of a remarkable documentary about the simple but transformative power of music: Playing for Change: Peace Through Music.
“Music is the one thing that opens the door to bringing people to a place where they are all connected,” Johnson told Bill Moyers on the Moyers Journal this month. “Religion, politics, a lot of those things they seem to divide everybody, but it is easy to connect to the world through music.”
Johnson and his film crew traveled the world recording musicians from places as diverse as Israel, South Africa, Venezuela and New Orleans, all playing the same songs together, listening through headphones. The result is a beautiful montage of spirit and music that has led to the building of schools for music in some of the poorest villages on Earth.
Watch this inspiring global rendition of Stand By Me.
Visit the website, playingforchange.com – Thanks to Tosho Bailey for sending the link!
Mark Johnson is the co-director of a remarkable documentary about the simple but transformative power of music: Playing for Change: Peace Through Music. “Music is the one thing that opens the door to bringing people to a place where they are all connected,” Johnson told Bill Moyers on the Moyers Journal this month. “Religion, politics, a lot of those things they seem to divide everybody, but it is easy to connect to the world through music.”
Two United Nations food agencies are putting together a $10.2 million package to help Haitian farmers devastated by recent hurricanes.
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) made the announcement in a statement Monday. The FAO says the aid, which includes a package for seeds and other supplies, should help small farmers whose harvests were wiped out earlier this year.
Crowds came to a sea turtle sanctuary in the Mexican state of Chiapas to help set some 7,000 hatchlings off on their journey into the sea.
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Bangkok Hospital Medical Centre has received an award naming it the Best Global Hospital, at a ceremony in Chicago. The hospital is the only facility outside the US to receive an award at this prestigious event.
HealthLeaders Media announced Bangkok Hospital the award winner in July. Jim Molpus, the Editor-in-Chief, says that the aims of the awards are to make leaders mutually accountable for their hospital’s results. The areas of excellence span from patient satisfaction, to financial performance.
AT&T has announced that they are now offering free Wi-Fi access to iPhone subscribers across the U.S.
FREE AT&T Wi-Fi access is now available for Apple iPhone at thousands of hotspots nationwide, including hotels, bookstores, universities, and all Starbucks.
Customers can locate Wi-Fi spots with AT&T online or can locate a Starbucks spot with this tool.
The Toronto Zoo wants to build a $13 million facility that would turn “zoo poo” into electricity. The staff believes that animal dung can power the facility.
The call for an on site anaerobic digester – using methane gas from animal waste to produce power – is part of the zoo’s new push to become “carbon-neutral.” (The Toronto Star)
Officials from Canada, the U.S. and Mexico have pledged to support a plan to save an endangered porpoise found in one area of Mexico but considered of concern to the entire continent. The vaquita marina species found in the upper Gulf of California is considered to be “critically endangered”.
