Hero Water Taxi Captain Jumps Into Action to Save Man

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Mar 19, 2015

A dramatic video recorded by a passenger captures the tense moments when a water taxi captain helps save an unconscious man from the Charleston Harbor.

Responding to an emergency call, the South Carolina captain, Matt Balasso, spotted three men struggling in the water. One of the men had fallen overboard in a medical emergency and the two others were working hard to keep him afloat without sinking.

The crew needed the help of strong passengers to pull the big man onto the pontoon boat’s deck.

The video, shot by a passenger ordered to stay in the stern, was posted by the company, Charleston Water Taxi, on their Facebook page.

(WATCH the video or READ the story from KAIT-8 TV)

Photo credit: Vicki Schroeder/YouTube

The Most Fun Use of Foreign Pocket Change in Airports to Aid a Charity

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Terry Turner

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Mar 19, 2015

Ever step off a plane and realize you have a pocket full of foreign change?

The Swedish Red Cross and airport operator, Swedavia, have come up with an idea to take care of those spare coins while supporting a good cause — and letting travelers have a little fun while waiting for buses or baggage.

They’ve turned the vintage arcade games, Ms. Pac-Man, Space Invaders and Galaga, into donation boxes at two airports, Stockholm Arlanda and Göteborg Landvetter. Visitors waiting at baggage claim areas can use their spare quarters and euros to set a new high score. People waiting for a flight can try to top that score while getting rid of unspent krona.

You can use whatever coins you have and every cent, euro, or yen goes straight to the Swedish Red Cross, which had traditional donation boxes in the airports for years.

Red Cross spokesman Morgan Olofsson told Euronews the idea of adding retro arcade games to the mix is “a fun new way to also reward people who make a donation – a win-win, so to speak.”

Well, “win-win” until someone beats your high score.

(WATCH the video below, or READ more at Euronews)

Power Cables a Thing of the Past? How About Solar Energy Beamed From Space?

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Kristy Cooper

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Mar 19, 2015

Annoyed with power lines that can be knocked over by trees, rain and wind? The Japanese might get rid of them for good, now that they’ve discovered how to deliver energy by wireless transmission.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, in cooperation with a Japanese government nonprofit foundation, announced they have successfully tested wireless power transmission using microwaves and lasers.

It is the core of their 6-year-old “Space Solar Power System” project, which seeks to use a satellite in low-earth orbit equipped with solar panels to generate power and transmit it to earth.

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During the ground test, MIH scientists sent 10 kilowatts (kW) of power, or enough to power 10 laptop computers, from a transmitting unit via microwaves. A small receiver 500 meters away captured the energy and powered a LED light.

Scientists say this is a major milestone for wireless power transmission. Although a small amount of energy was used, the demonstration proved it could be done. They also successfully tested “radio emission technology,” which ensured the microwave beam reached the target receiver with pinpoint accuracy.

Typically, we depend on power cables to transmit electricity from one place to another. This technology allows the transmission of power to locations where cable installation has been difficult or dangerous. Once fully achieved, the energy-poor country aims to transmit over unprecedented distances, sending solar energy from a stationary satellite.

Meanwhile, everyday applications, such as charging electric vehicles, are on the five-year plan.

MIH scientists are excited this discovery will possibly lead to a “renewable, inexhaustible source that will eventually solve the world’s environmental and energy issues”. However, NASA has been investigating the possibilities of a space-based solar system for several decades, and estimate the cost of electricity supplied from an orbiting solar array to be too expensive to be commercially viable.

Photo (bottom) by Claudio Schwartz – (CC)

Town Closes Road for Two Months to Help This Wee Endangered Species

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Good News Network

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Mar 19, 2015

For the fourth time, a city in Canada has decided to help out some slow amphibians by closing a road for two months during their migration period.

Jefferson salamanders live in forests along both sides of the road in Kitchener, where declining populations are protected by Ontario’s Endangered Species Act.

But every spring, they used to get squashed crossing Stauffer Drive to get to the temporary ponds formed one one side by melting snow.

(READ the story in the CBC)

Photo: spotted salamander by Dave Huth (CC)

Police Rescue Four Parakeets From Plastic Bag

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Good News Network

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Mar 18, 2015

Costa Rican locals in Guanacaste alerted police that a trafficker was selling parakeets out of a tightly closed plastic bag on Saturday.

“Police arrested the man and saved the chatty green birds before any suffocated,” reported The Tico Times March 16.

When the tropical birds were safe in police custody — on an officer’s desk — this photo was taken. Wildlife officials currently are caring for the birds and plan to release them back into the wild.

(Source: The Tico Times)

Watch Radical New 3-D Printer Create Mini Eiffel Tower From A Gooey Pool

By

Terry Turner

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Mar 18, 2015

Watching a 3-D printer crank out its product, layer upon layer, can be like watching paint dry.

But a radical new process promises 3-D printing speeds 25 to 100 times faster — and it’s more like watching a creature emerge from primordial ooze.

Carbon3D has rolled out a process it calls “Continuous Liquid Interface Production” — or CLIP. The company announced the new process with both a TED Talk and paper published in the journal Science this week.

“We think that popular 3-D printing is actually misnamed — it’s really just 2-D printing over and over again,” Joseph DeSimone, a chemistry professor in North Carolina, and one of Carbon3D’s co-founders, told the Washington Post.

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That’s because Current 3-D printing methods slowly build objects layer-by-layer. Not only does that take forever, it also means the finished object is going to have structural weaknesses built in — the layers can slip and slide against each other.

CLIP creates a solid object. It uses light and oxygen to turn a mechanical printing process into a photochemical one. This new process fires bursts of light and oxygen through a tiny window — only microns across — the size of two or human cells.

The light hardens resin, the oxygen keeps it from hardening. A careful, high-speed balance between when the printer uses light and when it uses oxygen allows it to craft intricately detailed objects. On top of that, the finished objects are all in one piece, not simply stacked layers that could result in tiny sharp edges.

And, as the company video shows, the finished object appear to rise out of a pool of goo.

(WATCH the video, showing the creation of a mini Eiffel Tower, below)

SHARE the Story (below) / Photo credit: Carbon3D

Lifeguards in Chile Use Drones to Help Swimmers

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Good News Network

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Mar 18, 2015

Another example of a drone being used as a lifesaver—rather than a killer— is being tested on the beaches of Algarrobo in Chile.

Like the RTS Labs drone that was tested on beaches in Iran last fall (in this video on GNN), this one can speed toward a potential drowning victim, reaching them faster with a life preserver than a swimmer could.

The drones are controlled from the beach and outfitted with a float, camera, microphone, and speaker and intended for operation by lifeguards.

(WATCH the AP video below)

Photo via YouTube / Story tip from Mike McGinley

Life-sized Thomas the Tank Engine Chugs Into Fans’ Hearts (Video)

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Kristy Cooper

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Mar 18, 2015

Japan is known for its high-speed bullet trains and old-fashioned locomotives, which still tug at our hearts. But, nothing compares to the attention this life-sized Thomas the Tank Engine has received since last summer.

The happy-faced blue locomotive has been a huge hit, with children and adults riding the fully-working version of Thomas through the stunning mountains and resorts of Shizuoka Prefecture.

In order to maintain interest in steam trains and beef up tourism, owners of the Oigawa Railway worked with the Sony Creative Products distribution company to make an identical version of the beloved children’s character, complete with his trademark white smoke and whistle. (Watch the video and read more below)

Well known for having unusual and vintage locomotives, Oigawa built the Thomas replica over the shell of a C11-227 steam locomotive. Another steam engine was used to create Thomas’ Japanese buddy Hiro.

Spokesman Tsuguto Nishi told the Daily Mail, “I am not surprised Thomas and his friends are also present here, after all, they come from the island of Sodor, and Japan is an island, as well, with beautiful countryside.”

Making his debut in 1946, Thomas was the most popular character in the U.K.-based railway series books by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry and his son Christopher.

British television producer Britt Allcroft saw the books in 1979 and soon created the stop-animation phenomenon called, Thomas & Friends. Voiced by the Beatles’ Ringo Starr and comedian George Carlin, the children’s show became a worldwide hit.

Thomas and his pals remain extremely popular, with theme parks in Japan and Europe, and a brand new “Thomas Land” opening this summer in the United States. Backers are hopeful that the newest version, located in Edaville, Massachssetts, will become a national attraction with an attendance of over 1 million yearly.

SHARE the story (below) – Photo credit: Ruptly/YouTube

What This Inspiring Store Clerk Gave a Stranger Now Hangs on Her Wall

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Good News Network

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Mar 18, 2015

Heather Hogeboon wants the whole world to know about a good deed—an inspiring act of kindness by a young shop clerk at Spencer’s, who bought a gift for a stranger in his store.

Fighting the good fight against breast cancer for nine years, Heather wears pink a lot. The 43-year-old is now dealing with the version that is called stage four, metastasized.

She was feeling very cheeky on Saturday—out on the town in Plattsburgh, New York with friends who surprised her in a limo and took her to dinner. They even decided to have some fun at a Spencer’s Gifts store. (Anyone who’s been to a Spencer’s shop might have turned a shade of pink themselves, after seeing the gag gifts and Playboy decor in their 600 stores.)

The zumba dancer was being her “usual fun self” when a manager came over and said an employee had asked if he could buy her a pink bandana. “Of course,” she said, and headed over to meet Austin.

“This young man opened his wallet and paid for this hot pink bandana for me,” she recalled.

But, that wasn’t the end of it...

Six Photos That Will Restore Your Faith in Humanity – and Cops

She was impressed and happy, but it wasn’t until after she asked a friend to snap a photo, and arrived back home, that something dropped out of the folded scarf and left her speechless.

Austin had slipped a note inside and it read (with a smiley face drawing):

Keep fighting the good fight. You’re an inspiration, Austin

“This note (and bandana) means so much to me that I tacked it to the wall next to my bed,” she said speaking with the Good News Network by telephone. “And, for a young person to do this . . .”

Because she is a big fan of “paying it forward, and paying it back,” she made three phone calls, climbing the chain of command at Spencer’s to try to get Austin officially acknowledged for his good deed.

After talking with the regional manager of New York, she called the corporate headquarters.

“That lady said she has never heard of anything like this before, (and) she is going to see that he receives an employee recognition badge and a Spencer’s gift card.”

Heather, who is also a published poet, intends to send the young gentleman a thank-you note and a copy of the photo so he can remember the moment.

She told GNN, “I wanted this story to go viral, to show other young people what they can do with their compassion —It helps others.”

“He is an inspiration to me!”

Tiny Library in Dr. Who Box Restored for Neighbors by Random Kindness

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Good News Network

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Mar 17, 2015

A mini library shaped like the blue police call box of Doctor Who fame began serving free stories and smiles last summer in a Saskatoon neighborhood. But the pay-it-forward library attracted its own criminal activity (the non-fiction sort) when on New Year’s Eve vandals struck and destroyed it.

Sarah Cochrane and her husband had converted a cupboard into the whimsical community library and mounted it on their Westmount neighborhood fence, where adults and kids would freely borrow and donate books.

‘Doctor Who’ Sends Heartwarming Message to Grieving Fan

“It’s been fantastic,” Cochran told CBC news. “There’s a lot of kids that come and they’ll sit underneath the library and pull books out and they’ll be reading right underneath the library.”

When local woodworker Dave Balderstone heard about the vandalism, he was so angry that he decided to rebuild the mini TARDIS for free.

The new library was unveiled on Sunday afternoon at Cochran’s home and the BBC television network, creator of the Doctor Who series, donated several books to the project after hearing about the story.

WATCH the video below. (READ more from the CBC)

SHARE the story with friends (below) / Story tip from Murray Lindsay

Be a Firefighter at the NYC Fire Museum, For Kids & Adults of All Ages

By

Lawrence Kreger

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Mar 17, 2015

Like a lot of other kids, I wanted to be a firefighter when I grew up (among other things).

I think I realized along the way that firefighting, while exciting, is also very stressful and dangerous and not everyone is cut out for it, to say the least. But the allure of it has always remained with me.

The NYC Fire Museum on Spring Street is a cheerful and interactive place with retired firemen as guides and a lot of cool exhibits. You can see old fire engines, helmets, and the like, and there is a special demonstration for kids on fire safety and what to do in a smoky situation.

They also encourage you to put on firefighter gear and swing a wooden axe! (I posted it on Facebook and, of course, my friends got a big kick out of it, too.) Retired fireman John took my picture (above) and also shot a short video clip of me (below).

The museum is celebrating the 150-year anniversary of the NY Fire Department this year. They also have a lecture series there.

T he Museum is located at 278 Spring Street in Soho in Manhattan— an interesting neighborhood and accessible by subway, especially the C train which stops next door. Admission is inexpensive.

It is not a really big place, but lots of fun. They also host children’s parties. I think the adults there are having as much, if not more, fun than the kids.

My video of the visit is below:

SHARE this Review, below

Watch This Eagle-Cam Nose Dive From the World’s Tallest Building

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Kristy Cooper

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Mar 17, 2015

Darshan, the imperial eagle, had quite a view to accompany his record-breaking flight from the world’s tallest building last Saturday.

With a small Sony Action Mini camera strapped to his back, Darshan dove 2,700 feet from the top of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, to his handler on the ground.

Broadcast live by the BBC, the flight from a bird’s-eye-view was organized by the group, Freedom Conservation to raise awareness for endangered birds of prey. The organization says it’s the highest-ever recorded bird flight from a man-made structure.

“The eagle is a signal that things can change. It was once endangered, but after conservation programs it is not so endangered,” the group’s director, Ronald Menzel told the BBC.

Freedom Conservation has also recorded birds soaring from other landmarks with breathtaking views, including St. Paul’s Cathedral in London and the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

The French falconer, Jacques-Olivier Travers, also known as the Man Who Flies With Eagles, called the bird’s descent “perfect.”

(WATCH the bird’s-eye view below, or READ more from BBC News)

SHARE this Eagle Experience with your Friends (below) / Photos from Freedom Conservation

Irish Town Builds Memorial to Thank Native Americans Who Helped During the Potato Famine

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Good News Network

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Mar 17, 2015

A sculpture was erected in Ireland to thank a Native American tribe for sending what little money they could to the Irish people suffering from starvation at the height of the Great Famine more than 160 years ago.

On March 23, 1847 the Choctaw Native American tribe, who had known great hardship during their forced march to Oklahoma, collected whatever spare money they could and sent $170 to Ireland through a charity relief group.

To remember their generosity and friendship, a huge stainless steel sculpture of nine eagle feathers was installed in Midleton, County Cork, on a grassy expanse in the town’s Bailic Park.

The Choctaw people donated the money 16 years after they, and other tribes, were forced from their homelands in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida and made to walk 500 miles along what is now known as The Trail of Tears. Many of the frailest perished due to disease, malnutrition and exposure during one of the coldest winters on record.

In today’s money, the $170 sacrificed by the Choctaw would be close to $4200.

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The Cork sculptor, Anex Penetek, talked about his $110,000 creation, “Kindred Spirits,” telling the Irish Examiner, “I wanted to show the courage, fragility and humanity that they displayed.”

Choctaw leaders were invited to the grand unveiling in 2017.

“The bond between our nations has strengthened over the years,” Chief Batton said. “We are blessed to have the opportunity to share our cultures, and meet the generous people who have continued to honour a gift from the heart.”

(READ the update, and see photos, via the Irish Examiner)

SHARE this Inspiring Story in Honor of St. Patrick’s Day…

Just One Man Remains in Fukushima Radiation Zone – He’s Feeding All the Animals Left Behind

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Good News Network

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Mar 16, 2015

NaotoMatsumuraWithDogsInNuclearZone_FBphotoNaotoMatsumura — Naoto Matsumura's Facebook Page

Naoto Matsumura is adamant: “Animals and people are equal.”

That’s why the 55-year-old rice farmer returned to the Fukushima exclusion zone after being forced to evacuate. Despite warnings about high levels of radiation, he wanted to check on his family’s farm dogs.

In the wake of the devastating March, 2011 earthquake and subsequent melt-down of the nuclear reactor in their hometown, most people left their pets behind, expecting to return in a few days.

When Matsumura defied government orders and returned to Tomioka, he discovered his neighbor’s dogs still tied up, starving and begging for help. Touched by the suffering, he decided to stay behind and care for all the area’s abandoned animals— pets, as well as, ducks, pigs, ostriches, cattle and a pony.

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One pooch he found had been locked in a barn for an entire year surviving only on the remains of dead cattle. Matsumura named him Kiseki or “Miracle.”

Every day for four years he’s been exposed to high levels of radiation. In fact, a University of Tokyo doctor said after an examination, his body contained the highest amount of radiation of any person in Japan. But, he also told Matsumura that he wouldn’t feel any symptoms for some 30-40 years.

“So the animals and I are staying here,” he told a documentary filmmaker last year.

They welcome occasional visitors, like journalists and crews of international media— especially in March around the disaster’s anniversary. Supporters sometimes bring donated food and water for both him and his animals. He travels out of the zone, to speak about the hazards of nuclear energy, and to visit family.

Even in his beloved town ravaged by radiation, new life springs forth— a calf, some kittens — while the fifth generation farmer raises a new generation of animals born there.

SHARE the Story!

Beautiful Maine Inn to Go to Winner of Public Essay Contest

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Good News Network

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Mar 16, 2015

For anyone who has dreamed of running a country inn, now is the time to act — and write. Janice Sage is holding an essay contest to give away her historic Maine inn and restaurant.

The owner of Center Lovell Inn and Restaurant acquired the the 210-year-old classic in an essay contest 22 years ago, and wants to pass it along the same way.

To win the property, which is three hours north of Boston and worth about $900,000, all you need to do is mail a $125 entry fee and the winning story. (You also need to vow to run the inn for at least a year and not change the paint colors, and Janice must receive the essays by May.)

The deal has been vetted by Maine officials and the Boston Globe reports the victor will receive $20,000 to start running the property, which includes a wraparound porch, a cavernous kitchen, and 12 acres close to Kezar Lake.

(READ the Boston Globe story, w/ photos, or from Reuters)

Positive Breakthrough: New Antibiotic Discovered in Soil May Solve…

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Good News Network

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Mar 16, 2015

A serious threat to global public health is the increasing resistance to current drugs by the bacteria and viruses that cause infections, such as tuberculosis, pneumonia and malaria. Now comes good news from scientists in Boston trying to find new, more effective, antibiotics to kill pathogens.

A newly discovered antibiotic, Teixobactin, is being hailed as a paradigm shift, not only because researchers could detect no resistance—a finding that challenges long-held scientific beliefs—but also because of the way it was discovered.

“Scientists have always believed that the soil was teeming with new and potent antibiotics because bacteria have developed novel ways to fight off other microbes,” reports the Telegram. “But 99 percent of microbes will not grow in laboratory conditions leaving researchers frustrated that they could not get to the life-saving natural drugs.”

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Now, scientists at Boston’s Northeastern University are using an electronic chip to grow the microbes in their native soil, and with the improved access, to isolate their antibiotic chemical compounds. The team has since discovered 25 new antibiotics, of which teixobactin is the latest and most interesting, according Professor Kim Lewis.

The research, which is receiving applause from the scientific community, was published in January in the journal Nature.

Lewis, who is the paper’s lead author, said this marks the first discovery of an antibiotic to which resistance by mutations of pathogens have not been identified, though it remains to be seen whether other mechanisms for resistance against teixobactin exist in the environment.

“Our impression is that nature produced a compound that evolved to be free of resistance,” Lewis said. “This challenges the dogma that we’ve operated under that bacteria will always develop resistance. Well, maybe not in this case.”

(READ the story from the UK’s Telegraph)

Photo credit: the global panorama (CC license)

Happy Little Girl Meets German Man Who Helped Her Beat Cancer

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Good News Network

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Mar 15, 2015

An 8-year old got to meet the man who helped send her cancer into remission.

The Illinois girl is Hispanic and Arab. Her match, a 30-year-old German man located through a computer database, turned out to live in Austria and paid the airfare to come visit her.

“It’s your daughter, and this person we don’t know did something so wonderful,” said Sabrina’s mom.

“When he walked in, she jumped up, ran to him and threw her arms around him,” reports the Chicago Tribune.

(READ the story from the Chicago Tribune)

File photo by Dan Nguyen (CC license) / Story tip from Daniel C.

Artist Sews Ripped Clothes for Free on SF City Sidewalks

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Good News Network

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Mar 15, 2015

One day a month artist Michael Swaine can be found on a San Francisco sidewalk using his vintage sewing machine with foot pedal to mend the holes in people’s clothes — all for free.

In 2002, the 34-year-old ceramics and textile artist began sewing-up pants, jackets, and shirts under an umbrella-topped cart, calling it his “Reap What You Sew Generosity Project.”

A lifelong mender, he takes his mobile sewing table, on the 15th of every month, to San Francisco’s neediest neighborhoods, where he offers all-day free mending, friendship, and conversation. He says those communities have the most holes to mend.

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His mending is not only about the clothes — it is about the community, the people in it, and influencing a world that is so used to throwing things away.

(WATCH the video below or READ the new story, w/ photos, in the SF Chronicle)

Photo via Studio Galli Productions on YouTube / Story tip from Sally Meek

GoodSnitch App Makes it Easy to Show Gratitude for Great Customer Service

By

Kristy Cooper

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Mar 15, 2015

Feedback can be a scary word, especially for corporations that get an earful from their most furious customers, but what if there was an easy way to tell businesses what they’re doing right? Introducing GoodSnitch.

The GoodSnitch app allows mobile users to give positive feedback to any organization found in Google’s index. A quick 30 second survey is all it takes to share thoughts and highlight employees that have done a great job.

In the past, giving feedback was time consuming and the only ones willing to endure the process were those with negative comments. Goodsnitch Founder Rob Pace discovered through a study that a speedy survey produces 80 percent more feedback. Plus, those comments skew 90 percent positive.

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Last year, Tennessee Oncology, one of the largest physician-owned practices, successfully implemented the app to overwhelming applause. “Patients seem to love the simplicity of the tool and genuinely want to recognize those that are helping them through a challenging period,” noted Carolyn Craig who oversaw it’s roll-out.

Another great example is Albany, Oregon, the first U.S. city to encourage employee excellence through use of the app. “GoodSnitch is a simple tool that people can use to provide valuable, constructive comments about services provided by local government,” said city manager Wes Hare. “We like the whole concept and are proud to be a partner.”

Pace sees his app creating a virtuous cycle initiated when a citizen feels empowered and heard. More than 800 employees of Albany have now been hailed as “heroes.”

From religious institutions, to restaurants to fitness chains, the app has been making its mark.

According to research by Bersin & Associates, companies spend $46 billion dollars a year on employee recognition programs. GoodSnitch has made the process easier and cost free — and fun.

Wichita State Welcomes Opponent’s Lone Cheerleader to Join Them

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Good News Network

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Mar 15, 2015

Due to conflicts with midterms, the Loyola University cheer squad could only send one cheerleader to a women’s basketball tournament this week.

After hearing the news, the Wichita State squad, which had a full complement of cheerleaders and yell leaders, immediately invited her to join them mid-court during time-outs.

“It was absolutely incredible and it really meant a lot to see the sportsmanship Wichita State displayed,” said Maddie Kenney, who even got the chance to go airborne, thanks to the dynamic Kansas squad.

(READ the story from the Wichita Eagle)

File credit: UCLA cheerleaders by Han Shot First (CC license) / Story tip from Mike McGinley