Silicon Valley CEOs know that it feels good to give their time and money to help others.
These men and women have the capability to give so much more than the average well-meaning person. It’s heartening to know that, whatever their motivation, wealthy people in this world do give freely of their wealth to improve the happiness of many.
Here is an info-graphic that names a few of the most charitable tech CEOs.
Source: WhoIsHostingThis.com
Three years ago, a forest fire raged for four months in the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge on the Virginia-North Carolina border. Living nearby, Mike Logan, a NASA researcher in unmanned aerial systems (UAS), spent weeks breathing in the peat bog smoke that traveled as far north as Maryland.
Logan had an idea. “I made a phone call to the local fire captain and learned most fires are caused by lightning strikes and the only way they can spot them is by hiring an aircraft to do an aerial survey of the huge swamp. So I figured why not use a UAV as a fire detector?”
Two major fires since 2008 caused by lightning strikes in the 50,000-square-acre refuge required more than $10 million each to extinguish, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). A better method for early fire detection could save millions of dollars for taxpayers.
“The FWS is evaluating the feasibility of airborne unmanned platforms and their ability to offer a safer and more cost-effective alternative for surveillance immediately following thunderstorm activity,” said Great Dismal Swamp Refuge Manager Chris Lowie. “The agency hopes to see a significant decrease in cost to survey the area, as well as a reduction in time to detect nascent fires, which could potentially save millions of dollars to the taxpayer in firefighting costs,” added Lowie.
The drones carry two cameras. One is a nose camera that can see smoke plumes rising, the other is an infrared camera that points down, for finding hot spots by detecting heat signatures. The transmissions can be viewed on a laptop computer in a mobile ground station.
Logan says the drone, which weighs about 15 pounds and has an almost six-foot wingspan, has a range of about eight miles and can stay aloft as long as an hour, before the batteries need recharging.
(WATCH a NASA video of the drone below)
Image Credit: NASA Langley/David C. Bowman
Ben Bradlee, who led The Washington Post newsroom for 26 years and “guided The Post’s transformation into one of the world’s leading newspapers,” died yesterday at his home of natural causes at age 93.
Mr. Bradlee’s patrician good looks, gravelly voice, profane vocabulary and zest for journalism and for life all contributed to the charismatic personality that dominated and shaped The Post.
The most compelling story of Mr. Bradlee’s tenure was Watergate, a political scandal touched off by The Post’s reporting that ended in the only resignation of a president in U.S. history (Richard Nixon).
In 1972, Bradlee backed reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein as they probed the break-in at the Democratic National Committee Headquarters in the Watergate Hotel. According to Bradlee in a video interview:
President Obama in a statement said in part, “For Benjamin Bradlee, journalism was more than a profession — it was a public good vital to our democracy. A true newspaperman, he published the Pentagon Papers, exposed Watergate, and told stories that needed to be told. The standard he set — a standard for honest, objective, meticulous reporting — encouraged so many others to enter the profession.”
(READ the full tribute in the Washington Post)
Photo by Miguel Ariel Contreras Drake-McLaughlin (CC license)
A remake of the Beach Boys’ masterpiece God Only Knows is sweeping the internet with its dreamlike cinematography and cast of musical legends, including Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Chris Martin and Brian May.
The production celebrates the launch of BBC Music, which they described as “an ambitious wave of new programs, innovative partnerships and ground-breaking music initiatives that amount to the BBC’s strongest commitment to music in 30 years”.
Joining Brian Wilson, the song’s writer, are Sir Elton John, One Direction, Stevie Wonder, Pharrell Williams. Jake Bugg, Lorde, Emeli Sandé, Chris Martin, Kylie Minogue, Paloma Faith, Sam Smith, Florence Welch, Chrissie Hynde, Brian May, Dave Grohl, Alison Balsom, Martin James Bartlett, Danielle de Niese, Nicola Benedetti, Eliza Carthy, Baaba Maal, Jamie Cullum, Jaz Dhami, as well as the BBC’s Zane Lowe, Lauren Laverne, Katie Derham, Gareth Malone and Jools Holland. They are joined by the Tees Valley Youth Choir and the BBC Concert Orchestra. (To see who they are and where they appear in the video, visit the BBC.)
(WATCH the video below via BBC’s YouTube channel)
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel addressed the Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas in October, unveiling a comprehensive plan for how the U.S. military hopes to address the effects of climate change.
The Pentagon’s “2014 Climate Change Adaptation Roadmap” describes how the military needs to deal with rising global temperatures, increasing sea levels and intensifying weather events that will challenge global stability.
“We have nearly completed a baseline survey to assess the vulnerability of our military’s more than 7,000 bases, installations, and other facilities, especially coastal installations.”
(READ the story from the LA Times or View and Download the Plan via PDF)
After years of researching crops that could be grown with the brackish water of the Netherlands, a Dutch team is poised to launch their pioneering potatoes, which are grown with sea water.
Last week the project beat 560 competitors from 90 countries to win the prestigious USAid grand challenge award for its salt-tolerant potato.
“It’s a game changer,” Dr Arjen de Vos said of Marc van Rijsselberghe’s irrigation technique, which has the potential to feed millions who lack access to fresh water.
(READ the story from the Guardian)
Story tip from Michael Slupina – photo credit: Nisha A (CC license)
A Polish man who was paralyzed from the chest down following a knife attack can now use a walker after receiving a pioneering transplant treatment using cells from his nose.
Movement and sensation are now slowly returning to Darek Fidyka, who described the ability to walk again as “an incredible feeling”, and added: “when you can’t feel almost half your body, you are helpless, but when it starts coming back it’s as if you were born again.”
The research, published in the journal Cell Transplantation, shows that nerve fibers can grow back in the spinal cord. They just need a bridge to fill the gap. The nasal cells provided that bridge.
Professor Geoff Raisman, Chair of Neural Regeneration at the University College London’s Institute of Neurology, whose team discovered the technique, told the BBC, “I believe this is the moment when paralysis can be reversed.”
“I believe we have now opened the door to a treatment of spinal cord injury that will get patients out of wheel chairs.”
Dr Pawel Tabakow, consultant neurosurgeon, Wroclaw University Hospital, who led the Polish research team said: “It’s amazing to see how regeneration of the spinal cord, something that was thought impossible for many years, is becoming a reality.”
Mr. Fidyka needed to undergo brain surgery so they could extract an olfactory bulb. Cells were then injected into the spinal cord above and below the injury, and four strips of nerve tissue were taken from the ankle and patched across the 8mm gap. These formed ‘bridges’ for the spinal nerve fibers to grow across using the olfactory cells.
Three months after the surgery, Darek’s left thigh muscle began to grow and after six months he was starting to walk within the rehabilitation center with the help of a physiotherapist and leg braces. Now, two years on, he is able to walk using a frame although it is tiring. His bladder sensation and sexual function have also improved. He said: “I think it’s realistic that one day I will become independent. What I have learned is that you must never give up but keep fighting, because some door will open in life.”
The process has been documented in an exclusive BBC Panorama documentary, ‘To Walk Again’, and will air tonight at 22:30 on BBC One.
(WATCH a video clip and READ more from BBC News)
[Correction: The man was incorrectly identified as a Bulgarian, but is actually Polish]
One last play, run on a high school football field in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, allowed both teams to have some fun so that a little boy with Down Syndrome could score a touchdown.
The video shows members of the opposing team from Mosinee dramatically diving toward him and missing all the tackles as the boy sprinted downfield.
The 8 year old named Gabe is the brother of one of the freshmen athletes who lifted him on their shoulders after the play.
(WATCH the video above and READ the full story from WJFW-TV)
“James Murphy never gave up hope believing he’d find the high school class ring he lost in 1972.”
Friday, a Chicago man operating a metal detector found the gold ring in the same yard where it originally slipped off Murphy’s finger, after the new owner allowed a search of the property.
“It drove me crazy for more than 40 years,” Murphy told Justin Breen at DNA info Chicago. “I knew it was in that yard. I’m in shock still.”
(READ the full story, or LISTEN to it at DNAinfo Chicago)
This is so funny.
As a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Sting sings the outgoing message on a guy’s phone from the audience, using the melody from “Message in a Bottle” arranged with new lyrics.
The action starts at 2:30 into the video clip above.
Nigeria is now free of the Ebola virus, the World Health Organization officially declared on Monday.
The most populous country in Africa reported 20 cases and eight deaths before doctors were able to eradicate the disease, reports ABC News.
WHO called it a “spectacular success story that shows that Ebola can be contained.”
Earlier this year, WHO confirmed that Nigeria had also eradicated guinea-worm disease after it became an epicenter of the disease, with more than 650 000 cases reported each year.
In Senegal, it had been 42 days on Friday since a single confirmed case of Ebola virus was recorded and all known contacts came under a monitoring program and finally tested negative, which led WHO to declare that country to be Ebola-free.
(READ the full story from WHO)
The Read and Ride program at Ward began five years ago. One classroom is equipped with enough exercise bikes for a full class of students, and teachers bring students throughout the day to use them. As they ride, they read.
“The combination burns calories, but it turns out that it also helps students learn better,” reports Fast Company. “As the elementary school analyzed testing data at the end of school year, they found that students who had spent the most time in the program achieved an 83% proficiency in reading, while those who spent the least time in the program had only scores 41%.”
(READ the story from Fast Coexist)
All health care workers should include a bit of humor or fun to help boost the spirits of patients.
Watch these nurses brighten this little cancer patient’s day with a mini-dance party.
Story tip from Jae Bird
RELATED STORY: The Doctor is a Clown?!?
“Pakistan’s shambolic public health system suffers from corruption, mismanagement and lack of resources. But one public sector hospital in Karachi provides free specialized healthcare to millions, led by a man whose dream was inspired by the UK’s National Health Service.”
(READ the story from the BBC)
The Arctic bowhead whale population is estimated to be around 17,000, up from 5,000 in the early 1980s, according to an Alaskan Eskimo commission.
At the age of 17, after witnessing hundreds of snakes dying from drought on his island in India, Jadav Payeng started to grow trees on what was barren land devastated by erosion.
35 years later a jungle of almost 3000 acres (1200 hectares) — larger than Central Park — has grown in the wasteland, thanks to his daily careful cultivation. Diverse animals, including Elephants, now enjoy his lush oasis.
A documentary, Forest Man, shows how one person can change the course of nature.
(WATCH the video below)
Jay Leno, the indefatigable host of the Tonight Show for 20 years, was honored with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor Sunday by an all-star slate of comedians at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
Jerry Seinfeld, Jimmy Fallon, Wanda Sykes and Garth Brooks were among the celebrities saluting Leno, who retired in February despite his show’s ratings as the top late night program in America.
In his acceptance speech, Leno called the event, “the most wonderful night of my life.”
The 17th Annual Mark Twain Prize, which also featured Robert Klein, Seth Meyers, Kristin Chenoweth, Al Madrigal and Chelsea Handler, will be broadcast on PBS stations throughout the US on November 23, 2014.
Starting in 1987, Leno was a regular substitute host for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show. In 1992, he replaced Carson as host. He continued to perform more than 100 nights as a stand-up comedian every year throughout his tenure on The Tonight Show.
His free charitable performances have entertained US military troops overseas and thousands of unemployed people in Detroit during the recent recession. He has often donated his time to fundraising shows like the ones for victims of the Gulf oil spill in 2010 and Hurricane Katrina.
(WATCH a video below or READ about the red carpet at Washington Post – NOTE* Please click pause at the end of the video)
Previous recipients of the Twain Prize included Richard Pryor (1998), Jonathan Winters (1999), Carl Reiner (2000), Whoopi Goldberg (2001), Bob Newhart (2002), Lily Tomlin (2003), Lorne Michaels (2004), Steve Martin (2005), Neil Simon (2006), Billy Crystal (2007), George Carlin (2008), Bill Cosby (2009), Tina Fey (2010), Will Ferrell (2011), Ellen DeGeneres (2012), and Carol Burnett (2013).
A cross-country runner in North Dakota carried an injured competitor across the finish line during a high school track meet, a show of compassion that stood out as other teens kept running.
Melanie Bailey, a senior at Devils Lake High School, was running Saturday in the Eastern Dakota Conference’s Cross Country Championship when she spotted Danielle LeNoue lying on the ground sobbing in pain.
(WATCH the video and READ the story from KENS-5 News)
Story tip from Leija Haabe – photos from separate events
A new report by university scientists proves the existence of a potential breakthrough energy source new to science, according to detail released last week.
The New Energy Foundation, a non-profit advocacy group in the U.S. believes the implications of the report should revolutionize the production of energy, and herald the beginning of a new era in science.
The comprehensive report (PDF) by scientists from Bologna University in Italy and Uppsala University in Sweden highlights a 32-day test of the energy device known as the E-Cat. Data from the test implies transmutation of one isotope to another of two separated elements, which is radical and cannot be explained by conventional science.
“I was impressed with the work that was done to insure the measurements were accurate,” said Michael Nelson, Alternate Discipline Leader for SLS Propulsion at NASA’s Propulsion Research and Development Laboratory. “Aside from the fact that this could not have been produced from any known chemical reaction, the most significant finding to me is the evidence of isotopic shifts in lithium and nickel. Understanding this could possibly be the beginning of a whole new era in both material transmutations and energy for the planet and for space exploration. This is an exciting technology to witness come about.”
Possible applications of this breakthrough technology include low-cost desalination of salt water, power production with no emissions, and ultimately applications in home and industry to provide power, heat, and hot water.
“It is challenging to science that these results so far have no convincing theoretical explanation, but the experimental results cannot be dismissed or ignored just because of lack of theoretical understanding,” said William Zebuhr, Chairman of the New Energy Foundation. “This report demands worldwide attention, so that our current understanding of nuclear science can be expanded.”
The non-profit New Energy Foundation provides grants to new energy researchers and publishes the bimonthly magazine Infinite Energy. For more information about the foundation and reporting on the E-Cat possibilities, visit www.infinite-energy.com.
Story tip from Lee Katchen
Rookie pitcher Brandon Finnegan of the Kansas City Royals makes a fan’s day by giving him tickets to a postseason game, just because he asked.
The grateful fan offers to take Finnegan to dinner, and Finnegan says “OK, but you don’t need to pay.”
(READ the story on WAPC)
