European leaders agreed to a $1.26 Billion funding boost for the fight against Ebola in West Africa. (VOA)
EU Agrees To Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 40%
A two-day European Union summit concluded in the wee hours this morning with leaders announcing they’d reached a climate deal to cut carbon emissions through 2030 by 40 percent over 1990 levels.
The 28-nation bloc has already come close to an existing goal of cutting 20 percent of emissions over 1990 levels by 2020.
“Europe is setting an example,” said French President Francois Hollande, who hopes the United States and China might follow their lead.
The leaders also agreed to cut energy consumption by 27-percent and boost the use of renewables, although these targets are non-binding.
(READ the story from Reuters)
Photo by tristam sparks (CC license)
OSU Invents “World’s First Solar Battery” to Run on Light and Air
Is it a solar cell? Or a rechargeable battery?
Actually, the patent-pending device is both. The inventors at Ohio State University call it the world’s first solar battery.
In the October 3, 2014 issue of the journal Nature Communications, the researchers report that they’ve succeeded in combining a battery and a solar cell into one hybrid device.
The university will license the solar battery to industry, where Yiying Wu (pictured above), professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Ohio State, says it will help tame the costs of renewable energy.
“The state of the art is to use a solar panel to capture the light, and then use a cheap battery to store the energy,” Wu said. “We’ve integrated both functions into one device. Any time you can do that, you reduce cost.”
He and his students believe that their device brings down costs by 25 percent.
The invention also solves a longstanding problem in solar energy efficiency, by eliminating the loss of electricity that normally occurs when electrons have to travel between a solar cell and an external battery. Typically, only 80 percent of electrons emerging from a solar cell make it into a battery.
With this new design, light is converted to electrons inside the battery, so nearly 100 percent of the electrons are saved.
(READ the full article by Pam Frost Gorder at Ohio State University News)
GQ’s Annual Gentlemen’s Ball Honors 5 Celebrities Who Support Charities
At the end of last night’s Gentlemen’s Ball in New York City, emcee Andy Cohen said he felt like his life “is a waste.” After sitting in a room full of celebrity humanitarians, who can blame him?
For the seventh year, the GQ Gentlemen’s Ball saluted ten men, five movie stars and five non-celebs, whose commitment to their communities defines what it means to be a gentleman today.
In recognition of their efforts, Ambassador Awards were awarded to Andrew Garfield, for his support of Worldwide Orphans and Youth Mentoring Connection, Joshua Jackson, for his support of Oceana, Taylor Kitsch, for his support of the African Children’s Choir, George Lopez, for his involvement with the Lopez Foundation, and Zachary Quinto, for his support of The Trevor Project.
Awards were also given to the five non-celebrities who are working to help people in Congo and the US, and women across Africa, Sean Carasso, F.K. Day, Nick Ehrmann, Stephen Powell and Barrett Ward.
(READ the full story in the GQ)
Photo credits: (top) Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for GQ (bottom) Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for GQ
Hobbit-Inspired Airline Safety Video From New Zealand Air is True “Epic”
As the official airline of Middle Earth, New Zealand Air proves they are huge Hobbit fans, spending millions of dollars to produce a new fantasy-laden safety video for passengers.
“Lord of the Rings” star Elijah Wood and director Peter Jackson are among those who make appearances in the video entitled, “The Most Epic Safety Video Ever Made.”
Characters from J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy world make appearances throughout, with dwarves, orcs and elves fastening seat belts, securing oxygen masks and finding the nearest exit.
(WATCH the video below)
Gang Members Feed Hungry School Kids Every Day, Defying Stereotypes
Every single day of the school year, gang members in New Zealand deliver hundreds of handmade sandwiches to schools in Waikato, making sure no children go hungry like they did when they were young.
In a Waikato Times video you can see Tribal Huk gang members huddled in their hair nets carefully spreading mustard and assembling the tomatoes and ham that will feed 450-500 children in 25 schools.
Letters from children that begin “Dear sandwich makers” line the wall, attesting to the gang’s more than two years of service.
Tattooed gang members have been left speechless, including Jamie Pink their leader, “the angry man with a soft heart.”
“I wanna say thank you so much for the support. I’m not sayin’ we’re angels and that, but we’re not bad people. We didn’t expect this.”
Interviewed by the newspaper, Jamie Pink said he was fed by gang members when he was young and remembers them as generous people who looked after him and his mum when they had nothing.
Yes, he says, it should be the parents responsibility, but some kids just have “crappy parents.”
This is not recruitment, he says. ”If we thought like that, we’re not worth existing, to be honest with you.”
(WATCH the video or READ the story from Stuff.co.nz) – NOTE* The Video auto-plays if cursor is hovering over top.
The Most Charitable Tech CEOs Give Hundreds of Millions
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
Drone Searches Forest for Tiny Wildfires Before They Blow Up
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
Tribute to Ben Bradlee, Legendary Washington Post Editor (1921-2014)
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)
60s Song ‘God Only Knows’ Remade in Breathtaking Video
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)
US Military Unveils Goals for Coping with Climate Change
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)
Photo: DOD
New Potato Can Be Grown With Just Sea Water
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)
Paralyzed Man Walks Again After Breakthrough Cell Transplant
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]
Image from yugenro (CC license) – Story tip from Craig Withers
8-yo Running a Touchdown is Cutest Thing You’ll See Today
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)
42 Years Later, Man’s Missing Gold Ring Found in the Ground
“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)
Photo from Windy City Detector Sales and Rental Inc
Sting Sings Outgoing Message on a Random Guy’s Phone (Video)
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 Declared Ebola-Free; ‘Spectacular Success’
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)
School With Bikes Instead Of Desks Offers Better Way To Learn
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)
Story tip from Mike McGinley
Nurses Hold Mini-Dance Party for Little Cancer Patient in Hospital
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 ‘Miracle’ Doctor Inspired by UK Health Care
“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)