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Guy Wins $45K On Game Show With World’s Best Guess

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Mar 21, 2014

Game show Wheel of Fortune contestant wins

All the Wheel of Fortune player knew was that the answer was a ‘thing’, it was three words of varying length and started with an “NE”.

Incredibly, Emil, who the host Pat Sajak called a very good puzzle solver, pulled the answer out of nowhere.

Sajak was so amazed, he became suspicious and playfully pretended to search him for hidden devices.

Digital Artist Creates Magical Worlds For Seriously Ill Kids

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Mar 20, 2014

Hope for cancer child-ShawnVanDaele Photography

A Canadian photographer is taking the wildest dreams of sick children and turning them into reality.

Since May of 2012 Shawn Van Daele has devoted his skills as a digital artist to a mission of mercy, creating gorgeous whimsical worlds for youngsters who are overcoming heart transplants and chemotherapy.

To start, the 37-year-old asks for drawings from the child that represent their biggest passion – from dinosaurs to castles, from pirates to fairies. Then he produces a dreamscape in which they are the main character.

“It’s really doing wonders for all the kids involved in the project,” Van Daele told the Good News Network. “It’s warming a ton of hearts.”

It’s called Drawing Hope, and starting in May 2014, Van Daele will be doing one ‘magical photo’ each month.

Van Daele wants to collect the artwork, the children’s stories and original drawings, under the common theme that “anything is possible,” for an inspirational storybook to be distributed to clinics, hospitals and therapy centres across Ontario, Canada, and elsewhere.

You can follow his imaginitive generosity play out on Facebook.

(SEE more photos below, and WATCH the video of a boy’s Thomas the Tank Engine dream coming true)

New Hyundai Car Runs on Free Fuel From LA’s Sewage

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Mar 20, 2014

Hyundai Tuscon-H2 vehicle

A new car from Hyundai runs on a fuel that has a truly endless supply: human waste.

Hydrogen created from sewage at a waste treatment plant in Orange County, California, will power fuel cells in the Hyundai Tuscon, available for leasing later this spring in a limited area around Los Angeles.

The new technology can make hydrogen cheaply by processing solid waste and feeding it to microbes that turn it into methane. The fuel will be pumped to local stations, making it possible for Hyundai to put its car on the streets.

The Korean automaker will start leasing the H2 compact utility vehicle for $499 a month ($2,999 down) for 36 months, including free hydrogen refueling and Maintenance. The company says it has had a surprising number of people express an interest in the vehicle.

(READ the story from Fast CoExist)

Dubai Metro Stations Will Double as Art Museums

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Mar 20, 2014

trains of art envisioned for Dubai

The Dubai Metro stations are being turned into art museums to display artworks and creations from different themes and cultures, by order of the city’s royal sheikh.

“We want to reach everyone through arts,” said Sheikh Mohammed. “We want creativity to reach every individual in the society (and) to inspire and communicate with every employee on his way to work, every student on his way to pursuing education and every tourist visiting Dubai.

The BBC reports it’s not only the stations that are getting a make-over: “The driverless trains will also be decorated inside and out to reflect the project.”

(READ full story with photos from Emirates247.com)

New Study Shows Social Groups Alleviate Depression

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Mar 19, 2014

dance class-Flickr-CC-Jeremy Brooks

Building a strong connection to a social group helps clinically depressed patients recover and helps prevent relapse, according to a new study.

Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) Senior Fellow Alexander Haslam and his colleagues at the University of Queensland conducted two studies of patients diagnosed with depression or anxiety. The patients either joined a community group with activities such as sewing, yoga, sports and art, or partook in group therapy at a psychiatric hospital.

In both cases, patients responding to survey questions who did not identify strongly with the social group had about a 50 percent likelihood of continued depression a month later. But of those who developed a stronger connection to the group and who came to see its members as ‘us’ rather than ‘them,’ less than a third still met the criteria for clinical depression after that time. Many patients said the group made them feel supported because everyone was “in it together.”

By Planting a Garden, Community Changes The Neighborhood

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Mar 18, 2014

produce-Transition Sarasota Suncoast Gleaning Project-CC

With shovels, rakes, and hoes in hand, the women of a Mississauga housing complex transformed a vacant piece of land into a bountiful garden that grew into a small business and changed their neighborhood.

The garden was more than an opportunity to get their hands dirty. It brought together women from the culturally diverse neighborhood to create possibilities where there had been none.

(READ the story from the Toronto Star)

Photo: Transition Sarasota Suncoast Gleaning Project

Warren Buffett’s Son Targets Rhino Poaching With $24M

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Mar 18, 2014

rhinoceros-One-horned-Nepal-Wikimedia-Commons

American philanthropist Howard Buffett donated $24 million to South Africa’s national parks service on Friday to fund a high-tech campaign against rhino poaching which he compared to the United States’ war on drugs on its southern border.

The money will fund a 30-month campaign to try to reverse a troubling trend in Kruger Park, where illegal hunters infiltrating from Mozambique have been decimating the rhino population.

(READ the story from Reuters)

Girlfriends Do the Unthinkable for Friend with Cancer

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Mar 18, 2014

girlfriends BW shave heads for friend-Vimeo grab

South African Girda McKenna asked her friends for just one thing after she was diagnosed with cancer. She wanted them to sit together for a photograph.

The portrait turned into something much more, and blessed her with a memory of true friendship. Luckily, photographer Albert Bredenhann documented the magical journey as all eleven ladies decide to shave their heads in solidarity.

“That is the least I can do,” one woman said before a stylist took an electric shaver to her blonde locks. “If I can do just a little for her to feel better, I will do it with love.”

”I am giving up my pride for a friend that is going through much, much more,” explained another.

When Girda walked onto the patio where they all had gathered she was shocked and overcome with tears. She hugged each friend, saying “You girls look amazing.”

All their hair was donated to the Cancer Association of South Africa, according to the Metro, to be weaved into wigs for other cancer patients.

The entire process was made into an incredible video that was anchored by the perfect song, “I will do anything for love (but I won’t do that).”

Photo by Albert Bredenhann

Eiffel Tower Renovation Includes Green Energy Powerhouse

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Mar 18, 2014

Eiffel-Tower-Renovation-Moatti-Riviere

An ambitious renovation has begun on an aging iconic landmark, the Eiffel Tower.

The project, which began in 2012 and is slated for completion later this year, aims to include many new sustainable features on the aging tower’s first floor, such as solar, hydraulic and wind power.

The renovation, by French architecture studio Moatti- Rivière, will add new accessibility options that will finally allow disabled visitors to visit the first floor, an area that will be newly equipped with solar panels and LED lighting.

(READ the story the with more photos at Inhabitat.com)

Pharrell’s Song Happy Joins UN for Intl Day of Happiness

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Mar 17, 2014

24 hours of happy-Pharell Despicable Me

Having just performed at the Academy Awards, where he sang his Oscar-nominated hit “Happy” and danced with A-list actresses in the front row, Pharrell Williams is partnering with the United Nations Foundation to promote the annual International Day of Happiness, Thursday, March 20.

Since the song, “Happy,” which made its bubbly debut on the film Despicable Me 2, it has become an international phenomenon with its album, G I R L, reaching #1 in more than 75 countries. Happy people from Toronto to Ireland have edited dance videos to the catchy song and posted them on YouTube. Two of those were featured as Top Videos on Good News Network.

Drawing inspiration from the “Happy” videos that fans worldwide have already posted, Williams is calling on all his fans to post videos of themselves demonstrating their happiness using the song, and the hashtag #HAPPYDAY, and then registering their submission at 24hoursofhappiness.com.

Calling it the first 24-hour music video, Williams will be posting the best ones all day long on Happiness Day, March 20. Fans are also encouraged to use #HAPPYDAY with their photos and other social shout-outs.

As part of this global digital engagement, people will be reminded that everyone deserves a chance to be happy, and their donations to the UN humanitarian efforts around the globe can make that happen. This is where you can donate.

Ways To Participate:

Post dance mob videos on your Youtube channel tagging them with #HAPPYDAY — or post them on Facebook, G+, Tumblr or Instagram with the same hashtag
Post “Happy” covers on your YouTube Channel tagging them with #HAPPYDAY
Tell everyone what makes you happy — and tag it to join the trending topic.

Police Helicopter Crew Plucks Dog From Deadly Cliff

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Mar 17, 2014

cliff rescue of dog from helicopter

A dog that got stuck on cliff high above Portugese Beach in Sonoma County, Calif. was rescued Saturday afternoon after a sheriff’s deputy dangling from a helicopter plucked it off a sheer rock face and returned it unharmed to its owner.

The black and white Labrador named Oreo somehow made her way about 40 feet down a 90-foot high cliff, where there was no way of return.

Deputy Henri Boustany attached himself to the bottom of a 100-foot rope strung from the helicopter and was lifted to the ledge where the dog was waiting.

— WATCH the amazing rescue below

— READ the story from the Press-Democrat)

Photo via YouTube screenshot

Restauranteur Saves Bakery Because It Employs Ex-Cons

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Mar 17, 2014

worker at Rubicon Bakery-websitephoto

When San Francisco restaurateur Andrew Stoloff agreed to consult on the finances of an inner-city bakery in nearby Richmond, he found a failing business, a part-time staff of 14 former prison inmates, and decrepit equipment 20 to 30 years old.

Over several months, as he spent time with the employees, Stoloff learned how the bakery had changed their lives. He fell in love with the mission and, against the advice of family and friends, he bought the bakery himself.

Today, Rubicon Bakery is a moneymaking business, employing 105 full-time staff, some with only a sixth-grade education and many having served time in prison.

(READ the story from Christian Science Monitor)

Thanks to Joel Arellano for submitting the link on our Facebook Page! (Photo from Rubicon Bakery)

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