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Canadian Teen Wins Top Prize for Cystic Fibrosis Discovery

teen's cystic fibrosis discovery

teen's cystic fibrosis discoveryA promising discovery has been made that could one day help in the fight against cystic fibrosis — and the researcher behind it is just 16 years old.

Toronto high school student Marshall Zhang took first place this week at a national science contest for developing what could become a new drug cocktail to treat patients with CF.

(WATCH the video and READ the story at CTV News)

College Class Builds Apps — and Fortunes

facebook-apps-iphone

Facebook apps run on iPhones and smart phonesStanford students took seriously their homework assignment in 2007: Devise an app. Get people to use it. Repeat.

The students ended up getting millions of users for free apps that they designed to run on Facebook. And, as advertising rolled in, some of those students started making far more money than their professors.

In Canada, Free Nicotine Gum or Patches Offered by B.C.

cigs

cigsThe B.C. government will offer smokers who want to quit a free 12-week supply of either nicotine gum or patches, or a free prescription for smoking-cessation drugs, Premier Christy Clark announced Monday.

Though it will cost $15 million, the province argues that by reducing the number of people who smoke, they will not only prevent or delay diseases like heart attacks and cancer, but also avoid the millions of dollars in costs to their health-care system.

To Mothers with Love on Mother’s Day

A new video by ChildFund International in honor of Mother’s Day features kids from around the world in Sri Lanka, India, Zambia, Ecuador and other countries saying “I love you, Mom” in their native languages.

California Passes Rule That Would Stop Invasive Species From Entering Ports

shipping containers stacked on ship

cargo ships to face new rules on invasive species problemCalifornia is cracking down on invasive species. The state has passed the strictest rules in the country to prevent cargo ships from introducing foreign plants and animals to San Francisco Bay.

The new process uses chlorine to oxidize or kill any live organisms in the ship’s ballast before they are pumped out after the chlorine is neutralized.

Movie Effects Crew Designs Mermaid Suit for Double Leg Amputee (Video)

Weta workshop photo

Weta workshop photoWeta Workshop, the special FX house behind the costumes and props in the Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia films, have given a double leg amputee the ability to swim.

Auckland native Nadya Vessey lost both her legs as child due to a medical condition, but always loved swimming.

Movie Effects Crew Designs Mermaid Suit for Double Leg Amputee (Video)

Weta workshop photo

Weta workshop photoWeta Workshop, the special FX house behind the costumes and props in the Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia films, have given a double leg amputee the ability to swim.

Auckland native Nadya Vessey lost both her legs as child due to a medical condition, but always loved swimming.

As Tornadoes Closed In, Air Traffic Controllers Stayed At Their Stations

tornado photo by NOAA

tornado photo by NOAAAfter all the attention given to air traffic controllers caught sleeping on the job in recent months, it only seems fair to point to controllers at the Atlanta Air Route Traffic Control Center in Hampton, Ga., who stayed at their work stations on April 27 to guide planes around tornadoes, even though the twisters were headed right at them and at the homes of their families.

(READ the story at NPR News)

Penn Medical School Gets Record $225M Gift from Philly Couple

Raymond and Ruth Perelman, photy via UPenn.org

Raymond and Ruth Perelman, photy via UPenn.orgThe University of Pennsylvania received a $225 million gift for its School of Medicine to create an endowment for providing more financial aid to students, recruiting more physicians and scientists and supporting innovative research.

The School of Medicine will be able to increase its financial aid budget by at least 20 percent for the school year starting in 2012.

The Philadelphia Ivy League university described the gift by philanthropist Raymond G. Perelman and his wife as the largest in its history and one the biggest ever nationwide given to a medical school.

“Ruth and I believe the future of medicine depends on the ability to produce world-class clinicians,” said Raymond Perelman, who will see the School of Medicine renamed for him and his wife.

A prominent Philadelphia philanthropist, Raymond Perelman is president and chairman of the board of RGP Holdings Inc., a privately held holding company comprised manufacturing, mining and financial interests.

In 2005, the Perelmans pledged $25 million to create the Ruth and Raymond Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, which opened in 2008. The state-of-the-art facility, part of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, houses 12 clinical specialties.

The Perelmans’ gift brings Penn’s Making History campaign total to $3.31 billion – 94.6 percent of the campaign’s $3.5 billion goal – with more than 19 months to go.

The gift brings the Perelmans’ total contributions to Penn’s Making History capital campaign to more than $250 million.

Economic Good News: Exports Hit Record High, Hiring and Retail Sales Up

dollar-sign-morguefile

image via Morguefile.comUS exports hit a record high in March, returning to levels not seen since before the global financial crisis.

US exports grew 4.6% in March to USD 172.7 billion, surpassing the record set in July 2008 before world trade took a sharp downturn. The March export rise was the biggest month-to-month gain in 17 years, the Commerce Department said in a report on Wednesday. (MoneyControl)

Jobs Continue to Increase

Montana Tribes Prepare for Historic Return of Buffalo From US Officials

bisons-roam

bison roaming in ColoradoFor the first time in nearly 140 years, the Indian tribes of northeastern Montana are preparing for the return of wild buffalo that are descended from herds that once thundered across the vast American West.

A plan long in the making between federal, state and tribal managers will transfer custody of dozens of Yellowstone bison to Native Americans in Montana to cultivate new herds on tribal lands.

Wounded Warriors Make First Ever All-Amputee Softball Team

baseball-stadium-busch

Busch stadium, St. LouisA softball fan working in the prosthetics field in the Department of Veteran Affairs has assembled the first all-amputee softball team in the world. They are winning games because their athletic ability was not left behind on the battlefield that once claimed their limbs.

Louisville Slugger, a manufacturer of bats and other gear, has outfit the Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team to help the talented veterans to shine.

As Mississippi River Floods, a Hero Emerges: Its $13 Billion Levee System

levee-busting conservationists

levee-busting conservationistsAs the Mississippi River reaches its highest level in more than 70 years, threatening to inundate dozens of cities and towns, a hero has emerged: the region’s $13 billion flood-control system.

Built after the devastating floods of the early 1900s, the levees and four large corridors are emergency flood outlets that became necessary after Mother Nature’s flood buffer along the Mississippi was turned into farmland.

CA Transportation Officials Protect Falcons Nesting on Job Site

Dumbarton Bridge Oakland to SF, by Darin Marshall (CC)

Dumbarton Bridge Oakland to SF, by Darin Marshall (CC)Amidst major renovation work on the Dumbarton Bridge spanning San Francisco Bay, officials with the California Department of Transportation are taking every precaution not to disturb a pair of nesting peregrine falcons that made their home under the bridge.

Cameras are continuously monitoring the falcons and workers remain at least 175 feet from the nest.

Starting Life Again at 80, Old Friends Ride Motorcycles Cross-country One Last Time

elderly men find joy in Ogilve bank advertisement

elderly men find joy in Ogilve bank advertisementWith more than three million hits on YouTube, an advertising company for a bank in Japan produced a mini-documentary about elderly men who revive their broken lives by taking a cross-country trip on motorcycles.

San Francisco Project Places Mirrors Around City with Affirmations

The SF Mirrors Project is a public art project with one simple purpose at it’s core – to spread a bit of random happiness. The idea is to create a public art installation overnight throughout the city of San Francisco spreading messages of inspiration, encouragement, and hope.
More about this project:

www.kickstarter.com/projects/akinbilgic/the-sf-mirrors-project

 

Donations Save Prom in Twister-Ravaged Town

prom girl by Anita Patterson-morguefile

File photo: Anita Patterson, Morguefile.com

Thanks to an outpouring of dress donations, Alabama classmates will be able to attend their prom Friday night and enjoy a blissful return to normalcy.

The mother of a school administrator asked a principal from elsewhere in the state, if there might be girls willing to donate prom dresses.

An e-mail went out, Tweets and Facebook messages were posted, and more than 1,000 dresses piled in from area teens, shops and even donors in other states.

Donations Save Prom for Twister-Ravaged Town

prom girl by Anita Patterson-morguefile

File photo: Anita Patterson, Morguefile.com

Thanks to an outpouring of dress donations, Alabama classmates will be able to attend their prom Friday night and enjoy a blissful return to normalcy.

The mother of a school administrator asked a principal from elsewhere in the state, if there might be girls willing to donate prom dresses.

An e-mail went out, Tweets and Facebook messages were posted, and more than 1,000 dresses piled in from area teens, shops and even donors in other states.

US ‘Green Economy’ Now in Forefront

solar smart energy glass bldg

Solar Smart Energy buildingSaving energy has evolved from a moral calling to a financial imperative for businesses that have broadened the concept of energy efficiency to one of sustainability.

Just look at Principal Financial Group, where employees are using less paper. Or the University of Iowa, where power bills have been cut by $1.5 million a year. Or Van Meter Industrial in Cedar Rapids, where new high-efficiency warehouse lights will pay for themselves in a year and a half.

Blind Artist Amazes With Color and Talent (Video)

CBS video shows portrait and subject of blind painter

CBS video shows portrait and subject of blind painter

“His fingers are now every bit as perceptive as his eyes once were.

The artist, whose oil paintings are known for their brilliant color, started painting after he lost his sight at age 30.