All News - Page 1261 of 1689 - Good News Network
Home Blog Page 1261

Cat Survives 19-Story Fall From Apartment Building

cat survives 19-story fall

cat survives 19-story fallA Boston cat miraculously survived a fall from a 19th floor apartment window, walking away with only minor bruising.

The feline’s owner, who left the window open a crack before leaving for work, says that the white cat luckily landed on a small patch of grass and mulch.

Unstoppable! The Rise and Rise of Britain’s Green Buildings

Green building, Dogs Trust in Shrewsbury, Britain

Green building, Dogs Trust in Shrewsbury, BritainOrlando Bloom has an eco-house; Prince Charles has built a sustainable home, and now a major developer plans to build 500 eco-homes in Devon. Despite the economic gloom, the green way of building has never been more popular – 7,000 projects last year, a number that has more than doubled since 2009.

For instance, the “greenest” dog rescue center in the world (photo, right) is a cutting edge £5.25 million eco-friendly re-development for the Dogs Trust in Shrewsbury built by the McPhillips contracting group.

And soon, it seems, all building work in Britain could be green.

Vacant Storefront Becomes Home To Post-It Tribute Notes

Sticky Notes on storefront - CBS video snapshot

Sticky Notes on storefront - CBS video snapshotThe windows of an empty storefront on one corner of Harvard Square are covered with colorful Post-it Note tributes, personal messages about those who inspire us, from fourth-grade teachers to Tim Tebow to Aunt Lindsay.

It all started with one, simple little message:

“Who Inspires You?”

Pedestrians walking by have contributed to the public displays of affection with enthusiasm.

This Amazing Device Just Made Wheelchairs Obsolete for Paraplegics

parapelegic device is Segway-like

parapelegic device is Segway-like The young man in this video looks like he’s riding a Segway. But Yusuf Akturkoglu was paralyzed after falling from a horse five years ago, and he’s being mobilized by an amazing device invented by Turkish scientists. It’s going to change lives.

It’s called the Tek Robotic Mobilization Device, and it not only allows people who can’t walk get around more independently than any device has before, but it also helps them stand up on their own, which is crucial for maintaining basic health functions in people who have spinal cord injuries.

This Amazing Device Just Made Wheelchairs Obsolete for Paraplegics

parapelegic device is Segway-like

parapelegic device is Segway-like The young man in this video looks like he’s riding a Segway. But Yusuf Akturkoglu was paralyzed after falling from a horse five years ago, and he’s being mobilized by an amazing device invented by Turkish scientists. It’s going to change lives.

It’s called the Tek Robotic Mobilization Device, and it not only allows people who can’t walk get around more independently than any device has before, but it also helps them stand up on their own, which is crucial for maintaining basic health functions in people who have spinal cord injuries.

Celebration of DC Cherry Blossoms Marks 100 Years of Japan’s Friendly Gift

Jefferson Memorial Cherry trees-2011

Jefferson Memorial Cherry trees-2011Today, Washington, DC celebrates the first day of Spring and the opening of the annual Cherry Blossom Festival, commemorating the 100th anniversary of a gift of cherry trees that symbolized the enduring friendship between the United States and Japan.

Each year, the National Cherry Blossom Festival honors the 1912 gift of 3,000 cherry trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo to the city of Washington, DC. More than a million people visit the U.S. capital during the blooming period to admire the blanket of pink blossoms gracing the trees planted alongside the Jefferson Memorial and National Mall.

Celebration of DC Cherry Blossoms Marks 100 Years of Japan’s Friendly Gift

Jefferson Memorial Cherry trees-2011

Jefferson Memorial Cherry trees-2011Today, Washington, DC celebrates the first day of Spring and the opening of the annual Cherry Blossom Festival, commemorating the 100th anniversary of a gift of cherry trees that symbolized the enduring friendship between the United States and Japan.

Each year, the National Cherry Blossom Festival honors the 1912 gift of 3,000 cherry trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo to the city of Washington, DC. More than a million people visit the U.S. capital during the blooming period to admire the blanket of pink blossoms gracing the trees planted alongside the Jefferson Memorial and National Mall.

Kid Struggling to Pay for College Tap Dances in Subway, Gets $35K From Ellen

Ellen gives 35K to subway tap dancer

Ellen gives 35K to subway tap dancerWith his mother currently living in a shelter, he is carrying more weight on his shoulders than most Penn State University students. He is the first member of his family to go to college and the Harlem native, Joshua Johnson, helps pay for the expensive classes with donations he receives while tap dancing in the New York City subways every weekend.

“You have to figure out a way for the whole family to come up,” Johnson told The New York Times. “That’s what I’m working towards, to make things better for my younger brother and my mom.”

Kid Struggling to Pay for College Tap Dances in Subway, Gets $35K From Ellen

Ellen gives 35K to subway tap dancer

Ellen gives 35K to subway tap dancer

With his mother currently living in a shelter, he is carrying more weight on his shoulders than most Penn State University students. He is the first member of his family to go to college and the Harlem native, Joshua Johnson, helps pay for the expensive classes with donations he receives while tap dancing in the New York City subways every weekend.

“You have to figure out a way for the whole family to come up,” Johnson told The New York Times. “That’s what I’m working towards, to make things better for my younger brother and my mom.”

The talented dancer travels home from Pennsylvania by bus each weekend and heads down to the No. 2 and No. 3 lines between 96th Street and Times Square, calling it “The Tap Express”.

Impressed by the passion and persistence of the communications and marketing major, Ellen DeGeneres invited the performer to dance on her TV talk show last week. But that’s not all she had scheduled for the tapper.

Ellen lightened the 20-year-old’s burden substantially when she suddenly presented him a giant check for $35,000 paid for by the social education platform, Chegg.

That was enough to make him dance for joy, but Ellen also threw in a pair of top-of-the-line tap shoes to help him continue doing what he loves, making people happy in New York City.

(READ more in the NY Times)

 

‘Israel Loves Iran’ Initiative Takes Off On Facebook

Iranians, Israelis Love You - Facebook page

Iranians, Israelis Love You - Facebook pageAn online call for peace started by an Israeli couple is bypassing the official realms of government and targeting the hearts of Iranian people via the internet. Both Israelis and Iranians have responded over the weekend, posting photos with messages of love for the citizens of their Mideast foes.

Ronny Edry and his wife Michal Tamir uploaded pink and green posters to Facebook last week depicting images of themselves with their children alongside the words, “Iranians, we will never bomb your country… We love you.”

‘Israel Loves Iran’ Initiative Takes Off On Facebook

Iranians, Israelis Love You - Facebook page

Iranians, Israelis Love You - Facebook pageAn online call for peace started by an Israeli couple is bypassing the official realms of government and targeting the hearts of Iranian people via the internet. Both Israelis and Iranians have responded over the weekend, posting photos with messages of love for the citizens of their Mideast foes.

Ronny Edry and his wife Michal Tamir uploaded pink and green posters to Facebook last week depicting images of themselves with their children alongside the words, “Iranians, we will never bomb your country… We love you.”

Happstr, the App That Finds Your Happy Place … Literally

Happstr app tracks happiness

Happstr app tracks happinessLooking for happiness? Now there’s a map for that.

Mobile web app Happstr lets users mark the locations at which they’re happy on a map and browse for happy spots left by others nearby.

It was built last week during a mobile hackathon called The Startup Bus. The team of six entrepreneurs completed the project en route to South by Southwest.

Fewer Kids Dying From Leukemia, Study Shows

girl with shaved head

girl with shaved headKids with one type of leukemia are living longer than they used to, most likely thanks to new drug combinations that mean fewer patients are relapsing after a first round of treatment.

In a study including more than 20,000 children, patients’ chances of surviving at least five years after their diagnosis increased from 84 percent in the early 1990s to over 90 percent a decade later.

From Stage Coach Trail to Electric Car Highway on Nation’s Second Busiest Interstate

Volt change-up - GM photo

Volt change-up - GM photoWhile many drivers are paying up to $4.00 per gallon of gasoline across America, Volt owners and others with EV’s are finding more charging stations open for business.

On Friday, following a trail blazed by Indians and pioneers in covered wagons, electric car drivers hit the road to inaugurate the first major section of a West Coast ‘Electric Highway’ dotted with stations where they can charge up in 20 minutes.

The stations go from the California border north to the Oregon city of Cottage Grove and are located at gas stations, restaurants and motels just off the nation’s second-busiest interstate.

College Student Drops Out to Start Secret Cookie Service – Now He Thrives in Disguise

Cookie delivery service not so secret anymore

Cookie delivery service not so secret anymoreA UCSD grad student has traded in his lab coat for an apron and sunglasses, disguising his identity and keeping his new cookie service a secret, to avoid criticism from friends and family.

Now, the passionate cookie-maker is seeing his dream pay off and the “secret cookie service” is not so secret anymore.

The young man known as “Agent Snickerdoodle” delivers his famous cookies to hungry UCSD students who simply text or call him requesting a delivery.

College Student Drops Out to Start Secret Cookie Service – Now He Thrives in Disguise

Cookie delivery service not so secret anymore

Cookie delivery service not so secret anymoreA UCSD grad student has traded in his lab coat for an apron and sunglasses, disguising his identity and keeping his new cookie service a secret, to avoid criticism from friends and family.

Now, the passionate cookie-maker is seeing his dream pay off and the “secret cookie service” is not so secret anymore.

The young man known as “Agent Snickerdoodle” delivers his famous cookies to hungry UCSD students who simply text or call him requesting a delivery.

The Amazings: Join a UK Website to Teach Your Skills and Get Paid

Photo by Sun Star

Photo by Sun StarEveryone has a skill. Now retirees and other talented individuals in London are invited to share their passions by joining “The Amazings”, a new social enterprise that helps people with skills to teach others by way of group classes and activities.

The website explains, “We handle the advertising and payments – all the Amazing has to do is decide when they want to run their experience, turn up, be amazing, and then collect the cash.”

Upcoming scheduled classes include “Introduction to Crochet,” “Steel Pan Drumming” and “Cooking Hungarian Food”.

The website, run by a trio of young entrepreneurs, offers gift vouchers for classes, which start at just £10. They see it as a way for people to make a bit of extra cash, and in the process enrich the lives of others.

“She gave great advice,” one pupil said of the teacher in her “Alterations Workshop” in February. “In the process we also transformed three items of clothing.”

Co-founder Katie Harris told the website HowToHome, “We initially were just going to work with the retired but when we started doing the on-street research what we found was a variety of amazing people who wanted to share their skills.”

Katie says it’s all about community, and there are more ideas planned for branching out. “The thing is we want it to be a real social thing, and we’re going to try running a social evening for the current Amazings, where we meet in a different pub each time – the Amazings can come together, people that might want to go on the course can come and chat to the Amazings, new Amazings can come and learn about the experience of other Amazings.”

Interested Londoners should check the website often for more classes in foraging, dancing, Thai Chi and more, at TheAmazings.org.

Photo by Sun Star

Babies Fed on Demand Do Better at School

bottle-feeding baby, photo by Kahanaboy via Morguefile

bottle-feeding baby, photo by Kahanaboy via MorguefileA large scale study in Britain suggests eight-year-olds who were fed on demand as infants had higher IQs — and did better in school — than did children who were fed on a schedule.

Researchers from Essex and Oxford Universities looked at more than 10,000 children born in the Bristol area in the early 1990s and studied their performance at ages five, seven, 11 and 14.

The study takes into account background factors such as a parent’s education, family income, the child’s sex and age, maternal health and parenting styles.

New York Beekeepers Quadruple

honey bee photo by John Stone, eyeclectic.net

honey bee photo by John Stone, eyeclectic.netThe number of beekeepers in New York City has quadrupled since the ban on keeping bees was lifted two years ago, figures show. Hives are now on skyscraper rooftops, in community gardens, and school backyards across the five boroughs.

Locally produced food growers pushed hard for the ban to be overturned.

Ancient Incan Plant Remedy Set to Replace Dental Injections

herb dental remedy, Acmella oleracea

herb dental remedy, Acmella oleracea

The herbal remedy for toothache, used for centuries by an indigenous tribe in the Amazon is being turned into a commercial treatment for dental pain, thanks to an anthropologist’s chance wisdom tooth problem.

A researcher from Cambridge University living among a remote Peruvian tribe suddenly experienced “excruciating pain” and was given a piece of the rare Acmella oleracea plant, which completely eliminated her symptoms.

Through a Cambridge commercialization arm, two clinical trials have been very successful in the pursuit of a commercial gel that could replace dental injections and cure tooth aches, among other applications.