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China Unearths 100 Life-Size Terracotta Warriors

Terracotta Warriors unearthed in China -by Maros-CC

Terracotta Warriors unearthed in China -by Maros-CCChinese archaeologists have unearthed 110 new terracotta warriors that laid buried since 210 BC, an official said Monday, part of the famed army built to guard the tomb of China’s first emperor.

The life-size figures were excavated by archaeologists near the Qin Emperor’s mausoleum in northern China, along with 12 pottery horses, weapons and tools.

In the 1970’s, the world was astonished to learn of some local farmers digging a well near the emperor’s mausoleum. They unearthed the first bits of a terracotta army that included 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses.

Strangers Raise $30,000 on Reddit for Fatally Ill Man to Travel

Reddit poster gets to travel after donations

Reddit poster gets to travel after donationsReddit.com has done it again. The social media community has once again responded with incredible generosity to a personal story of tragedy posted on their website.

Jake Villanueva, of Canada, was given six months to live after a surprise diagnosis of terminal kidney cancer last year. He wanted to tell his story and “just talk” with people about what it’s like to survive in his shoes. He posted on Reddit, “I am a 23 year old boy with Stage IV Kidney Cancer. I won’t see 24.”

Comments of encouragement started pouring in. When folks learned that he had always wanted to travel, they offered to open their homes to him and his family.

What happened next is the stuff of Reddit legend.

(The online community has previously raised $65,000 in 24 hours for an African orphanage, and brainstormed on how to deliver an amazing gift to dying man’s friend, among other feats.)

Lindsay Minar, from Portland, Oregon, read all these travel ideas that were posted and decided to set up a fund to help pay for his dream of traveling.

By the time Jake Villanueva woke up the next morning after he first posted his story, already $9,000 had been donated. In just 24 hours, more than $30,000 from 1,200 donors had been raised. Jake was blown away.

Meeting Ms. Minar will bring him to tears, he said. “I just want to hug her.”

(WATCH the video or READ the story at Huffington post)

Photo snapshot from CTV video

 

Strangers Raise $30,000 on Reddit for Fatally Ill Man to Travel

Reddit poster gets to travel after donations

Reddit poster gets to travel after donationsReddit.com has done it again. The social media community has once again responded with incredible generosity to a personal story of tragedy posted on their website.

Jake Villanueva, of Canada, was given six months to live after a surprise diagnosis of terminal kidney cancer last year. He wanted to tell his story and “just talk” with people about what it’s like to survive in his shoes. He posted on Reddit, “I am a 23 year old boy with Stage IV Kidney Cancer. I won’t see 24.”

Comments of encouragement started pouring in. When folks learned that he had always wanted to travel, they offered to open their homes to him and his family.

What happened next is the stuff of Reddit legend.

Scientists Find Eco-friendly Key to Greener Fireworks

fireworks in DC

fireworks in DC Some environmental activists have been labelled “killjoys” for seeking to ban fireworks because, as one campaigner put it, “they spray out a toxic concoction that rains down into lakes, rivers and bays.”

But, thanks to a team of US Army scientists, there may be a solution that doesn’t spoil the fun: green fireworks.

Renewable Energy Investment Powers to Record $257 Billion Worldwide

Solar farm - Photo by Convergence Energy, Wisconsin

Solar farm by Convergence Energy in WisconsinTotal investment in renewable power and fuels last year surged by 17% to a record $257 billion, according to a report issued yesterday by the United Nations Environment Programme. India expanded its outlays the fastest in 2011, with an impressive 62% increase, thanks to its National Solar Mission.

The US overtook China in the race to be the lead investor in renewable energy, with a 57% leap in its outlays to $51 billion. But new markets also opened up, bringing the total number of countries installing wind, solar and biomass systems to around fifty.

Clean energy sources have now grown to supply 16.7 % of global energy consumption and, excluding large hydro-electric, account for 44% of all new generating capacity added worldwide in 2011.

Renewable Energy Investment Powers to Record $257 Billion Worldwide

Solar farm - Photo by Convergence Energy, Wisconsin

Solar farm by Convergence Energy in WisconsinTotal investment in renewable power and fuels last year surged by 17% to a record $257 billion, according to a report issued yesterday by the United Nations Environment Programme. India expanded its outlays the fastest in 2011, with an impressive 62% increase, thanks to its National Solar Mission.

The US overtook China in the race to be the lead investor in renewable energy, with a 57% leap in its outlays to $51 billion. But new markets also opened up, bringing the total number of countries installing wind, solar and biomass systems to around fifty.

Clean energy sources have now grown to supply 16.7 % of global energy consumption and, excluding large hydro-electric, account for 44% of all new generating capacity added worldwide in 2011.

‘Huge’ Water Resources Exist Beneath Africa

African-Children-with-food-cups-FFEgov

African kids with water cupsScientists say the notoriously dry continent of Africa is sitting on a vast reservoir of groundwater.

They argue that the total volume of water in aquifers underground is 100 times the amount found on the surface.

The study’s authors hope the new continent-wide maps will open people’s eyes to the potential.

Oil Production Revival Helps Libyans Look to the Future

Flag of Libya 1951

Flag of Libya 1951A reporter traveling through countries of the Arab Spring, recently arrived in Libya and found that country’s oil is once again flowing.

He found that Libya’s oil industry is now back up to 90 percent of its pre-war production, earning the income that gives many Libyans confidence that, despite hardship, they do have a shot at a better future.

UnitedHealth Will Keep Some ObamaCare Reforms Regardless of Supreme Court Opinion

med students via Flickr-CC

med students via Flickr-CCThe nation’s largest health insurance company said it would continue with some of the reforms mandated by the Affordable Care Act regardless of how the Supreme Court rules later this month on the federal healthcare law.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. today announced they would continue to honor some the law’s more popular provisions, including preventive screenings at no cost, the elimination of lifetime limits and keeping young people on their parents’ policies.

Girls in India Rise Above Caste at School for ‘Untouchables’

Indian girls rise above caste - Globe and Mail snapshot

Indian girls rise above caste - Globe and Mail snapshotA girl named Jyoti, from the small Indian village of Daraut, now says she wants to be a police officer like her grandfather. Such ambition is thanks to a residential school for marginalized girls.

In her second year at the school, she has the chance to learn, study, practice art and sports, things she couldn’t do at home.

Marine Stands Guard for 8 Hours at Hospital Room of Dying Boy

Marine stands guard - Riley Hospital for Children

Marine stands guard - Riley Hospital for Children12-year-old Cody Green always admired the strength and courage of the U.S. Marines. Last month, it was the Marines admiring the strength and courage of Cody.

To honor his undaunted optimism and long-time struggle with leukemia, during which he beat the cancer into remission three times, the Indiana fifth-grader was made an honorary Marine.

But that wasn’t enough for Sergeant Mark Dolfini who took it upon himself to drive over to Riley Hospital for Children where the boy was bed-ridden.

He made the decision to stand guard in his dress uniform at Cody’s hospital door all night long, for eight hours straight. It was the night before Cody passed.

Stanford Physicists Make New Form of Matter

photo of nebula in deep space

photo of nebula in deep spaceWithin the exotic world of macroscopic quantum effects, where fluids flow uphill, wires conduct without electrical resistance and magnets levitate, there is an even stranger family of “unconventional” phenomena.

Studying such effects holds enormous promise for the development of such technologies as ultrasensitive microscopes and quantum computation.

After Concussion, Man Becomes Musical Genius

Piano savant -MSNBC video snapshot

Piano savant -MSNBC video snapshotWhen Derek Amato crashed headfirst into the hard bottom of a pool, he was scared about what he might have done to his brain. But amazingly, the accident brought Amato an unexpected gift: it turned him into a musical savant.

Amato now plays the piano like a virtuoso, making up melodies from the patterns of black and white blocks that stream across his brain in endless succession.

While rare, there are at least 30 others around the world who have developed musical abilities after some sort of brain trauma. The condition is called Acquired Savant Syndrome.

(WATCH the video below, or READ the story from MSNBC)

 

After Concussion, Man Becomes Musical Genius

Piano savant -MSNBC video snapshot

Piano savant -MSNBC video snapshotWhen Derek Amato crashed headfirst into the hard bottom of a pool, he was scared about what he might have done to his brain. But amazingly, the accident brought Amato an unexpected gift: it turned him into a musical savant.

Amato now plays the piano like a virtuoso, making up melodies from the patterns of black and white blocks that stream across his brain in endless succession.

Student Engineering Project Helps Girl Feed Herself

Engineering students help student feed herself-JSvideo snapshot

Engineering students help student feed herself-JSvideo snapshotFor their their senior project, six Marquette University engineering students chose to design and manufacture a device that would help a physically-challenged 11-year-old girl to feed herself.

Without the device, Kailyn Pieper has to bring her mouth right down to the table when eating in the school cafeteria with her friends. Without the device, she was dipping her face into the plate.

(WATCH the inspiring video or READ the story from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Thanks to Nancy Peske for sending the link!

Kansas Farmer Who Built 150-foot Replica Finally Sees Real Golden Gate Bridge

mini Golden Gate Bridge in Kansas

mini Golden Gate Bridge in KansasFour decades after “a scared 19-year-old kid” rolled over the Golden Gate Bridge on his way to combat in Vietnam, and after promising his wife every anniversary that they’d visit San Francisco, Larry and Barbara Richardson, who have built a 150-foot replica of the Golden Gate Bridge on their Kansas farm, finally came face to face with the iconic landmark.

Turkey Thrives as a Muslim Democracy, Inspiring Beacon Amid Arab Spring

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoan -CC

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoan -CCAs the Arab Spring has darkened, the Obama administration has built a solid alliance with the prosperous and successful Muslim democracy of Turkey, which is a beacon for the region. The country is a role model for Arabs because it shows that democracy brings dignity, not chaos or extremism. 

At the the World Economic Forum this week, the “Turkish model” was held up as a source for inspiration, a Muslim country whose economy has grown an annual average of 5.3 percent since 2002 and gross domestic product more than tripled.

Silicon Valley Launches $10 Million Seed Fund for African Tech, UN Leaders Pledge 80% Broadband Coverage by 2020

Africa Computer learning in Congo - by IRIN

Africa Computer learning in Congo - by IRINA new seed capital fund committed to finding and investing in high-potential East African “pre-revenue” startups was launched Wednesday in Kenya.

Bringing to the table years of seasoned experience in Africa’s tech scene, the new Savannah Fund aims to find and invest in early stage, web and mobile startups addressing the Sub-Saharan Africa market, offering in the region of $25,000 to $500,000.

The announcement comes the same week a leading UN information and technology agency stated their intention to deliver broadband to 80% of African citizens by 2020.

More Good News On The MBA Job Market

job counselor

job counselorThere’s more good news on the MBA jobs front. A new survey of business schools by the MBA Career Services Council released June 7 shows that the recovery in the job market has spread well beyond the top-ranked schools.

The survey findings show that 51% of responding B-schools report an increase in on-campus recruiting for full-time jobs, while 69% of respondents report an increase in full-time job postings.

Dog Hero in Ghana Rescues Newborn Baby

queensland-cattle-dog

queensland-cattle-dogA farm dog in the west African country of Ghana is being praised as a hero hound this week after saving the life of an abandoned two-week-old baby.

The regional director of health in Ghana told the Ghana News Agency that the dog apparently found the baby under a bridge in the northern part of the country. Rather than abandon (or eat) the vulnerable tot, the dog curled up next to him for the night, refusing to leave his side.