The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced Wednesday it would be investing $20 million to bring new national education standards into the classroom using game-based learning, social-networking and other approaches to capture the virtual imagination of bored or unmotivated students.
(READ the AP story in MSNBC)
A sweet 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.
Watch the video below from YouTube…
Exactly a month after the first eagle hatched live on webcam in Decorah, Iowa, the three eaglets are almost edging their parents out of the nest.
“They’re almost full grown,” said the Raptor Resource Project, which operates the pair of cameras that have live-streamed the eaglets’ every move, and garnered 70 million hits so far.
They eaglets eat between half a pound and a pound of food a day; mostly fish, muskrats and rodents brought home by the father and weigh between 5 and 7 pounds each now.
(READ the full eagle update at Wired – and check out the Eagle Cam below)
Good news in post-earthquake Japan: All the wind turbines survived the quake and offered stability to the electrical grid during the crisis. Even the offshore turbines in the vicinity of the earthquake epicenter survived.
In some regions of Japan, this has saved the day, as power utilities have been struggling to meet basic energy demand in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear reactor breakdown.
(READ the story at MNN.com)
This bathroom mirror speech by young Jessica inspired all of us.
Now, cadamole has written music and performed the inspiring song and shared it on YouTube.
I successfully found and hired a new freelance IT technician and wanted to report on website improvements we’ve made this month. These are user benefits you will notice:
More improvements are on the way this month, including new RSS options, a new testimonials box, and an OFFLINE payment option for paying by check will be added to subscription process (restoring a feature that was available prior to our recent site upgrade, when it broke).
Your subscription dollars at work!
Please let us know about any improvements you think are necessary, or any bugs you experience going forward.
A National Rhino Census in Nepal released Saturday showed the rhinoceros population increasing 22 percent since 2008.
The animal count, conducted in three national parks, recorded 534 rhinos, an increase of 99 animals over the previous total of 435. The positive numbers reflect the success of conservation efforts for this species, following a decade of civil war, a result of improved anti-poaching measures and management of habitat.
“This is a fine example of working together where all conservation partners and local communities are contributing to the conservation efforts of the Government of Nepal,” says Krishna Prasad Acharya, Director General of Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation.
A National Rhino Census in Nepal released Saturday showed the rhinoceros population increasing 22 percent since 2008.
The animal count, conducted in three national parks, recorded 534 rhinos, an increase of 99 animals over the previous total of 435. The positive numbers reflect the success of conservation efforts for this species, following a decade of civil war, a result of improved anti-poaching measures and management of habitat.
“This is a fine example of working together where all conservation partners and local communities are contributing to the conservation efforts of the Government of Nepal,” says Krishna Prasad Acharya, Director General of Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation.
A deer that stood guard over the eggs of an expectant goose for weeks at a Buffalo cemetery is now admiring the hatched goslings.
One of the most dramatic moments in this animal kingdom saga came the day before the eggs hatched on Wednesday, when the storied stag chased off crows threatening the goose nesting on a large urn at Forest Lawn cemetery.
(READ the Reuters story w/ photos)
The bulk of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon occurs as a result of illegal cattle production.
Now, the world’s largest meat processor, JBS-Friboi, has agreed to stop buying beef from ranches involved in illegal deforestation of the Brazilian rainforest zoned for conservation or indigenous use.
(READ the story in Mongo Bay)
Everybody talks about the deplorable state of air travel, but some airline startups are hoping do something about it.
At 90 years old, Ted Vallas has taken on the challenge, becoming the founder and CEO of California Pacific Airlines, which plans to have “wheels up” by early 2012, providing low-cost, crowd-free service to several southwestern cities.
(READ the story in MSNBC)
Osama bin Laden, the leader of the al-Qaida terrorist network that killed 3,000 people in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, is dead.
President Obama announced to the nation late Sunday night, that bin Laden was killed in Pakistan this weekend after a firefight during an operation based on U.S. intelligence.
“Justice has been done,” the president declared as crowds formed outside the White House to celebrate, chant and sing.
No U.S. personnel were killed in the action.
(READ the story in MSNBC)
An army of volunteers trooped into storm-stricken communities across west and central Alabama on Saturday, bringing food, water and labor to those trying to pick up the pieces.
“The response is overwhelming,” said Judy McGuirk, a member of storm-damaged Fultondale First Baptist Church.
The hillsides whined with chainsaws and crawled with men and women pulling limbs and branches off houses and helping residents cart out belongings.
(READ the full story in Alabama Live)
Could computer games be the solution for persuading children with cystic fibrosis to complete their physiotherapy?
For such patients, daily breathing exercises are necessary to clear mucus from the lungs, but kids would rather be doing other things, such as playing computer games.
Doctors in the US have now combined the two.
Computer games like “Creep Frontier” rely on a spirometer, which measures how much and how fast air is exhaled, to blow slime off animals.
(READ the story in BBC News)
Scientists are expecting big breakthroughs in battery technology over the next five years that will increase the range of electric cars while reducing their cost. But, researchers acknowledge, any rechargeable battery will gradually lose its capacity to store energy after repeated cycles of charging and discharging.
That’s why a number of projects and new ventures (by Nissan and GM) are already under way to explore second-life applications for lithium-ion batteries, including one at U.S. National Renewable Energy Lab in Colorado.
(READ the full story at the New York Times Green Blog)
A radio station previously used as a propaganda tool for Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi now broadcasts the rebel rallying cry and highlights a new push to spread the revolution.
Free speech used to be impossible. Col. Muammar Qaddafi’s state security agents occupied the same floor as the radio station in Nalut. Radio guests were questioned before they were allowed on air. Files were kept on the staff. One agent listened carefully to every word – and took notes.
But this week the station has had a revolutionary makeover, and is beginning life anew as “Radio Free Nalut.”
(READ the full story in the CS Monitor)
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Thursday announced 88 new winners of $100,000 grants to support innovative research that has the potential to dramatically improve lives in some of the world’s poorest countries. The funding, made possible through the Grand Challenges Exploration program, will enable researchers worldwide to test unorthodox ideas that address persistent health and development challenges.
“One bold idea is all it takes to catalyze new approaches to global health and development,” said Dr. Tachi Yamada, president of Global Health at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The contest asked researchers to tackle problems such as speeding progress toward assuring polio eradication; leveraging cell phones to improve access to life-saving vaccines; applying new technologies to improve maternal and newborn health; finding ways to eliminate all reservoirs of HIV from a patient; and, creating next generation sanitation technologies to help reduce the burden of diarrheal disease.
Winners were selected from over 2,500 proposals uploaded from 100 countries. The program continues its search for innovative ideas, and applications for the next round are being accepted at the website through May 19, 2011.
Here are some of the health researchers, engineers, and entrepreneurs winning Round 6:
* James Flanegan of the University of Florida will explore developing a poliovirus vaccine with protein shells that look like the virus but are not infectious.
* Erez Lieberman-Aiden and his team at Harvard University propose to develop a low-cost microbial fuel cell from naturally occurring soil microbes which could be used to recharge a cell phone. These fuel cells do not require any sophisticated materials to build, and can be easily assembled using locally available materials.
* Marc-Andre Langlois of the University of Ottawa, Canada, will develop small molecules that combine together to form a toxic compound that specifically eliminates only HIV-infected cells. If successful, it could lead to a cure for HIV.
* Guillermo Bazan of the University of California, Santa Barbara will explore an innovative way to break down human waste and convert the energy into electricity and heat.
* Virginia Gardiner of Loowatt Ltd. in the United Kingdom will develop a waterless toilet that seals waste into a portable cartridge within biodegradable film, for local anaerobic digestion. The digester produces fuel and fertilizer, creating local waste treatment economies.
* Olufunke Cofie of the International Water Management Institute in Ghana will develop fertilizer pellets made from treated human waste for market sale to increase agricultural productivity in sub-Saharan Africa and reduce health risks from untreated waste.
Launched in 2008, the $100 million Grand Challenges Explorations program is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Grants have already been awarded to nearly 500 researchers from over 40 countries. The grant program is open to anyone from any discipline and from any organization. The initiative uses an agile, accelerated grant-making process with short two-page online applications and no preliminary data required. Initial grants of $100,000 are awarded twice a year. Successful projects have the opportunity to receive a follow-on grant of up to $1 million.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Thursday announced 88 new winners of $100,000 grants to support innovative research that has the potential to dramatically improve lives in some of the world’s poorest countries. The funding, made possible through the Grand Challenges Exploration program, will enable researchers worldwide to test unorthodox ideas that address persistent health and development challenges.
“One bold idea is all it takes to catalyze new approaches to global health and development,” said Dr. Tachi Yamada, president of Global Health at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Leftover soap and shampoo from your hotel’s bathroom is being recycled to help Clean the World.
The Global Soap Project, along with Clean The World, has launched programs to collect and recycle partially-used toiletries from hotels across the United States.
The remade soap, shampoo and so on is then donated to developing countries to improve hygiene and sanitation, as well as going to some local US women’s, children’s and homeless shelters.
(READ the story in Australian Business Traveler)
He set out on his own in 2009 when he took the 8,000-mile flight from Kenya to Maryland as a foreign exchange student.
He had no running experience before coming to the US, but now owns the fastest 1,600 time in the state and has secured a college scholarship.
“I’m not just running for fun. I have a longer goal.” It involves his poor village in Kenya.
The long goal is a difficult one. He wants to return home to a village that has no electricity or running water and ask a mostly illiterate population focused mainly on herding sheep and cattle to learn how to read.
(READ the story in the Washington Post)
