As anyone who has unwittingly drifted off at their desk will know – tiredness can really creep up on you when you least need it.
But a new study is offering some good news: it claims to prove that we can bank sleep – and store it up in advance of a tiring event.
(Continue reading on BBC News)
Bo, the Obama family dog, plays in the snow in the Rose Garden of the White House, in this official White House Photo by Pete Souza.
Despite historic snow storms in the city this week, the White House held a special concert last night, In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement, to honor Black History month.
Bob Dylan sang his 1964 anthem, The Times They Are a Changin’ for the first time in 30 years and Jennifer Hudson, Morgan Freeman and John Mellancamp were among the guests who gathered on stage with the President to sing the final song, Lift Every Voice. (Coincidentally, the song, The Times They Are a Changin’ was released on this day 46 years ago).
The First Lady invited 120 high school students from across the country to attend as special guests and take part in a workshop, “Music that Inspired the Movement”. Students learned about the continuing relevance of music from the Civil Rights Movement to today’s generation and its original impact in the 1960s.
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The workshop was facilitated by Robert Santelli, the executive director of The GRAMMY Museum and legendary Motown singer Smokey Robinson with performances by John Legend, John Mellencamp, Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon and Toshi Reagon. Dr. Reagon was one of the original Freedom Singers in the 1960s, who traveled around the country carrying stories in song of local Civil Rights Movement campaigns to national audiences.
The event was televised as a PBS one-hour special on February 12. Check out the videos highlights below featuring Dylan, the Blind Boys of Alabama, and the finale, Lift Every Voice…
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Venders were clearing debris from a marketplace when they discovered a man still alive after 27 days. Evan Muncie, 28, was selling rice when the quake hit. Doctors said the man had been left “emaciated” having lost 30lb during his four-week ordeal and is suffering from severe dehydration and malnutrition.
(Read more in the Times Online)
A career biologist-turned-fillmmaker thought a lot of people out there are doing great things for the environment, and wanted to capture them on film. Now she is hosting two ‘Feel-Good Environmental Film Series’ in Washington state later this month.
“At a time when there is doom and gloom and the economy is bad, I am trying to present positive message.”
The restoration of Discovery Bay’s tidal channels, once buried and polluted by tons of old lumber mill sawdust and five collapsing mill buildings, is one of the stories being told. It culminated in 11 acres of cleaned-up salt marsh and estuary at the head of the bay.
(Read more in PeninsulaDaily.com)
More than 60 percent of all medicinal drugs are derived from the natural world.
Mycologist Paul Stamets is on a quest to prove that an endangered mushroom could cure smallpox, TB, and even bird flu. He believes that unlocking the secret may be as important to the future of human health as Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillium mold’s antibiotic properties more than 80 years ago.
That a homely, humble fungus could fight off virulent diseases like smallpox, e coli, and TB might seem odd, until one realizes that even though the animal kingdom branched off from the fungi kingdom around 650 million years ago, humans and fungi still have nearly half of their DNA in common and are susceptible to many of the same infections.
To many residents of this storm-battered city, the New Orleans Saints carried more than a trophy when they came home on Monday after winning the first Super Bowl in their 42-year history… “Our spirits are lifted,” reported Reuters.
Just four years after Hurricane Katrina decimated the city of New Orleans, the Saints rallied from a 10-point deficit to beat the favored Indianapolis Colts, 31-17, Sunday night in Super Bowl XLIV.
The game, played in Miami featured two of the NFL’s top offenses, but it was big plays from the Saints special teams and defense that turned the game around. Trailing 10-6, the Saints surprised the Colts when they began the second half with an on-side kick. New Orleans recovered the ball and drove for a touchdown.
The world’s leading industrialized nations have pledged to write off the debts that Haiti owes them, following a devastating earthquake last month.
The G7 group – which includes Canada, the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy and Japan – announced a plan to cancel all of Haiti’s bilateral debts and encourage other international lenders to do the same.
(Continue reading in BBC)
A quick note to say we’ve had major power outages here in the DC area because of the Snowmaggedon, here this weekend. So, I am stuck in my Lake home with fireplace and kids, but possibly a generator later that can help me get more good news online.
See you online soon, I hope!
geri
Photo from my back porch after the December snowstorm
Scientists in Cambridge have shown that an “artificial pancreas” can be used to regulate blood sugar in children with Type 1 diabetes.
A trial found that combining a “real time” sensor measuring glucose levels with a pump that delivers insulin can boost overnight blood sugar control.
(Continue reading at BBC)
Economists are reacting to the new jobs report saying the fall in the unemployment rate is legitimate good news, while President Obama calls it a “cause for hope.”
“It was not driven, as it sometimes is, by labor force dropouts,” wrote Stephen Stanley, of RBS. “The labor force grew by 360,000 in January while household employment surged by 784,000, more than reversing the big December decline.”
(Read more economists’ opinions on the Jobs report at the Wall Street Journal)
For forty years, the Heinz ketchup packet has been a frustrating annoyance to travelers and diners alike. Hard to open, leaving bits of foil in your mouth, never enough in one packet, and no way to dip those french fries in the sauce.
Now that burden will be lifted by a new package design unveiled Thursday that gives ketchup lovers two ways to enjoy their Heinz: either peel back the lid for easy dipping, or tear off the tip to squeeze onto favorite foods. The new package also holds three times as much ketchup as the traditional packet.
For forty years, the Heinz ketchup packet has been a frustrating annoyance to travelers and diners alike. Hard to open, leaving bits of foil in your mouth, never enough in one packet, and no way to dip those french fries in the sauce.
Now that burden will be lifted by a new package design unveiled Thursday that gives ketchup lovers two ways to enjoy their Heinz: either peel back the lid for easy dipping, or tear off the tip to squeeze onto favorite foods. The new package also holds three times as much ketchup as the traditional packet.
Five months before Allen Manly retired from his job in June as a high school guidance counselor, he underwent training that could go a long way to keeping his brain – and his skills – sharp. He signed up for hours of orientation to be a health care volunteer. A growing number of researchers believe volunteering may actually be doing Manly a lot of good — maybe even delaying dementia and prolonging his life.
(Continue reading in HealthZone.ca)
Photo: This woman started a running club for the homeless, after giving up her Wall Street career. (Woman Leaves Corporate World to Run With the Homeless -Video)
After settling in and listening to the morning announcements, the boys in the behavioral class at a Canadian public school don’t hit the books. They hit the gym.
With four treadmills and four stationary bikes set up in their classroom, the class of boys works up a sweat for 20 minutes before getting down to business. They can also use the equipment during the day when they need to. The unusual experiment at the Etobicoke elementary school is based on a growing body of research tying physical activity to improved attention and learning.
Other schools are incorporating daily activity or dancing for kids saying it makes them better able to concentrate back in class.
(Continue reading at ParentCentral.ca)
In Haiti, huge piles of rubble remain virtually untouched. But a surprising sight is tucked away just outside the coastal city of Leogane: Workers are busy constructing two small, wood-frame buildings.
The Canadian military and a U.S.-based aid group are working together to rebuild an orphanage.
It is one of the first signs of rebuilding in an area that was reduced almost entirely to rubble in the Jan. 12 earthquake.
(See photos and read/listen to the story at NPR.org)
Empowering women is critical to improving life in Afghanistan and key to a brighter future there. Last week the Obama administration unveiled a plan to do just that.
The Women’s Action Plan for Afghanistan, outlined by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton at the London Conference on Afghanistan on January 28, seeks to increase Afghan women’s security, leadership in the public and private sectors, access to judicial institutions, education and health services, and ability to take advantage of economic opportunities, especially in the agricultural sector.
The number of girls being educated in Afghanistan has improved dramatically, with girls making up about 35 percent of the 6.2 million students now enrolled in Afghan schools. Under Taliban rule, fewer than 900,000 boys — and no girls — were enrolled.
The Church of Scientology has sent more than one hundred and fifty of its members to assist in relief efforts in Haiti. NBC went to a hospital site where several of the volunteers were helping doctors, to see what they were doing and what they were saying about their religion.
“As well as providing medical assistance, the volunteers – wearing yellow T-shirts that read: ‘Something CAN be done about it’ – have also helped distribute food and water and remove medical supplies from damaged buildings,” reported the Daily Telegraph.
Watch the video below, or at MSNBC…
New England is primed to ride a tailwind of advancements in wind turbines for both small and large systems, with the help of a few high-profile, fast-growing companies. While Europe is still king when it comes to large-scale turbine deployments (thanks to its wind-friendly feed-in tariffs), a combination of regulatory changes and financial incentives is making this region an attractive market for wind turbines.
(Continuer reading in The Journal of New England Technology)
The U.S. appears to be trending towards being a safer place for children, with researchers reporting a striking 26 percent decrease in the incidence of child abuse and neglect between 1993 and 2006.
The mammoth study, congressionally mandated and completed by the federal government documents an unprecedented and dramatic decrease in incidents of serious child abuse, especially sexual abuse. Experts hailed the findings as proof that crackdowns and public awareness campaigns had made headway.
(Read more in the Associated Press story via NPR)
