If you felt that the atmosphere in the new hip Club Watt was somehow electric, you would be right: The dance floor harvests the energy generated by jumps and gyrations and transforms it into electricity. The Rotterdam club is one of a handful of energy-generating floors in the world, most still experimental. (NewYork Times)
Partying Helps Power a Dutch Nightclub
Amish Gene Mutation Makes Them Immune to Heart Disease
After a dozen studies of the Amish over 15 years, researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have discovered a novel gene mutation among the Old Order Amish population that significantly reduces the level of triglycerides in the blood and appears to make them immune to cardiovascular disease.
The scientists believe the mutation was first introduced into the Amish community in Lancaster County by a person who was born in the mid-1700s. This mutation appears to be rare or absent in the general population.
Mexico Pledges 50 Percent Cut in Greenhouse Gases
Mexico announced a plan on 11 December to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 using solar power, wind, and other clean technologies — making it one of the few developing countries to set a specific emissions reduction target. (AP story via Seattle Times)
World’s Friendliest Countries For Americans
Canada, Germany and Australia are topping the list of friendliest countries toward Americans who have moved abroad, says a new study: Canada is the most welcoming; almost 95% of respondents to HSBC Bank International’s Expat Exploreer Survey, released today, said they have made friends with locals. In Germany, 92% were so lucky and in Australia 91% befriended those living there. The United Arab Emirates was found to be the most difficult for expats; only 54% of those surveyed said they’d made friends with locals. (See the list results at Forbes.com)
Company Gives More Than Half Its Profits to Charity
What’s in a name? When it comes to the California-based office products firm, Give Something Back, almost everything. GSB gives back more than half its after-tax profits every year to organizations that support better education, healthcare, arts and culture, and environmental stewardship. Based on Paul Newman’s food company, which donates all profits to charity, GSB was founded in 1991 by friends Mike Hannigan and Sean Marx, who’d worked successfully in the office products business for years but yearned to give something back. And have they ever! In 2007 GSB donated more than $432,000 to California nonprofits, and this year the total donations will top $4 million.
First Windmill Coop Provides Green Energy and Profit to Locals in UK (Video)
2,500 people have invested in the first windmill co-op in Britain, now providing cheap, green energy — and profit — for its owners.
Electric Car Maker Zenn Sees Growth Ahead for Candian Car Company
Canadian electric car maker Zenn Motor Co may find itself in the right place at the right time. Troubled American auto makers have pledged to accelerate development of cleaner, more fuel-efficient vehicles. The Chief Executive of Zenn (Zero Emission No Noise) said that green push may spark big demand for his tiny company. (Reuters News has the story)
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A Selfless Act Goes Unnoticed After Olympics
In what may be the best sports story of 2008, Shawn Crawford, a US track runner gave the silver medal he won at the Summer Olympics in the 200 meter race to a runner he felt deserved it more than him.
“And the most amazing thing is, he didn’t tell anyone. He didn’t need the public to congratulate him for doing it. For him, it was just the right thing to do.” (Sport’s Illustrated)
UN Loans $30M to Micro-Finance Plan for Poor Rural Indian Women
A new United Nations loan of over $30 million seeks to boost the social and economic power of rural women in India’s largest pocket of poverty.
Women from an estimated 108,000 poor rural households will benefit from the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) loan, which aims to give women in the Mid-Gangetic Plains of northern India easier access to microfinance and business development services.
Waste Coffee Grounds offer new source of biodiesel fuel
Researchers in Nevada are reporting that waste coffee grounds can provide a cheap, abundant, and environmentally friendly source of biodiesel fuel for powering cars and trucks. Their study has been published online in the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a bi-weekly publication.
Spent coffee grounds contain between 11 and 20 percent oil by weight. That’s about as much as traditional biodiesel feedstocks such as rapeseed, palm, and soybean oil. The scientists estimated that spent coffee grounds can potentially add 340 million gallons of biodiesel to the world’s fuel supply.
Calif. Approves Sweeping Global Warming Plan
California officials yesterday approved a climate plan that aims to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions by at least 30% by 2020. Central to the plan is a cap-and-trade program and a requirement for utilities to produce a third of their energy from renewable sources such as wind, solar and geothermal. (MSNBC.com has the full story)
Thousands of Trees Help Make Super Bowl a ‘Green’ Event
More than one thousand trees will take root in
(Photo by Sun Star)
10 Things Science Says Will Make You Happy
In the last few years, psychologists and researchers have been digging up hard data on a question previously left to philosophers: What makes us happy? The emerging field of positive psychology is bursting with new findings about how things like money, attitude, culture, memory, health, altruism, and our day-to-day habits affect our well-being.
Here are 10 scientifically proven strategies for getting happy. (YES magazine features an interactive graphic, or read the text under that, to explain the 10 strategies)
Photo by Tim Middleton, www.timages. biz
Rice-Powered Stove Ignites New Hope for Poor Farmers
More than a third of the world’s population can’t afford propane or other petroleum-based cooking fuels, relying instead on wood or charcoal that burns inefficiently in stoves that emit smoke and toxic fumes. One man succeeded in inventing the impossible: a safer, cleaner, and less-expensive way to cook using the waste from rice – turning it into a clean bright blue flame.
Last month, watchmaker Rolex named Belonio as one of its 10 exemplary innovators. Belonio says he plans to use the $50,000 prize to build a stove demonstration and research center in Iloilo, Philippines.
Legacy of Chicago Sit-In: Empowering Laid-off Workers
For some 240 laid-off workers at a manufacturing plant in Chicago, federal law required a 60-day notice that the facility was closing. Their employer gave three days. Following a six-day sit-in protest staged in the factory, the workers won a severance deal that complied with the law. (Christian Science Monitor)
Don’t Stress Over Holiday Guests: 5 Tips
The chance to see your family and friends is truly one of the best parts of the holidays.
But hosting family members and friends in your own home can also be one of the most stressful parts of the holidays. Trying to make everything perfect for guests can only add to your stress. However, with some simple planning, you can have a stress-free time while hosting the ones you love. (Detroit News and GetButtonedUp has the article)
Students Help Reduce Wildlife Roadkill With Novel Project
In 2003, a group of New Mexico students began lobbying the state legislature to address collisions between vehicles and wildlife. As a result, state agencies have installed fences to guide mule deer, black bears, cougars, and other wildlife through safe passages beneath a major highway. So far, the project – completed last year for the relatively modest sum of $750,000 – seems to be working. It has reduced animal fatalities by ninety percent. (Christian Science Monitor)
Afghanistan Crowned Homeless World Cup Champions
Afghanistan defeated Russia 5-4 in the final of the 2008 Homeless World Cup in Melbourne on Sunday.
The Homeless World Cup is a world-class international football tournament that has triggered grass roots football programs in more than 60 nations engaging 30,000 players who are homeless all year round.
(Photo: Sayed Qasem in action during the 2008 Homeless World Cup final against Russia in Melbourne Australia. 7th December 2008. Photo: Sydney Low / Photoworx)
During their 6th world cup last week, 56 nations united for a tournament that included the first women’s cup, won by Zambia.
48,000 Gardens and Green Spaces Created in 2008
Keep America Beautiful announced a record 48,000-plus gardens, green spaces and xeriscapes created in 2008 in its annual Great American Cleanup campaign that cleans-up and greens-up thousands of communities in all 50 states.
“The impact of more than 48,000 gardens nationwide is wonderful to imagine,” said Matthew M. McKenna, President and CEO of Keep America Beautiful, Inc. “Every one of these public spaces could be providing a quiet place to reflect on nature, food for the community, a gateway for the neighborhood, an activity space for kids, or even an offset to a community’s carbon footprint. We are incredibly thankful to all the volunteers and partners who made this possible.”
EPA Scraps Effort to Ease Controls on Power Plants
Six weeks before leaving office, the Bush administration is giving up on an effort to ease restrictions on pollution from coal-burning power plants, a key plank of its original energy agenda and one that put the President at odds with environmentalists his entire eight years in the White House. (AP story at SFgate.com)
(Photo courtesy of Sun Star)