It’s a bright idea: Get one of the Senate’s biggest skeptics of the causes of global warming to co-sponsor legislation that encourages conservation. The US Senate may pass a bill to phase out old-style light bulbs and require their replacement with more energy-efficient ones (like this dimmable CF Warm Glow light bulb), as bi-partisan support builds…
Lawmakers Push U.S. to Adopt More Energy Efficient Light Bulbs
City Parking Spaces Transformed into Mini-Parks
One day last year some folks in San Francisco decided there was not enough green space downtown so they “leased” the area provided by a parking meter, usually reserved for cars, to created a mini-park for a day. A Park(ing) Space! Pedestrians lounged on the park bench under a temporary tree. The grass invited shoes to come off. No authority interfered at all. Today they launched their first official citywide PARK(ing) Day. Artists, activists, and citizens will transform metered parking spaces into parks, playgrounds, and social spaces. Dozens of sites are mapped on the PARK(ing) Day website.
PARK(ing) Day challenges people to rethink the way streets are used and emphasizes the need for urban open space. PARK(ing) Day was pioneered in 2005 by the San Francisco arts collective Rebar. This year they’ve joined with San Francisco nonprofit Public Architecture in association with Trust for Public Land, which is coordinating a parallel national effort.
Temporary “PARKs” will be constructed by individuals and groups, such as the San Francisco Department of Environment and the SF Bike Coalition. Several design firms will also participate.
Public Architecture, which advocates for the implementation of “Sidewalk Plazas”– permanent sidewalk bumpouts, similar to PARKs — and will construct a full-scale mockup of its open space vision for Folsom Street.
Look for its design to be unveiled in front of Brainwash Café on Folsom Street. This transformation of the street right-of-way into a place for public amenities represents a new form of urban open space–the first of its kind in San Francisco’s South of Market area.
PARK(ing) Day and the Sidewalk Plazas have garnered support from several important entities including the City of San Francisco Mayor’s Office and Department of Planning as well as the University of California Transportation Center.
Following the event, Rebar and Public Architecture plan to produce a short film and publication to document the day’s events and broader message. Check out the map of locations where Park(ing) Day will be feeding the meters in order to provide some green space.
Chiropractor Helps Relieve Pain in Injured and Ailing Animals
"A chiropractor for 16 years, Dina LiVolsi gives adjustments to humans near Pittsburgh, but also has been treating four-legged patients, mostly dogs and horses, for sore backs for the past eight years." (Post-Gazette)
Two N.J. Golfers Get Back-to-Back Aces
A foursome witnessed the Law of Attraction in action on a golf course this week when one of the members shot a hole-in-one, and the celebration had barely subsided when a second man scored another. "I’ve never heard of that happening anywhere in the world," said the Newark, New Jersey area country club’s director. (AP)
Mandela and The Elders Head to Darfur
South African Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu will lead a group of elder statesmen later this month to visit Darfur. This is to be the first mission of the group known as The Elders, launched earlier this year.
Another Billionaire Donates: $80M to Australian Kids
Inspired by the hefty charitable donations of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, and in an effort to encourage other Australians to be more philanthropic, billionaire Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest has donated shares and options worth $80 million to The Australian Children’s Trust. (The Australian) Thanks to Andrew for the link!
MP3 Players as Stethoscopes?
Next time you visit your doctor you may want to bring along your MP3 player as that stethoscope around your doctor’s neck is, well, out of date. Invented in 1816 from a paper tube, the stethoscope might be headed for museum collections, replaced now by off-the-shelf MP3 players.
A study by Neil Skjodt from the University of Alberta, Canada, has found the digital recorders provide better sound quality than even the most advanced stethoscope on the market.
It seems that the plastic shell surrounding the microphone is perfect for capturing the low resonance sounds from the body.
The primary advantage may be digital rather than medical. The recorded sounds could be replayed, stored as part of a patients record and be further analyzed by computer or another doctor via the internet to obtain a second opinion.
Other compelling advantages of having such information stored digitally include the ease of following progress in a case of respiratory illness with access to the patient’s earlier chest sounds. Also, the players could contain archive samples of respiratory deviations to aid a doctor’s diagnosis on the fly. This point may be especially valid since recent studies have found that medical students need to listen to certain clinical sounds hundreds of times before being able to recognize them accurately.
Additionally, the players could also be used to record patient descriptions of their symptoms or memos from the doctors themselves.
Might our respiratory resonances even be purchased via online subscription services such as iTunes — Jim Carrey’s heart rate, anyone?
Maybe not, but MP3 players are now ubiquitous on the market and therefore relatively inexpensive and with further studies ongoing to assess their full merit for recording respiratory, heart and bowel sounds, it may not be long before these cost effective.
Michael Little works in analytical chemistry and has almost 20 years experience in the research based pharmaceutical industry. Michael resides in Laval, Quebec, with his wife and three children. Michael has written occasional science articles for GNN since 2007.
(Image by MIT Labs; and imelenchon, CC)
Study: Early-Childhood Program Pays for Itself
Educational attainment is higher and felony arrests are lower for the alumni of an early-intervention program for low-income children in Chicago. Twenty years afterward, these children were also less likely to describe themselves as depressed and more likely to have health insurance.
Six Steps to a Happier Workday
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There are many facets of work and life in general that we do not control. But we can increase our control over our own responses to them. Positive psychology researchers* have shown that one’s happiness level is determined partly by a genetic baseline or set point (50%), partly by circumstances (10%), and partly by intentional activity (40%). It is that opportunity we have to be intentional where we can make a real and ongoing difference in our chronic happiness levels. One way to raise our overall level of well-being even in the face of trouble and stress at work is to practice and grow stronger at being grateful.
Rapidly Dying 47-Year-Old Professor Gives Exuberant ‘Last Lecture’ (Video)
If you had one message to give the world, what would it be? A dying professor gives an inspirational farewell lecture: “The ‘brick walls’ are there to let us show how badly we want something.”
Thoughts Can Move This Wheelchair
Technology now exists, thanks to engineers at Ambient Corporation and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, that allows paraplegics to motor their chairs with their thoughts. (LiveScience) Thanks to Andrew!
Dog Saves House from Fire
An Oregon resident credits his labradoodle, Henry, with saving his neighbor’s house from a fire. (Video)
Lawyer Wins Top UN Award for Aiding Boat People
A Maltese lawyer who has fought for the rights of boat people fleeing across the Mediterranean Sea, including victims of trauma or torture and survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, sometimes in the face of great danger to herself, today won the most prestigious United Nations refugee award.
NYC School System Honored as ‘Model of Reform’
New York City public schools have won the 2007 Broad Prize for Urban Education, a $1 million award honoring the most improved school systems, with the smallest achievement gaps for poor and minority students. The money will go directly to college scholarships for graduating high school seniors.
“If it can be done in New York City, it can be done anywhere,” said Eli Broad (rhymes with road), founder of The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation. “The strong leadership by the mayor, the chancellor and a progressive teachers union has allowed a school system the size of New York City to dramatically improve student achievement in a relatively short period of time. Other cities can look to New York as a model of successful urban school district reform.”
Free Session with Harvard Happiness Mentor Will Make You ‘Happier’
My new Great Mentors Audio Series is in full swing after Sunday’s tele-seminar with Happiness mentor and Harvard professor, Tal Ben-Shahar. (right, with me at the Positive Psychology Summit in 2006) Tal is author of the new best-selling book, Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment.
Playback of the recorded seminar is now available for FREE — great mentoring at your leisure. One listener called the 60-minute seminar, "Wonderful!" (All your questions that were e-mailed beforehand were answered on the call.)
Listening to the Seminar, You will learn:
… What to do if it feels like your co-workers are preventing your happiness
…The most important aspect of goals is not their achievement
…The Lasagna principle: Too much of a good thing is, well, not a good thing
…A reason that busy moms in one scientific study did not enjoy time with their kids, and how you can avoid the trap that led to such feelings
Indian Paraplegic Becomes Stock Market Winner
"Twenty-eight-year-old Indian paraplegic Burla Sujata is totally dependent on her two helpers — except when she sits behind her computer screen and plays the stock market." Starting with no knowledge of business in 2004 she has succeeded in the male-dominated Indian markets and may set up her own investment house.
Interfaith Leaders Meet in Greenland to See Climate Change Firsthand
Leaders of the world’s major religions visited Greenland together to observe climate change firsthand and to pray for a change in human behavior. They believe the issue to be a matter of life and death, and therefore, a religious one. (BBC Video)
191 Countries Work Together to Heal the Ozone Layer
"The Earth’s ozone layer is on track to heal, thanks to the work of 191 countries that signed the landmark Montreal Protocol agreement 20 years ago yesterday — a shining example of how human ingenuity, leadership and determination can create a healthier, better world." (SustainableBusiness)
$3 Million Fund to Aid Renewables in Canada
A new $3M fund being touted as the first of its kind in Canada will be launched tomorrow to support the development of small community-based renewable energy projects. It will begin accepting applications from farmers, community co-operatives and native groups looking to deploy wind, solar, small-scale hydroelectric, biogas and geothermal technologies locally.
(TheStar.com) Thanks, to Francisco S. for the link!
Proving it’s Never Too Late to Learn, Retiree Finds 88 Keys at 94
“At 94, a piano novice is playing out a dream, proving it’s never too late to learn.” (See video at Charlotte Observer or read text below)