Miscellaneous
"I don’t believe in diets"
A diet, according to Verburgh, assumes that you will, against your will, for a certain period of time, eat less. “That’s wrong on three levels,” he says. “All health benefits matter only if you stick to a diet your whole life, and that doesn’t work for most diets.” Eating against your Read More...
Amur tigers thrive again in Russia after nearing extinction
Good news from Russia is too rare an occurrence to ignore. Here is a successful conservation story, with Amur tigers thriving again in the Far East of the country at more than 540 individuals compared to less than 40 back in the 1940s — with a 28.5-percent population increase in the last decade Read More...
A warming blanket to save millions of newborn babies worldwide
Fifteen million hypothermic babies are born every year around the world, including three million who die during the first month of life. Embrace has developed a tiny sleeping bag with proprietary technology that stabilizes the temperature of the newborn for 1.5 percent of the cost of regular Read More...
Riding a bike connects urban dwellers the world over
Here is a crowdsourced world tour of the most cycle-friendly cities, brought to you by The Guardian. It's a global movement! One that speaks volume about the fossil fuel-free world that we're growing into. Travel, discover, learn… and enjoy the Read More...
Federal judge upholds GMO ban in Oregon to protect organic farms
A legal decision which goes against the powerful agribusiness lobby is enough of a rare occurrence to be worth mentioning—celebrating even. The Monsanto-backed plaintiffs were non-organic farms who sought to overturn a 2014 ordinance passed by Jackson County voters, banning the use of genetically Read More...
How Columbia has been turning ex-guerillas into useful members of society
The bloody civil war that has gripped Colombia for over fifty years has claimed 220,000 victims, affecting 6.7 million people in all—most of them civilians. In 2003 president Álvaro Uribe entered peace negotiations with the country’s largest paramilitary group. The Colombian Agency for Read More...
Latin America leads the world in reducing hunger
In the matter of hunger, as with any protracted issue, we choose to focus on encouraging developments with the hope that useful lessons can be learned from what works. According to The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2015 report, released last week by the FAO, Latin America has met the target Read More...
The scourge of hunger is shrinking, says United Nations
Hunger is affecting 20 percent fewer people today than it did 25 years ago. When taking population growth into account, the numbers are even more staggering. Asia and Latin America mostly account for the good news. Data shows that the situation has worsened in Africa where “extreme weather Read More...
Light-powered spacecrafts now a possibility thanks to graphene
The new innovation field opened by the unique properties of the “miracle material” keeps generating new ideas. Of note, this research-based theory by a team of Chinese scientists that graphene sponge could be used to make a light-powered propulsion system for spacecraft that would beat solar Read More...
Solar Sister empowers women in Africa to sell clean, solar technologies
Distributing solar-powered lights and phone chargers where they are needed the most, while giving low-income women the opportunity to earn supplementary income—such is the vision behind Solar Sister, a social enterprise with a presence in Tanzania, Uganda and Nigeria. With 1,500 women involved in Read More...