Miscellaneous
Extreme poverty cut in half since 2000, UN exceeds goals
Global Millennium Developmental Goals set by the United Nations in 2000 are being met, and before anticipated. A major milestone of the Millennium Developmental Goals initiative– slashing extreme poverty 50% by 2015 has been met a year early. Other targets like reducing the gap between the number Read More...
She surfs sea swells
Surfing stories have long been about freedom and leaving the world behind on the quest for the perfect wave. That is not the story Brown Girl Surf tells. Founded in 2011 by Farhana Huq, Brown Girl Surf shares the exploits of ground breaking female surfers around the world and reveals what they Read More...
Crowdsource platform to support human rights activists
Movements.org is a new online community where activists can connect to lawyers, publicists, journalists, and other human rights advocates. Members of the platform will be able to ask for advice and help on anything from asylum seeking, to organization techniques, and legal counsel. The platform has Read More...
Paternity leave encourages other dads to follow suit
More and better parenting benefits families—and societies. That’s why paternity leave is a critical contribution to more healthy societies. A new study published in American Economic Review has found that men taking paternity leave encourage their male counterparts to do the same. Brothers of Read More...
Planes help track—and save—endangered animals and insects
Tracking the migratory patterns of birds, butterflies and other small species has been notoriously difficult, until now. A partnership between the Smithsonian Institute and United Airlines, called The Partners in the Sky Initiative, affixes small radio antennae to the bottom of aircraft so they Read More...
No employees, no problem
Can a self–service store with no employees based on trust system be successful? Or will it just be stolen from? That’s exactly what David Brekke, business strategy consultant, and his wife Kimberly set to find out last October when they opened The Vault coffee shop in Valley City, North Read More...
Floating greenhouses: The answer to food shortages in cities
German designer Phillipp Hutfless has come up with a 42 square–foot greenhouse barge that could serve as make–shift answer to food shortages experienced by overpopulated coastal cities around the world. In countries like Japan and Singapore where there is a shortage of arable land for food Read More...
Recycled cell phones to end illegal logging in rainforests
Rainforest Connection, currently looking for backing on Kick Starter, developed a way to convert used cell phones into illegal logging detectors. The way it works is a cell phone is connected to a bunch of solar panel, powered on, and then attached high up in a tree. When the phone picks up sounds Read More...
Social media is making us smarter
Clive Thompson likes to observe young people while they’re typing a Tweet on their phones. In the New York metro, for instance, or on a park bench. He noticed the Tweet-typing goes in a set pattern. First someone types a few words. Then they erase them. That’s followed by a few more new words, Read More...
Country’s that do good for the world are more successful
Countries that think and act globally are more successful than countries that participate less in the global community. That’s the message of a study by  policy advisor Simon Anholt who has worked with countries around the world from the Netherlands to Botswana, from Jamaica to Malaysia. The Read More...