Miscellaneous
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...
A look underwater that very few ever see
Deep sea photographer Richard Salas’ latest book on underwater sea life, Luminous Sea, shows the ocean’s beauty that many of us never get to see. Salas’ labor of love is meant to educate people about the deep oceans and how important and fragile they are. Click here for an Intelligent Read More...
Luminous Sea shows the ocean’s beauty that eludes so many
We know more about the moon’s surface than we do about the ocean’s floors, despite the fact that the oceans produce more than 50% of our oxygen and anywhere between 10-100% of our food, depending on where you live. Richard Salas, author and underwater photographer, began a book series in 2009 Read More...
Power of placebo leads to app for happiness
If placebos can give patients the same results as conventional meds, then why aren’t they prescribed more? There’s a large body of evidence that shows the effectiveness of placebos– even when patients know they’re taking sugar pills. Now San Franciscan internet entrepreneur Daniel Jacobs is Read More...
Doctors without orders
“We will once again give you the facts that show that our secretary of health, Adonis Georgiadis, is lying systematically and shamelessly.” This statement is flaunted on the home page of the Metropolitan Community Clinic, in Athens. Not exactly the words you would expect from a health facility. Read More...
US discontinues use of land mines, joins international treaty
We have often reported on the painful and deadly consequences of the land mines that are left behind for years after wars and armed conflicts have been resolved. Now finally the US has joined the 1999 Ottawa Accord that bans the use of land mines. As the US is the biggest manufacturer of land mines Read More...
Germany shows that solar power can replace fossil fuels
German leadership of solar energy is an inspiration to the world. Hardly the country with the most sunshine, Germany has used creative tax incentives to flood the country with solar panels: 90% of solar panels reside on rooftops of homes, not on large solar farms. In recent weeks the Germans broke Read More...