The Giver's Gains in Giving Gifts
The holiday season offers a unique opportunity to reflect on what it means to give and receive gifts. A 2005 survey showed that four out of five Americans think the holidays are too materialistic, but recent findings point to an intriguing element of gift giving -- a surprisingly complex and important part of human interaction, helping to define relationships and strengthen bonds with family and f... posted on Dec 22, 2109 reads

A Reflection on Science and Wonder
When we look at the wealth of opportunities hovering on the horizon of science -- genomic sequencing, personalized medicine, nanoscience, quantum computing, space technology -- we realize how crucial it is. But the reason science really matters runs deeper still. Science is a way of life. Science is a perspective. Science is the process that takes us from confusion to understanding in a manner tha... posted on Aug 24, 3654 reads

A Lesson in Thanks
Psychologist Jeffrey Froh infused middle-school classes with a small dose of gratitude -- and found that it made students feel more connected to their friends, family, and their school. They followed 221 middle school students for five weeks. Students in the gratitude condition indeed found that they had many blessings to count. While some of these were a bit idiosyncratic (e.g., being thankful fo... posted on Jan 14, 2534 reads

A New Way of Listening
Deaf percussionist Evelyn Glennie's music challenges the listener to ask where music comes from: Is it more than simply a translation from score to instrument to audience? How can a musician who has almost no hearing play with such sensitivity and compassion? The Grammy-winning percussionist and composer became almost completely deaf by the age of 12, but her hearing loss brought her a deeper unde... posted on Jan 20, 3489 reads

The Geography of Bliss
Journalist Eric Weiner deserves points for devising a new way to address the perennial question of what makes people happy and why. The central premise of his odyssey memoir is that the author, a professed grouch ("My last name is pronounced ‘whiner,’ and I do my best to live up to the name"), will travel to the world’s happier places to explore to what degree an individual's happiness is in... posted on Jan 21, 3501 reads

11-Year-Old Law-Changer
Restaurants and hotels normally throw out enormous amounts of leftover foods from their patrons. It's simply thrown away, instead of giving it away, for fear of a lawsuit from someone getting ill. Jack Davis, age 11, was at a family buffet when he was explained by a manager that whatever was not eaten would be thrown away. The sixth-grader found this unacceptable and took matters in his own hand... posted on Jan 24, 2912 reads

For the Homeless From the Heart
For Toni Dukes, love isn't delivered with Hallmark cards or red roses. It's given in a Ziploc bag stuffed with a hat, gloves and a packet of Kleenex, and the words "From the Heart" written in black marker on the outside. The 39-year-old single mom works the swing shift as a 911 dispatcher. But Dukes hasn't been able to call it a day after her high-stress shifts. On her route to work she couldn't h... posted on Feb 16, 3454 reads

Stop! Calm Down! Think!
"OK, everyone! I need you to sit quietly! Let's all sit crisscross applesauce!" says their guidance counselor, Jennifer Hegerty. Gradually the children settle down and begin to focus on Hergerty's lesson for the day -- the second lesson in the Second Step Violence Prevention curriculum. For the next 20 weeks, these children learn to use relaxation exercises, effective communication techniques, and... posted on Apr 9, 5603 reads

Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature
Before there was an environmental movement, there was one brave woman and her very brave book. "There was once a town in the heart of America where all life seemed to live in harmony with its surroundings ... Then a strange blight crept over the area and everything began to change ... There was a strange stillness ... On the mornings that had once throbbed with the dawn chorus of scores of bird vo... posted on Mar 13, 2253 reads

Making Friends With Time
"Time pressure can have powerful effects on the body. Our brain regards clocks, deadlines, and interrupted schedules as a threat, and calls up the "fight or flight" stress response. The incessant struggle to do more and more in less and less time also makes us more likely to respond with toxic anger to anyone or anything slowing us down. Trying to control time by strict scheduling is like trying t... posted on Mar 17, 7445 reads

A Miraculous Turn
Doctors have no explanation for why Zack Dunlap is alive. He had been riding his souped-up ATV with some friends on that fateful Saturday, less than a week before Thanksgiving. They had participated in a parade that morning, popping wheelies and impressing the crowd, and then they had gone out riding on their machines. At one point in his ride, things went awry and he flipped his bike and smashed... posted on Apr 5, 3905 reads

Joe's Journey
When a truck slammed into Joe Damon's car in 2006, the 48-year old husband, father, businessman and athlete suffered a devastating brain injury that left him in a coma for five weeks. "Joe's Journey" tells the story of everything that was lost that day, but more importantly, of all that survived. Through powerful and deeply personal encounters with Joe, his wife, children and close friends, this f... posted on Mar 31, 3403 reads

Capturing Final, Precious Moments
In the muted light of the maternity ward, photographer Sandy Puc' works steadily, composing portraits of infant David. "If you want to put your lips right on the top of his head?" she asks David's father. "There. That's beautiful." There is always a final kiss to capture. David was stillborn early this morning. His parents, Gina and Rob Harris, will take home his plastic hospital bracelet and his ... posted on Apr 1, 3650 reads

Does Counting Your Blessings Really Help?
While many would agree that "counting your blessings" is a worthwhile practice, there hasn't been much experimental research on whether gratitude really has a positive impact on our lives. Several studies have found that gratitude correlates with positive emotions such as happiness, pride, and hope, but experimental work -- showing that gratitude causes these things -- is scarcer. Robert Emmons an... posted on Apr 21, 3477 reads

Measuring Success With A Smile
"While traveling for my documentary project,"Hear Us", I pulled up to a busy Phoenix intersection and stopped at a red light. An obviously homeless man began crossing in front of our paused vehicles. I was first in line and was completely preoccupied with the reality that I couldn't find my 1:00 appointment at the nearby (or so I thought) shelter. He turned toward me, pointing to the corners of hi... posted on Aug 8, 3962 reads

The Paralyzed Yoga Instructor
Matthew Sanford once led an ordinary life in a loving family. But at age thirteen, he was involved in a devastating car crash that took the lives of his father and sister, and left him paralyzed from the chest down. Advice from his doctors to "forget his lower body," however, was what really crippled Matthew, leading him to ignore his once-athletic body, until he discovered yoga at age twenty-five... posted on Jun 13, 5003 reads

The Girl Who Silenced The World
Born and raised in Vancouver, Severn Suzuki has been working on environmental and social justice issues since kindergarten. At age 9, she and some friends started the Environmental Children's Organization (ECO), a small group of children committed to learning and teaching other kids about environmental issues. They traveled to 1992's UN Earth Summit, where 12 year-old Severn gave this powerful spe... posted on Jun 14, 4860 reads

The Hands On Network
Twenty-one years ago, Michelle Nunn was a recent University of Virginia graduate and a fledgling community activist. Motivated by her life-long zest for civic involvement and a sense of personal responsibility, she co-founded a small organization called Hands On Atlanta. Today that has grown into the largest volunteer organization in the country, and Nunn is at the helm of it all. "We have 370 vol... posted on Jul 6, 2268 reads

A Remarkable Woman's Record-Breaking Journey
Hilary Lister launched a solo sail around the British Isle, expecting that it will take three to four months to sail the 1,600 miles. No easy task for anyone in general, but even more so considering that she is a quadriplegic. 36-year-old Lister has a progressive and painful neurological disease called reflex sympathetic dystrophy and is able to move only her head, eyes and mouth. To sail the boat... posted on Jul 13, 2611 reads

Isabel Allende on Giving and Loss
"I have lived with passion and in a hurry, trying to accomplish too many things. I never had time to think about my beliefs until my 28-year-old daughter Paula fell ill. She was in a coma for a year and I took care of her at home, until she died in my arms in December of 1992." Celebrated novelist Isabel Allende shares further on NPR's "This I Believe," reflecting on giving and loss, on her own jo... posted on Jul 22, 4664 reads

Art At 35,000 Feet
It didn't take long for Jewel Van Valin's cross-country art project to take off. Passengers flying in the difficult days after 9/11 were anxious and irritable because of tightened security and fewer flight amenities. The Delta Air Lines flight attendant wanted to do something about it. So Van Valin reached back to an earlier time -- her kindergarten years -- and pulled out the Crayolas." I just pu... posted on Jul 27, 1805 reads

The Green Housing Boom
"How do you inspire a revolution?" It's a question that obsesses Matthew Berman. A 36-year-old New York architect with short hair and a starched blue shirt, he doesn't, frankly, look like much of a rebel. "There's this grumbling," he continues. "It grows, it brings things to the center, and then you get this explosion." Berman and his partner, Andrew Kotchen, 35, boast high-profile clients such as... posted on Aug 15, 3892 reads

Are We Feeling Too Good About Ourselves?
Self-esteem has become a tenet of the psychological canon and is so ingrained in popular wisdom and parenting techniques as to seem like natural law: The higher a person's self-esteem, the happier, more productive, and more mentally healthy that person will be. Psychologist Jean M. Twenge cites a fascinating statistic. In the 1950s, just 12 percent of teens age fourteen to sixteen agreed with the ... posted on Aug 10, 3837 reads

Longevity Lessons From Around the World
If you are looking for a Fountain of Youth, forget pills and diet supplements. Adventurer Dan Buettner has visited four spots on the globe where people live into their 90s and 100s and outlines how they add years of good life in his new book, "The Blue Zones." Buettner identifies four hot spots of longevity: the mountainous Barbagia region of Sardinia, an island off the coast of Italy; the Japanes... posted on Sep 11, 6011 reads

4800 Books and 10 Legs
In a ritual repeated nearly every weekend for the past decade here in Colombia's war-weary Caribbean hinterland, Luis Soriano gathered his two donkeys, Alfa and Beto, in front of his home on a recent Saturday afternoon. Sweating already under the unforgiving sun, he strapped pouches with the word "Biblioburro" painted in blue letters to the donkeys' backs and loaded them with an eclectic cargo of ... posted on Oct 29, 3026 reads

The Church of Stop Shopping
The Church of Stop Shopping is a project that has expanded from a one-man performance artist preaching against consumerism on the sidewalks of Times Square to a 35-person choir and 7-person band with dozens of original songs, a critically acclaimed stage show, a major motion picture and multiple media platforms. The Church is committed to educating the public about the consequences of unsustainabl... posted on Nov 14, 2626 reads

San Diego's Highway Helper
Thomas Weller has two gardens - one in his backyard, where he grows morning glories and other plants - and one on the highway, where he sows the seeds of kindness. "There's too much anger and distrust and fear out there. I'd like the world to be a better place," Weller said. To that end, Weller patrols the highways of San Diego in his Ghostbuster-inspired rescue vehicle - rescuing people like Mr. ... posted on Dec 4, 3293 reads

What Makes Us 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? Researchers like the father-son team Ed Diener and Robert Biswas-Diener, Stanford psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky, and ethicist Stephen Post have studied people all over the world to find out how things like money, attitude, culture, memory, health,... posted on Dec 8, 23324 reads

The Art of Receiving
Receiving isn't easy. If it were, more of us would do it with grace and gratitude. Is there a way to change that? Can we learn to receive so we can be nourished and empowered? These are crucial questions, not just because the holiday season is a time when giving and receiving are part of our daily experience. The ability to receive is, in fact, essential to physical health, psychological balance a... posted on Dec 6, 3407 reads

The Unbelievable Story of Cliff Young
Every year, Australia hosts a 543.7-mile endurance race from Sydney to Melbourne, considered among the world's most grueling ultra-marathons. It was normally only attempted by world-class athletes typically less than 30 years old, but in 1983, a 61-year-old named Cliff Young showed up in overalls and work boots. To everyone's shock, Cliff wasn't a spectator. He picked up his race number and joined... posted on Dec 22, 15577 reads

Teaching 21st Century Skills
For decades, the emphasis in public education has been on making sure that students can read, write, and do math. But can they apply those skills in a real-world scenario, such as designing a bridge? Can they identify what information they need and use digital tools to find it? Those are some of the capabilities known as "21st-century skills". In a knowledge economy, the reasoning goes, the abilit... posted on Jan 8, 6195 reads

To All Artists, Known and Unknown
"The radiant little man died at the Art Institute. I knew he was homeless and hanging out at the school, but I was unaware that he was living there. He died of exposure over Christmas break, and when he was found beneath a concrete overhang on the Jones Street side of the school, they found a number of sketchbooks in a backpack." So starts a beautiful reflection on the life and work of an unknown ... posted on Jan 13, 3872 reads

Why We Do What We Do
Popular personality and speaker Tony Robbins talks about what makes people do what they do. In addition to a priceless exchange between Robbins and former Vice President Al Gore, who was in the audience, the talk focuses on the emotional and psychological strengths of people, and how they direct action. The thread that runs through the talk is the conviction that giving is the most important and f... posted on Jan 15, 6595 reads

Polishing Up The Diamond
The Jacobs Family Foundation is a $21 million family fund that was created to revitalize a southeastern San Diego neighborhood called "The Diamond". Frustrated by the limited results they achieved by providing grants and technical assistance to nonprofits, President and CEO Jennifer Vanica and the Jacobs family decided to work directly with the community. Instead of just funding the 200 nonprofit ... posted on Jan 18, 3047 reads

A Farming Couple's Astonishing Legacy
Arlene and Willis Hatch lived simple lives on a farm near the tiny town of Alto, Michigan. They never had children of their own but saw their neighbors as family members, and after the Hatches were killed in an auto accident, their neighbors discovered how deep that feeling went. Their sudden death left the community heartbroken. Then a few weeks later, the letters started arriving. More than 70 n... posted on Feb 5, 5325 reads

Finding Friends on Horseback
On a chilly morning nearly two weeks ago, Donna Byrne packed everything she owned onto one horse, climbed atop another, and set out for Ocala, a ranching town 160 miles north. She said she lost her job in Arcadia a few months ago, could not afford the rent, and hoped to pick up some work in Ocala before riding on to Amarillo, Texas. "I take it one "I take one day at a time," said Ms. Byrne,"I don... posted on Feb 16, 3365 reads

Ten Ways to Reduce Waste
"Out here where we live you are responsible for getting rid of your own garbage. ... If you've never been to your city dump I can recommend visiting one for an educational experience. We live near a medium-sized city, and its official dumpsite stretches from horizon to horizon. A complete network of ramps, lanes, traffic signs and roads criss-crosses the entire area. ... You get out of your truck ... posted on Mar 3, 7346 reads

Wake Up Call For the World
Peter Russell, a Cambridge-trained physicist and futurist who has written about consciousness for four decades, should have been at a high point in his life. Fifteen years ago, Russell's book, The White Hole in Time, had just been published; he was a popular teacher and corporate consultant, his work lauded by leading thinkers. But, Russell says, "I was feeling an inner disquiet. What I was saying... posted on Mar 5, 3893 reads

NY Cabbies Help Orphaned Twins
Almost 100,000 New York City cabbies are coming together to contribute to help raise and educate 13-year-old twin boys whose parents were killed in a hit-and-run accident. The taxi federation asked both yellow and livery cab drivers to donate one day's tips, a sum the group estimates averages about $15 to $20. The twins are being raised by their uncle, Akram Audah and aunt, Fatma Elnahal. Audah i... posted on Mar 7, 2995 reads

Acts of Random Kindness
"I was in this cafe the other week," says Cameron Stewart, "and I was buying an ice-cream. So I gave the guy at the desk a fiver and said, the next person who orders an ice cream, tell them it is on the house. Tell them it's free, and this will pay for it." Cameron Stewart is an 18-year-old from Holywood, near Belfast, and this sort of thing is exactly his forte. He is the proprietor of Ark cloth... posted on Mar 29, 4601 reads

A Full-Time Job Paying-It-Forward
When Trevor Patzer was growing up in Ketchum, Idaho, he received an unusual offer from family friend Ric Ohrstrom: get admitted to New Hampshire's prestigious St. Paul's School, and Mr. Ohrstrom would foot the entire bill for his schooling there. Mr. Patzer was accepted and graduated three years later. He says the experience of someone offering to pay for his high-school education had a profound ... posted on Apr 3, 3956 reads

From Wall Street to Basketball Coach
Jamal Adams starred on the basketball court at Loyola High in the late '80s. He was captain, league MVP, and much more. After college, he headed for Wall Street. Waking in the pre-dawn each day for the market's opening bell, chasing money like a mouse chasing ever distant slices of cheddar, he grew unfulfilled and unhappy. So unhappy that he took a second job as an assistant coach at Loyola High... posted on Mar 25, 2239 reads

Putting the Cycling in Recycling
Alex Jarrett, 33, has never owned a car. Around town, he gets almost everywhere he needs to go by the power of his own two feet-walking or biking. So it seems only natural that Jarrett's business, which he started with Ruthy Woodring in 2002, is bicycle-based. Jarrett and Woodring are the founders of Pedal People Cooperative Inc., which they describe as "a human-powered delivery and hauling servic... posted on Apr 15, 3019 reads

Vimala Cooks. Everybody Eats.
Vimala Rajendran's personal story shines with resilience and inspiration. It is the story of someone who refused to be a victim and who chose to give back. For 12 years, Vimala has blended her love of cooking with a commitment to community to create weekly dinners in her Chapel Hill home. These dinners have grown to feed up to 100 people weekly. Men in collared shirts, women with dreadlocks, stude... posted on Apr 24, 3702 reads

Extraordinary Minds
Mozart, Freud, Virginia Woolf and Gandhi. Professor Howard Gardner of Harvard, in one of his books, "Extraordinary Minds," examines these four people of tremendous ability. Using these four extraordinary, but very different, people, he attempts to answer a question once posed by Plato and still asked today: Is there a set of traits that is shared among all great achievers no matter how different ... posted on May 10, 3462 reads

Tweenbots & The Kindness of Strangers
Can a human-like object traverse sidewalks and streets along with us, and in so doing, create a narrative about our relationship to space and our willingness to interact with what we find in it? That's the question that impelled Kacie Kinzer to create Tweenbot -- a human-dependent robot that navigates the city with the help of pedestrians it encounters. Rolling at a constant speed, in a straight ... posted on May 15, 4749 reads

The Story of An Amazing Catch
Marvin Goldstein was a toddler in 1945 when he experienced a catch rivaling any you'd see at a baseball game. "The windows at that time did not have window guards," Goldstein remembers. "I leaned out, and I had one hand on the window inside and the other hand I was leaning out. [I] let go and fell five stories." Sal Mauriello, a barber, was coming home early from work that day. He heard a woman sc... posted on Jun 7, 4984 reads

The Joy of Less
"I left my comfortable job and life to live for a year in a temple on the backstreets of Kyoto. My high-minded year lasted all of a week, by which time I'd noticed that the depthless contemplation of the moon and composition of haiku I'd imagined from afar was really more a matter of cleaning, sweeping and then cleaning some more. But today, more than 21 years later, I still live in the vicinity o... posted on Jun 13, 3525 reads

30 Students Defying Expectation
Every April, some 230,000 Indians take the intensely competitive entrance exam to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) -- the seven prestigious schools that train India's top-notch engineers and entrepreneurs. Only 5,000 students get in. Most come from the middle-class and prepare for the test through private coaching. But in the past few years, a small group of desperately poor, talented st... posted on Jun 24, 2822 reads

How to Build a Bigger Brain
People have many strategies for building bigger muscles and stronger bones. But what can one do to build a bigger brain? Meditate. That's the finding from a group of researchers at UCLA who used high-resolution MRI's to scan the brains of people who meditate. Research has already confirmed the beneficial aspects of meditation. In addition to having better focus and control over their emotions, man... posted on Jul 4, 6976 reads