Monks and Scientists
He’s the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner, author of many best-sellers, a revered spiritual figure and Tibet's leader-in-exile. But a wannabe engineer? Indeed, the Dalai Lama has often quipped that engineering would have been his preferred path had he not become a monk. But it was brain science, not engineering, that brought the Dalai Lama to MIT last September; at that Investigating the Mind co... posted on Feb 10, 2519 reads

Ten Thousand Dollar Bills
Wherever he goes, something unexpected happens. And almost everyone is smiling. That's because Kevin Shelton goes out to public places -- shopping malls, movie theatres, restaurants and beaches -- with 10,000 dollar bills strapped to his chest and gives them away, one dollar at a time ... to whoever wants it, no questions asked. People line up to get the dollar and almost everyone asks him, "Wh... posted on Apr 17, 1091 reads

Kindness of the Back Roads
If they had grown up in Vietnam, Chi and Truc Nguyen might have learned to play the 16-string zither, a traditional Vietnamese instrument. Zither instructors, however, are hard to come by in California, so their mother signed them up for piano lessons instead. But Kim and Danh Nguyen wanted to make sure not all of their culture's values and traditions were lost on their daughters, so they took t... posted on Feb 28, 1010 reads

No Straight Lines
In 1927, at the age of 32, he stood on the shores of Lake Michigan, prepared to throw himself into the freezing waters. His first child had died. He was bankrupt, discredited and jobless, and he had a wife and new-born daughter. On the verge of suicide, it suddenly struck him that his life belonged, not to himself, but to the universe. He chose at that moment to embark on what he called "an experi... posted on Apr 8, 1408 reads

Never Planned My Life
"Wouldn't you come back and help us?" The gentle question from a Afghani resident, almost an afterthought, struck her like the bolt from a crossbow. After covering the U.S. war in Afghanistan, NPR reporter Sarah Chayes decided to give up her job as a journalist and remain in Afghanistan to help rebuild the country. Sarah, with two degrees from Harvard, a Radcliffe College Prize and an inspiring... posted on Apr 22, 1113 reads

Staple-less Stapler!
If a stapler doesn’t use staples, should it be called a stapless? Or maybe an unstaple? Nonetheless, stapleless staplers are quickly becoming the inexpensive, environmentally friendly, and innovative alternatives to paper clips and staplers. Instead of using bent pieces of metal to secure paper, a stapleless stapler cuts tiny flaps, bends them, and weaves them back through a notch to bind pages... posted on Jan 4, 1894 reads

28 Year Old MIT Grad
He's not your typical 28 year old. Vikram Kumar shares a two-bedroom apartment with a sister and a nephew and gets around town by bicycle or in a 20-year-old Mercedes Benz. By day, this MIT grad works as a pathology resident in a Boston hospital and by night, he's the tech executive for a company hoping to improve rural health care in developing countries with handheld computer technology. Desp... posted on Oct 30, 1077 reads

Musical Afterlife of Songbird
Eva believed in an afterlife, and she’s getting it—- at least musically. Before her tragic death, at the age of 33, Eva Cassidy had recorded two albums and sold it primarily from the trunk of her car. After she died in 1996, her friends published her work and almost overnight, a painfully shy, simple woman gifted with an angelic voice became a full-fledged legend. Her albums have now sold o... posted on May 6, 902 reads

What the #$*! Do We Know?!
What the #$*! Do We Know?! That's the adept title of a new movie that explores quantum physics: a world of infinite possibilities in which the rigid laws of science and all our suppositions about the universe suddenly seem very shaky. Scientists agree that the observable world is a kind of "matrix of energy," in which our consciousness is a powerful force, and what we see internally is as "real"... posted on Jun 4, 1544 reads

Bus 174
Sometime on the afternoon of June 12, 2000, Rio de Janeiro Bus 174 and its passengers were taken hostage by an unknown young man. Brandishing a gun, the man, dubbed "Sergio" by the police, held on to the bus for four and half traumatic hours. The police, in a series of epic mishandlings, allowed the media to get up close to the bus. Soon after he noticed the camera crews, "Sergio" uncovered his fa... posted on Nov 18, 1301 reads

Venus Transit
No living person has ever seen this happen. Today, Venus will cross the Sun for the first time since 1882, and only for fifth time in recorded history. Astrologers point out that Venus transits, which come in 8-year pairs, pre-empt a signficant transition in human consciousness. Previously, in 1581/26, Magellan del Cano went around the world, Reformation began and female rulers came to Europe... posted on Jun 9, 1196 reads

What Humans Can't See
A Canadian man, driving a car packed with weapons and 6000 rounds of ammunition, was intent on killing as many people as possible in a Toronto neighborhood but gave up the plan at the last minute when he encountered a friendly dog, police said. The mentally disturbed man had set himself up in an east-end park to load his weapons and then planned to drive around shooting. He later told police tha... posted on Jun 29, 1185 reads

Cellphones For Prayer
You've heard of cellphones. But this cell phone, from Dubai, helps you pray. Ilkone i800 is a handset designed for the Islamic community. It converts dates between Hijri and Gregorian calendars, points to qibla direction for prayer, has the complete Quran in Arabic and English fonts, and has a prayer timer with 5,000 cities pre-set and even an "azan" voice calling for prayer.... posted on Jul 21, 1416 reads

Rags to Riches to Kindness
He's been a burglar, a crack smoker, a state prisoner, an alcoholic and, for the past three years, a panhandler in San Francisco. But now he's also an art benefactor. Don's long-estranged mother recently died, unexpectedly leaving him $187,000! The first thing Don did when he got the money was cut a $10,000 check to the art gallery he has sat in front of for two years, panhandling and begging f... posted on Jul 23, 1981 reads

Growing small, I disappear
He spent years in exile, stared some of the worst torture of the 20th century in the face and won the nobel prize in literature. His work grappled ceaselessly with the religious and metaphysical paradox of how to live, and maintain one's faith, in a world of mass-scale suffering. Robert Hass, a fellow laureate said of his friend: "He had the idea that he could somehow redeem all the suffering if ... posted on Aug 18, 1366 reads

Power of Now
For two years, a small man sits quietly on a park bench. People walk by, lost in their thoughts. One day someone asks him a question. In the weeks that follow there are more people and more questions. Word spreads that the man is a "mystic," and has discovered something that brings peace and meaning into our lives. Today, more than 20 years after his first question on the park bench, Eckhart Tolle... posted on Sep 8, 1205 reads

Neighborhood Day
National Neighborhood Day is the second Sunday of every September, this year on Sep 12th. It was established as an annual day to recognize and reinforce the relationships that are the fabric of all communities -- our neighbors! It is a day of simple gatherings of neighbors to re-kindle friendships; welcome new neighbors; catch up on each others' families, interests and needs; and share food, fel... posted on Sep 9, 1480 reads

110 Years of Sustainable Agriculture
A plot of land on the campus of Auburn University shows that 110 years of sustainable farming practices can produce similar cotton crops to those using other methods. In 1896, Professor J.F. Duggar at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama (now Auburn University) started an experiment to test his theories that sustainable cotton production was possible on Alabama soils if growers would... posted on Sep 22, 2074 reads

Grains of Rice
Donate a handful of rice a day! That's how Community Radio Madanpokhara (CRM) of Nepal, a community-owned radio station, is raising money. Instead of millionaires, the villagers are giving and it's adding up quickly. It's now a big part of CRM's budget -- they expect to raise USD 4000 this first year -- and is critical for the radio station's sustenance; and the idea has dramatically enhanced co... posted on Nov 11, 1855 reads

That Which Satisfies
Pause a moment and think: What's the most satisfying event that you have experienced in the last month? Psychologist Kennon Sheldon and his colleagues put that question to samples of university students. Then they asked the students to rate the extent to which 10 different needs were met by the satisfying event. The three emotional needs that most strongly accompanied that satisfaction -- self-es... posted on Nov 6, 1575 reads

In a New York Minute
All it takes is a New York minute. A business exec taking time out to give bi-lingual train directions to a woman in need; a bureaucrat and tattoo parlor owner sharing a light moment in the elevator; a man discovering his stolen bike and then loaning it to the rider for the day; an ex-pat New Yorker living in Hawaii discovering a most unlikely connection between homes old and new. In the fast pace... posted on Nov 19, 1461 reads

What Makes A Hero?
Patrick Burke had never wanted to follow in the footsteps of his firefighter dad and brother, but he jumped into an icy lake to rescue a 9-year-old and her father, whose all-terrain vehicle crashed through ice. "I'm not that type of heroic person," said Burke. "If you had heard that girl's voice . . . it was my daughter's voice." Experts say it makes sense that everyday heroes don't stop and think... posted on Sep 25, 3230 reads

237 Kids
The walls and tabletops in Roger and Imogene Gorsuch's home are lined with photos of their children — all 237 of them. After 45 years as foster parents, taking in mostly infants and toddlers of many nationalities and skin colors, the 86-year-old couple has decided to call it quits. "It was nothing spectacular. All we did was just keep children," said Mrs. Gorsuch.... posted on Dec 15, 1113 reads

Cell Phones For Soldiers
For all the billions of dollars being spent on the war in Iraq, 14-year-old Brittany Bergquist is surprised that the U.S. military doesn't do what she and her little brother are doing: helping soldiers phone home free. With $14 from their piggy banks, she and 12-year-old brother Robbie started Cell Phones for Soldiers. In less than nine months, the organization has provided $250,000 worth of pre... posted on Dec 30, 1120 reads

Fruits of Love
With the hullabaloo of the December holidays over, food donations at the Second Harvest Food Bank have dwindled. But one child has stepped forward to provide the fruits of California's winter. Jacob Olian, 8, dreamed up the plan to collect the oranges, grapefruits, tangerines and lemons from people's backyards and give them to the food bank. Jacob typed up a flyer that read “Got Fruit?” and a... posted on Feb 11, 947 reads

A Path with Art
In 1963, Bill Strickland was a 16-year old kid struggling to survive in a decaying Pittsburgh neighborhood until one afternoon he peered into an open classroom door and saw something he'd never saw before, a mound of clay being worked into a vessel by a man absorbed in his work. That teacher mentored Strickland, and put him on a path that lead him not only to college and out of poverty, but also t... posted on Feb 26, 1345 reads

Chernobyl
The explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power station in 1986 that spewed 190 tons of highly radioactive uranium into the atmosphere over the Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus, has left a legacy of cancer and hardship for 3-4 million children. For the past 15 years, Adi Roche of the Chernobyl Children’s Project International has worked tirelessly in creating the medical programs to help children like... posted on Mar 11, 1158 reads

Magic Pill
In the bottle before you is a pill, a marvel of modern medicine that will regulate gene transcription throughout your body, helping prevent heart disease, stroke, diabetes, obesity, and 12 kinds of cancer. Your bones will become stronger. You'll grow new capillaries in your heart, your skeletal muscles, and your brain, improving blood flow and the delivery of oxygen and nutrients. Your attention s... posted on Mar 23, 1456 reads

Nursing Home
Dr. Bill Thomas is a dynamic gerontologist with the unwavering belief that the nursing-home industry should be about creating spaces and services for living, not dying. His nonprofit company, Eden Alternative, "deinstitutionalizes" dreary facilities by introducing pets, plants, children, and dramatic cultural change to create enlivening environments and eliminate the plagues of loneliness, helples... posted on Mar 30, 1161 reads

Surf Aid
Four years ago, physician and surfer Dr. Dave Jenkins chartered a luxury yacht in the Mentawai Islands with one goal in mind: to find perfect waves. What he also found, though, were the Mentawai islanders---mostly women and children-–-suffering and dying from the ravages of malaria and other preventable diseases. In response, Dr. Jenkins establish SurfAid International, a non-profit organization... posted on Apr 19, 859 reads

The Eagle & The Condor
Indigenous tribes in the Andes have long predicted a period of great imbalance in which the highly intellectual and material Eagle people would wipe out the spiritual and heart-centered “Condor” people to the edge of extinction until a new era was born with the Eagle and the Condor flying together. This myth is at the heart of the Pachamama Alliance, in which the Achuar people of Peru are lear... posted on May 20, 1098 reads

Green Empowerment
They’ve trekked days through South American jungles with packing mules, made dodgy border crossings to war-torn Burma, and were one of the first groups in Afghanistan after 9/11, all to bring renewable electricity and water services to remote communities. Green Empowerment’s projects can drastically improve the life of a village by sparking a local economy that provides livelihood, financial i... posted on May 14, 2398 reads

Not So Big House
The square feet of the average US home has nearly tripled in the last 40 years, consuming massive quantities of land, building products, and infrastructure; and making the American home one of the biggest environmental threats to the planet. Architect Sarah Susanka has been turning the heads of designers, developers, and homebuyers with the message that it's not the square feet people want, but we... posted on Jun 4, 1602 reads

Empty Pockets, Full Heart
Richard Semmler, a 59-year-old math professor, lives simply so that he may give generously. Over the last 35 years, by working part-time jobs and forgoing such everyday comforts as a home telephone and vacations, by living in an efficiency apartment and driving an old car, Semmler has donated as much as half of his annual income. Over his life he has given away $700,000 and plans to give $1 milli... posted on Jul 1, 1353 reads

Parrots of Telegraph Hill
The Parrots of Telegraph Hill dance, play, and sing with Mark Bittner, eating right out of his hands. The former musician is a modern St. Francis of Assisi and his relationship with and observations of the cherry-headed conures of San Francisco have attracted the attention of experts and inspired people worldwide. ... posted on Jul 7, 1133 reads

The Abolitionist
Kailash Satyarthi has saved tens of thousands of lives in India. At the age of 26 he gave up a promising career as an electrical engineer and dedicate himself to an original and daring idea; mounting raids on factories — factories frequently manned by armed guards — where children and often entire families were held captive as bonded workers. After successfully freeing and rehabilitating thous... posted on Jul 14, 790 reads

MBA in Meditation
In juvenile halls, high schools, and group homes, the Mind Body Awareness Project works with at-risk teenagers whose habitual behaviors are leading them down a road of substance abuse, crime and violence. Using meditation and yoga, these kids are creating the possibility to transform negative emotions into positive social action and a healthy future.... posted on Jul 19, 865 reads

Money
We've all probably thought, "If I just had more money, the world and our lives would be better." Bernard Lietaer, a business professor and former banker, recommends another way of looking at money, by immersing ourselves in the meaning of money. We can start by asking ourselves how much time we spend earning money or managing and spending the money we've earned. What is this thing that we expend ... posted on Sep 3, 2859 reads

People's Grocery
West Oakland, California, is a junk food oasis. The 25,000 resident neighborhood has 36 convenience and liquor stores to buy over-priced beer and candy in, but just one supermarket in which to buy fresh produce. That was until a group of social entreprenuers opened "The People's Grocery" to deliver locally grown food into the neighborhood and provide a thriving center for jobs, economic empowermen... posted on Sep 8, 1533 reads

Fountain of Youth
Want a wonder anti-aging drug to keep your mind sharp, and prevent dementia? It’s as easy as walking. Recent studies on aging confirm that exercise increases the production of key brain chemicals which encourage the growth of brain and nerve cells and the development of new neural connections. In contrast, stress and social isolation act to age the brain. ... posted on Sep 10, 1572 reads

Operation Katrina
Hurricane Katrina not only ripped apart houses, but families as well and there are still hundreds of people missing. Operation Connect Katrina is an online service that provides lists of the missing that anyone can download and conduct searches to find and reunite the missing with their friends and families. So far 124 missing people have been found through efforts of Operation Connect Katrina's d... posted on Sep 30, 1306 reads

Peace in a Time of War
The border between the nuclear powers of Pakistan and India not only cuts across the land, but also fills its people's hearts with fear of war and armageddon. On Sept 27th, the BBC attempted to transcend that border with technology and music in a live concert for peace linking Karachi & Bombay. The live satellite link allowed Pakistan's legendary singer Abida Parveen to sing with her Indian counte... posted on Oct 6, 1296 reads

Desert Rose
San Francisco's Bayview-Hunters Point is a tough neighborhood; besides its notorious gang violence, the pollution that is spewed by the surrounded freeways, power plant, and Naval shipyard, have resulted in high levels of asthma, cancer, and birth-defects among its residents. 19-year-old La Constance Shahid is working to heal the land by inspiring young residents to raise the native plants that ... posted on Oct 10, 1060 reads

Curitiba
How did the backwater town of Curitiba Brazil become a model for city planning? Much of it started with the vision and daring of its young architect mayor in the 1970's, Jaime Lerner.

When Curitiba's central street, Rua Quinze-was scheduled to be obliterated with an overpass, Lerner insisted instead that it should become a pedestrian mall, however there was no real way to convince ... posted on Nov 25, 985 reads

The Gift
After witnessing a friend survive Lupus thanks to a generous marrow donor, Brooks Dame became inspired to " help someone out with a small little miracle of their own” and signed up to be a bone marrow donor, a painful and dangerous procedure. A year later Brooks received a call that a match was found; a 30 year old man with a wife and kids was desperately fighting Leukemia. Nervous, but buoyed ... posted on Jan 28, 1366 reads

Rain Garden
When rain falls on impervious surfaces, such as roads, it absorbs contaminates as it drains away into waterways. UK researchers have found that rain gardens, a shallow depression in a garden containing bark much and shrubs, can remove up to 99% of these toxins. As the world's population urbanizes and cities continue to grow, rain gardens can be a viable, beautiful, and inexpensive solution to poll... posted on Feb 4, 1816 reads

Rugmark International
Rugmark International was founded in 1994 to eliminate child labor in carpet manufacturing. In Nepal, Pakistan and India, the organization monitors factories, certifies carpets made without child labor, and rescues and educates child laborers. In consumer countries, it seeks to create market preference for certified rugs, which could result in the rescue of thousands of children from forced labor ... posted on Feb 26, 1320 reads

A Small Hero
When his mom rolled off the bed and hit the floor, 8-year-old Jacob Clini knew three things: she was not moving, she needed help and he had to find a telephone. Remembering what his teachers and his cousin had told him about 911, Jacob picked up the phone, punched in the three numbers and saved his mother's life.... posted on May 1, 1987 reads

Assisting Discovery
For 24 years, National Award Winning teacher, Rafe Esquith has continued to work at Hobart Elementary, an inner-city school in Los Angeles. Hobart is the second largest elementary school in the country and 90% of its students live below the poverty line. Esquith's unorthodox teaching methods push these kids past their limitations: His ten-year olds volunteer to show up at 6:30 in the morning, not ... posted on Mar 17, 1665 reads

Begging For Change
Does the money you give to charity really make a difference? Are all those dollars pouring in really helping? Why are there still so many homeless, hungry, drug-addicted, unemployed Americans? In 1989, frustrated by those nagging questions, Robert Egger gave up his dream to start a night club and launched the D.C. Central Kitchen in Washington. It collects food from local restaurants, caterers, a... posted on Mar 21, 1786 reads