Recycling Wizard Helps Kids Learn
As a child, Carlos Macias made a hobby out of inventing his own toys. "I preferred [inventing] to playing or swimming," he says of a childhood full of the explosions, splatters, and sparks of invention. When other children asked to buy his inventions, the young creator offered instead to show them how to make it. While his ethic hasn't made him rich, it has made him a minor celebrity among kids wh... posted on May 17, 1832 reads

Commuting to Inner Peace
Across the world commuters are spending more time and crossing greater distances than a decade ago. In the UK today the average commuting time is 45 minutes. This daily commute is seen by many as the most stressful part of their day. “I've found that the quality of my experience at work is largely being set by my state of mind during the journey from home to my desk," says one woman. And recent ... posted on May 19, 3539 reads

The Threshold Choir
A band of women in the seaside city of Santa Cruz give in an unusual way – they sing for the dying. They call themselves the Threshold Choir, and they perform at the bedsides of the terminally ill, singing in intimate tones, like a mother soothing a newborn. "We think of these as lullabies for ... on the way out," said choir founder Kate Munger. Munger, a minister's daughter, started the singing... posted on May 20, 1887 reads

Endangered Species: 100 Success Stories
The U.S. Senate declared May 18, 2007, Endangered Species Day to encourage people “to become educated about, and aware of, threats to species, success stories in species recovery, and the opportunity to promote species conservation worldwide.” The resolution mentions a few of the Endangered Species Act’s most well known successes, for example -- the bald eagle’s increase from 416 to 9,789 ... posted on May 30, 1766 reads

Taking Social Innovation To Scale
According to Margaret Wheatley, the world changes when networks of relationships form among people who share a common vision of what’s possible. So rather than worry about critical mass, our work is to foster critical connections. We don’t need to convince large numbers of people to change; instead, we need to connect with kindred spirits. Through these relationships, we develop the new knowle... posted on May 22, 2128 reads

Your Personality Can Change
Personality can change. The once accepted idea that an individual's personality is set in stone is, well, changing. "You read about this twin research where these people who have been raised apart have remarkable similarities," said Carol Dweck, a psychologist at Stanford University. "The implication there is that it's all programmed in," that personality is permanently stamped into our genes. Say... posted on Jun 13, 3470 reads

Homeless Children: Their Stories Told
As the children projected onto the screen describe what it's like to be homeless, Bambi Jackson wipes tears from her eyes. She works with families in Boston every day who face housing crises. But there's something about these -- a boy's complaint that a shelter is "just not cozy" or a girl's description of how scary it is to start over at a new school -- that strikes deep. The short documentary, "... posted on Jun 5, 2824 reads

10 Steps to Peace
"Since we seem to be living in an increasingly violent world, I would like to suggest a summer peace plan. Every day -- or least every week -- we are confronted with a new wave of senseless and reckless violence. (...) I'm tired of it, and I know you are, too. Here is my plan. Feel free to add to it as you enact your own plan." So begins student Dwayne Lee's "10 Steps Towards A Peaceful Summer", p... posted on Jun 16, 4368 reads

Finding Gold in the Garbarge
Patrick Fitzgerald found himself distracted as he studied for the bar exam at Fordham University five years ago. New York City was debating the merits of continuing its recycling program and Mr. Fitzgerald wondered why that was a question at all. "I wasn't an overt tree-hugger, but I thought it was odd," he said. He began poking around Web sites and news articles about the economics of recycling, ... posted on Jun 21, 2837 reads

High School Friends Help Darfur
High school students Nick Anderson and Ana Slavin of Gill, Mass., knew they could raise some money at their school to help the people of Darfur. But they knew they could raise a lot more by enlisting the help of high school students all over the country. They didn't have friends at every school, but they did have a powerful tool for reaching out to young people -- social networking sites. Six mont... posted on Jul 8, 948 reads

Kids Practice Classroom Mindfulness
The lesson began with the striking of a Tibetan singing bowl to induce mindful awareness. With the sound of their new school bell, the fifth graders at Piedmont Avenue Elementary School here closed their eyes and focused on their breathing, as they tried to imagine “loving kindness” on the playground.“I was losing at baseball and I was about to throw a bat,” Alex Menton, 11, reported to hi... posted on Jun 24, 2509 reads

The Making of a Good Decision-Maker
Good decision-makers may be made, not born, says a Carnegie Mellon University and RAND Corp. study. People who do well on a series of decision-making tasks involving hypothetical situations tend to have more positive decision outcomes in their lives, according to decision scientists. The results suggest that it may be possible to improve the quality of people's lives by teaching them better decisi... posted on Jun 19, 2359 reads

Beyond Human Altruism
Altruism may be far more widespread than had been realized. A new study shows that chimpanzees are capable of helping others without any thought of personal reward, demonstrating that young chimpanzees spontaneously and repeatedly helped humans who appeared to be struggling to reach sticks within the animals' enclosure. Elsewhere in the animal world there are many examples of apparent altruism. Do... posted on Jun 27, 3968 reads

A Plane Called Inspiration
Barrington Irving kept his fans in suspense as he circled the skies in a plane dubbed "Inspiration". After a journey that lasted more than three months, the 23-year-old landed his single-engine plane, built from $300,000 worth of donated parts, to a hero's welcome. Hundreds gathered at the airport hangar to welcome Irving and celebrate his record feat as the youngest pilot and the first person of ... posted on Jul 4, 1733 reads

$10,000 Tip At Pizza Hut
It was just a typical day on the job at Pizza Hut for 20-year-old Jessica Osborne when out of the blue, the waitress received a gift that would change her life: a $10,000 tip. Always ready with a smile for her customers, Jessica had been forced to withdraw from college because of a lack of financial aid. She told Becky, one of her regular customers about the textbooks she had bought and kept in th... posted on Jul 14, 2889 reads

The Power of Paying it Forward
Because so much of human life is about giving, receiving, and repaying, gratitude is a pivotal concept for our social interactions. The famed sociologist Georg Simmel declared that gratitude is "the moral memory of mankind." If every grateful action, he went on to say, were suddenly eliminated, society would crumble. After years of ignoring gratitude -- perhaps because it appears, on the surface, ... posted on Jul 16, 2593 reads

Taking a $5 Billion Stand
The shy, 36-year-old sole member of the Djok clan and senior custodian of the Koongarra uranium deposit in Australia has decided never to allow the ecologically sensitive land to be mined. Jeffery Lee is not interested in the soaring price of uranium, which could make him one of the world's richest men. "This is my country, look, it's beautiful and I fear somebody will disturb it,” he said, wavi... posted on Jul 17, 2407 reads

Daisies Made All The Difference
Sometimes our simplest gestures have far-reaching effects. One writer for the Christian Science Monitor tells this story,"Each year when the oxeye daisies bloom on our Michigan farm, I pick bouquets for our home. My husband, John, planted the acres with red Flanders poppies, blue bachelor's buttons, and daisies ... Over the years, the perennial daisies have spread throughout the farm; and in the h... posted on Jul 18, 2324 reads

Triple Amputee Earns Medical Degree
Kellie Lim knows all too well what it is like to be a very sick child. Struck with a ravaging bacterial infection that destroys limbs, she became a triple amputee at age 8 and soon faced a life of prosthetics, wheelchairs and often-painful rehabilitation. But from that suffering, Lim forged a life of achievement. A graduate from UCLA's medical school she is set to begin a residency program at the ... posted on Jul 24, 2673 reads

Do The Right Thing
A year ago management consultant Rick Mickle bought a lottery ticket. While jotting down all of the things he would do with the winnings, from spending more time with family and friends to making a real difference in the world, Mickle began to take stock of his life. He was earning a lot of money but was giving very little of himself. And he was the one who was poorer for it. "I won the lottery th... posted on Jul 30, 2626 reads

Cake But No Presents Please
At Gavin Brown’s 4th birthday party, there were 44 guests and an elaborate ice cream cake adorned with a fire truck. Glenn Johnson lifted his daughter Mia, 3, up to drop money into a donation box. But the only gift in sight was a little red Matchbox hook and ladder rig. All the bounty from Gavin’s birthday — $240 in checks and cash collected in a red box next to a plastic fire helmet — wen... posted on Jul 31, 3775 reads

Teaching From Outer Space
It's a lesson that’s been taught for generations: All good things are worth the wait. Now, that lesson - one of many - is about to be delivered from 140 miles above Earth. "I want to go on the space shuttle," wrote schoolteacher Barbara Morgan to NASA in 1985,"I want to get some stardust on me." At age 55, after 22 years of training and waiting, in the wake of two shuttle catastrophes, Morgan is... posted on Aug 5, 1294 reads

Random Kid: The Power of Anyone
It all started with a feisty ten-year-old named Talia Leman, who watched the Katrina devastation on TV and decided to do something about it. She launched an online campaign to convince kids just like her to give up candy for Halloween and instead, collect money door-to-door.The idea took. Plastic pumpkins overflowed with small change. Dollar bills filled former candy sacks. In three months, random... posted on Aug 9, 2667 reads

Harvard Professor Resolves Ethiopian Crisis
As the gray-haired man strode into the posh restaurant in Ethiopia, patrons stood up and applauded. Professor Ephraim Isaac, a retired Ethiopian Harvard scholar had just helped resolve his country's two-year political crisis using traditional Ethiopian problem-solving methods. Just weeks ago, 35 opposition members had been sentenced to life in prison, despite widespread pressure from human rights ... posted on Aug 15, 1774 reads

The Boy Who Built Windmills
William Kamkwamba left school at 14 as his family was unable to pay the school fees, but that didn't stop him from doing something remarkable. Armed only with his intelligence, a book on electricity, some plastic piping and found objects, Kamkwamba built his first windmill, which generated enough power to run a light in his room. His second windmill used a bicycle to increase efficiency; it was ab... posted on Aug 20, 3808 reads

Designing A Better World
You probably haven't heard of CEO Tim Brown or his 500-member team at IDEO. But if you've swept your floor with a Swiffer, clicked on your PC's mouse or even banked recently at Bank of America, then you're familiar with their work. In the 15 years since the company was founded, it has been churning out disruptive product designs for everyone from Apple to AT&T. Now the company is also working on ... posted on Aug 26, 675 reads

18-Year-Old Sets Hugging Record
Kneeling for children and stretching to embrace taller people, a college student believes she’s hugged her way into the record books. Jordan Pearce, 18, said she hugged 765 people in less than an hour Saturday and plans to send the results to Guinness World Records. "I feel like I’m on cloud nine," Pearce said after the last hug Saturday. By the way, Jordan Pearce is not only a record breakin... posted on Sep 1, 2297 reads

Why Tell Stories Today?
"Meaningful stories are one of the essential ingredients of any culture. Our minds hunger for a good story from the time we are young. It is as if they hold a wisdom in them that our unconscious needs; tales contain certain nutrients that nurture the depths or the soul of a human being. There are parts of us that cannot mature without stories: in this way, they are food. And there a times when a s... posted on Sep 4, 2103 reads

The Science Of Sleep and Scent
Scientists studying how sleep affects memory have found that the whiff of a familiar scent can help a slumbering brain better remember things that it learned the evening before. The smell of roses -- delivered as people studied and, later, as they slept -- improved their performance on a memory test by about 13 percent. The results of this rigorous new study, whether or not they can help students ... posted on Sep 9, 3266 reads

Yawning: A Sign of Empathy
A susceptibility to contagious yawning may actually be a sign of a high-level of social empathy. Although many species yawn, only some humans and possibly their close animal relatives find yawning infectious, suggesting the reason is psychological. "Contagious yawning is a very interesting behavior," said Dr Catriona Morrison, a lecturer in psychology who is leading the work."You don't need a visu... posted on Sep 12, 1976 reads

An Epidemic of Volunteerism
Polls show that while confidence in America's democracy and government is near an all-time low, volunteerism and civic participation since the '70s are near all-time highs. In 2006 more than 61 million Americans dedicated 8.1 billion hours to volunteerism. Political scientists are perplexed about this. If confidence is so low, why would people bother volunteering? The explanation offered by this T... posted on Sep 13, 2553 reads

Lessons From A Wish Child
15-year-old Estar Hester has chronic lung disease, scoliosis, an immune system problem -- and an indomitable spirit. Written over a period of four years, her first published work, "Tomorrow Will Be a Better Day -- Lessons from a Wish Child" was recently released in e-book form. Its purpose? "My book is mainly to inform people on how to deal with problems that are ahead of them" Hester said. An ex... posted on Sep 14, 2287 reads

Anita Roddick: The Queen of Green
In 1976, long before going green was an international pastime, a small store opened in Brighton. The cosmetics it sold were all-natural, the containers were reusable and its ethos? Creating products that were as good for the earth as they were for your skin. By 2005, Anita Roddick, founder of the Body Shop, had 2,000 stores in 50 countries. But far more impressive than the numbers were the ideals ... posted on Sep 18, 3050 reads

Promoting Peace Through Employment
For Ron Bruder, the tragedy of 9/11 served as a pivot point into active philanthropy. A real estate developer from NY, he was particularly interested in tackling the social conditions that potentially lead to violence -- specifically, the lack of jobs. The time he had spent doing business in Northern Ireland confirmed Bruder's notion that the path to peace and democracy lay not in military interve... posted on Sep 28, 3042 reads

Compelled To Serve
Germain Lubango Kabemba, is a Congolese humanitarian worker. He leads Medecins Sans Frontires-Holland in the market town of Kerfi, now home to thousands of refugees. His job is to provide basic healthcare and services to a population that has been cut off from all other international aid since the rainy season began there in July. Kabemba was the only child in his family to go to university and co... posted on Sep 29, 1486 reads

Pen Pals at the Airport
"A few years ago on a trip home I was waiting in line at the airport gate counter and the agent was frustrated because a customer had inadvertently walked off with her last pen. I opened up my backpack and sure enough there were five pens, so I handed over all five and said, "Keep the change!" She was so appreciative of the small gesture that I began packing 5 pens for every trip." So begins thi... posted on Oct 3, 2465 reads

Manage Your Energy Not Your Time
The core problem with working longer hours is that time is a finite resource. According to this Harvard Business Review article, energy is a different story. Defined in physics as the capacity to work, energy comes from four main wellsprings in human beings: the body, emotions, mind, and spirit. In each, energy can be systematically expanded and regularly renewed by establishing behaviors that are... posted on Oct 4, 4879 reads

Are You Getting Enough Sun?
A spate of new studies suggests vitamin D offers health benefits far beyond strengthening bones. Researchers report that "the sunshine vitamin" may cut cancer risks and help the immune system fight infections. Together these studies raise the possibility that a brief daily dose of sun combined with a vitamin D supplement could help stave off everything from breast cancer to the flu. Although our s... posted on Oct 16, 2588 reads

Social Visionary's Network of Good
According to Bill Drayton, about 25 years ago something dramatic happened in the world. "We could see it," he recalls. "The system was beginning to change. It was like hearing the ice breaking up at the end of winter in a lake. Creak, creak, groan, crash! The need was so big, the gap so huge, the opportunity to learn right before people's eyes. When do systems begin to change? When entrepreneurs d... posted on Oct 15, 2031 reads

Homeless Man is Chess King of Washington
He sleeps on a bench, but he is king of chess during the day at Washington's Dupont Circle, where he dazzles beginners and masters alike with his winning moves on the park's stone chessboards. Tom Murphy, 49, makes what little money he has from teaching his prodigious knowledge of the game to passersby for a few dollars. "He has the title of expert in chess. This is the second highest American tit... posted on Oct 14, 2122 reads

Around the World and Bach
You wouldn't know it by looking at the man in the t-shirt standing on the street corner, but if you listen, it's easy to tell that David Juritz is a world class musician. He's just traded in concert halls for street corners. The violinist left his London home on June 9 and has since traveled the globe as a street performer, raising money to fund music education for some of the world's poorest chi... posted on Oct 26, 2566 reads

Economic Power of Positive Thinking
Optimists are more likely than others to display prudent financial behaviors but extreme optimists tend to have short planning horizons and act in ways that are generally not considered wise. According to new research from Duke University, optimists work long hours, invest in individual stocks, save more and pay their credit card balance on time while extreme optimists work fewer hours, are often ... posted on Nov 11, 2984 reads

Organic Food Is Healthier!
Organic produce is better for you than ordinary food, a four year study in Europe concluded. Researchers found levels of antioxidants in milk from organic cattle were between 50% and 80% higher than normal milk; Organic wheat, tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage, onions and lettuce had between 20% and 40% more nutrients.... posted on Nov 24, 1643 reads

"Anonymous Friend" Gives $100 Million
Mike Batchelor invited the heads of 46 charities into his downtown office for one-on-one meetings to personally deliver the news. Nearby, on a small table, sat a box of tissues. And then he proceeded: A donor had given a staggering $100 million to the Erie Community Foundation, and all of the charities would receive a share. That was when the tears began to flow -- and the mystery began -- in this... posted on Nov 14, 2993 reads

Consultant Becomes Waffleman
A former IBM consultant has shelved his suit and six-figure salary to sell Belgian waffles around the city from a yellow mobile food truck. Thomas DeGeest, 37, of Chelsea, said a heart-to-heart talk with his wife last year made him trade in his corporate life for an apron, a set of waffle irons and a "Wafels and Dinges" truck. "A waffle makes people smile," DeGeest said.... posted on Nov 16, 2925 reads

The Best Dollar I Ever Spent
"I am a resource officer at a school district. Last year I met one little boy in particular to whom my heart just went out. He would talk to me every single day, and always seemed to have a smile on his face. He had a problem with stuttering. It's really hard sometimes to understand what he is saying, although he loves to tell you big tales! Well, this morning, I was talking to a couple teachers... posted on Nov 18, 4030 reads

From Farmworker to Neurosurgeon
The life of Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa, a former illegal immigrant, may sound like a movie script, but it is no fiction. Twenty years ago, he hopped a border fence from Mexico into the United States and became a migrant farmworker. From there, to community college to a UC Berkeley scholarship, to Harvard Medical School, 38-year-old Dr. Q, as he is known, is now a neurosurgeon and professor at Johns... posted on Nov 28, 3131 reads

High School's 'Tech Sherpas'
Doran Smestad walks through the empty gym to the office in the back corner. The high school sophomore's mission: to recover an important file that physical education teacher Jim DiFrederico can't seem to open on his new Macintosh laptop. It's a typical call for students known around the halls of Nokomis Regional High School as "tech sherpas." Within a few minutes, Doran has a file open on screen a... posted on Nov 30, 2221 reads

Ancient Wisdom, Modern Living
Don Alverto Taxo of the Atis people of Ecuador is dedicated to bringing ancient wisdom into modern living. He travels and teaches in the United States and Europe, encouraging individuals to bring more heart and intuition to their daily lives. "My invitation is to do it," he says. "We all feel the need to live in harmony with all the manifestations of life," shares Don Alverto Taxo in this inspirin... posted on Dec 12, 2794 reads

The Anatomy of Reasoning
In "Why?" the Columbia University scholar Charles Tilly sets out to make sense of our reasons for giving reasons. Tilly seeks to decode the structure of everyday social interaction, and the result is a book that forces readers to reexamine everything from the way they talk to their children to the way they argue about politics. Malcolm Gladwell, author of bestsellers "The Tipping Point" and "Blink... posted on Dec 20, 2578 reads