Transparency International
Finland once again topped the list of transparent, non-corrupt countries, with New Zealand, Denmark and Iceland close behind. A total of 106 out of 146 countries scored less than 5 against a clean score of 10, according to the new index, published today by Transparency International. UK was 11th on the list, with US in 17th, China in 71st, and India at 90th. Every year, TI estimates, the world ... posted on Oct 22, 975 reads

Twinkie Tax
From a recent report by CSPI: Upgrading from a 3-ounce Minibon to a Classic Cinnabon costs only 24% more, yet delivers 123% more calories. Switching from 7-Eleven’s Gulp to a Double Gulp costs 42% more, but provides 300% more calories. It costs 8 cents more to purchase a McDonald’s Quarter Pounder with Cheese, small French fries, and small Coke (890 calories) than it costs to buy the Quarter... posted on Aug 3, 1347 reads

Cycling For Water
It was in 1998, struggling up a hill on a cycle-rickshaw in deepest Bangladesh, that he knew his next big journey would be on such a machine. He just didn't figure he would have six weeks to prepare for it. In 2001, Jon Denner ventured on 2,088 kilometer trip across India to raise awarness of water and sanitation issues. Along the way, Jon also promoted the use of cycle rickshaw, created his ow... posted on Aug 17, 950 reads

Seven Day Weekend
Richard Semler has built a company that breaks all the rules. He encourages his employees to play hooky. He tells them not to bother with growth plans. Employees choose their own salaries, set their own hours, and have no job titles. Ridiculous? Inefficient? A recipe for chaos? Perhaps. But Semler's company, Semco, has grown from $35 million in revenue to $212 million in the last six years, and e... posted on Aug 19, 2531 reads

Wisdom of Crowds
"How many jellybeans in this jar?" Repeated studies show that a collective guess is often more accurate than any individual. We hold crowds accountable for the stock market bubble, boorish behavior at baseball games and the rise of Britney Spears. But in his new book, 'Wisdom of Crowds', James Surowiecki argues that the combined intelligence and input of a group of people can create optimum con... posted on Aug 25, 1301 reads

Art of Martial Arts
Jet Li wants to touch your soul before he kicks your butt. The Hong Kong action star says too many martial-art movies ignore heart and emotion in favor of vengeance and gore. Li's latest movie, 'Hero', explores what kind of person can become a hero; he hopes it'll put "artist" back into "martial artist."... posted on Aug 31, 1831 reads

PlasTax
A tax on plastic shopping bags in the Republic of Ireland has cut their use by more than 90% and raised millions of euros in revenue, the government says. The environment ministry estimated that about 1.2 billion free plastic bags were being handed out every year in the republic, leaving windblown bags littering Irish streets and the countryside. In the three months after the tax was introduced, s... posted on Sep 1, 1410 reads

Swimming the English Channel
George Brunstad arrived on the French beach of Sangatte just after 0100 BST on Sunday, after 15 hours and 59 minutes in the water. The retired US airline pilot, uncle of Hollywood star Matt Damon, set off from Dover on Saturday morning for the gruelling 21-mile swim and raised $11,000 for children in Haiti. At age 70, he also set the world record for the oldest man to conquer the English Channel... posted on Sep 2, 2410 reads

Season of Life
Friends say Jeffrey Marx has always seemed oddly blessed. In 1985 Mr. Marx was 22 and in his first newspaper job, he heard about strange goings-on in the University of Kentucky basketball program; he wrote articles that exposed cash payoffs to players, and won the Pulitzer Prize for it. In 1997 he plunked down $1 for a chance to heave a basketball down toward a basket 69 feet away. Make the shot,... posted on Sep 14, 1053 reads

If Everyone Cared
This music video by Nickelback lauds several examples of individuals who have stood up to injustice, and won. The examples range from Bob Geldof's Live Aid concerts in 1984 to Nelson Mandela's triumphant release from prison in 1989 and election as South Africa's first democratically elected president.... posted on Oct 13, 3117 reads

Spinach Powered Laptop
"Eat your spinach," Mom used to say. "It will make your muscles grow, power your laptop and recharge your cell phone... " OK. So nobody's Mom said those last two things. But researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say they have used spinach to harness a plant's ability to convert sunlight into energy for the first time, creating a device that may one day power laptops, mobile phon... posted on Oct 2, 1022 reads

The Soup Peddler
They call him the Soup Peddler. He's a riches-to-rags guy who quit his computer programming job to make homemade soup and deliver it by bicycle to his neighbors. Every week, David Ansel makes several hundred quarts of soup, by hand, from fresh ingredients every week. Then he loads the containers onto his custom bicycle trailer and pedals around his Texas neighborhood to deliver them!... posted on Sep 28, 1222 reads

Brilliant 10
A way to repair the failing memories of Alzheimer's patients, a tool in the search for new medicines and special lasers to help fight the war on terrorism are among the quests of young scientists honored by the editors of Popular Science. For the third year, the magazine has compiled its list of the "Brilliant 10" young scientists, all 40 or younger and virtually unknown to the public.... posted on Sep 30, 1492 reads

Four Year Old Artist
She is the hottest abstract artist in New York. After a feature in the local paper, 2000 people showed up for her opening night, everyone from serious collectors to the artist's preschool teacher. Using brushes, spatulas, her fingers and even ketchup bottles, she is creating canvases of six by six foot and earning more money than she could comprehend! Meet Marla Olmstead, age 4.... posted on Oct 6, 1838 reads

Smells Like A Nobel Prize
Her mother used to grumble about her stubborn persistence and "one-track mind" when faced with a problem. In later years, she focused on her lab work with laser-beam intensity, reducing time away to the "one-minute dinner." Linda Buck asked how humans can detect odors for upto 100,000 different chemicals and process this information into perceptions. Not only did she ask the question, she also fo... posted on Oct 7, 1128 reads

Land of Thousand Hills
In 1949, when Rosamond Carr first arrived in Africa, she had no idea that she would spend the rest of her life there. Back then, she was just a young fashion illustrator from New York City, who packed four cotton dresses and a lifetime supply of cold cream to accompany her husband on a trip to Congo. As she journeyed to find herself, Rosamond experienced everything from near-bankruptcy to tribal... posted on Oct 8, 1213 reads

Jack La Lanne, Fit for Life
He's in the gym at 5am and works out for two hours, seven days a week, even if he only gets one or two hours of sleep. He hasn't had a sugary dessert or missed a daily workout since 1930. Jack La Lanne, a pioneer of modern fitness is turning 90 and still aspires to swim the 22 hour distance from Catalina Island to Los Angeles, underwater. ... posted on Dec 9, 1884 reads

Album named 'Smile'
Thirty-eight years ago, Brian Wilson wanted to make an album like no other with what was, at the time, a revolutionary recording technique. Bits and pieces were recorded at different times with different musicians, in different studios, then quilted together. Wilson combined this elaborate "modular music" with the evocative lyrics of Van Dyke Parks and described the project as "a teenage symphony ... posted on Oct 19, 1204 reads

The Surfing Rabbi
Just steps from the sand, Orthodox Rabbi Nachum Shifren parks his beat-up blue 1983 Volvo station wagon with the surf racks and bumper sticker that reads, "Forgive Me Rabbi, For I Have Surfed." Shifren, 53, wears the long, unshorn beard of Hasidic Jews and traditional Orthodox garb with those Ocean Pacific flip-flops on his feet! "You can't be too square. You've got to be a little hip," he remin... posted on Oct 12, 1297 reads

Hot Wheels
It's cute, tiny, and plastic. The kids love it (especially in Europe). It also gets 70 miles per gallon, and you can fit three side by side in a standard parking spot. Move over, Mini: The Smart microcar could be the next big thing on America's roads.... posted on Oct 26, 1513 reads

Young Heroes of 2004
Gina invented a road-paving material from recycled plastic bottles. Ellie ran a web site with copyright-free literature for people learning English as a second language. Kevin placed detectors on school vending machines to regulate their electrical usage. Twelve year old Renee started a battery recycling initiative in her elementary school. Laurel founded an after-school program for disadvanta... posted on Oct 29, 1131 reads

Sydney Peace Prize
"I hate Miss Mitten." At 5, that was her first coherent sentence she ever put on paper. Today, Arundhati Roy is a celebrated author whose books have sold millions worldwide, winner of many awards including the Booker, and a human rights activist. Yesterday, she won the Sydney Peace Prize and she is donating all of her $50,000 prize to three Aboriginal community organizations in Australia!... posted on Nov 4, 1221 reads

Curing Poverty
In 1985, Jeffrey Sachs helped Bolivian government recover from 25,000 percent inflation. A few year later, at 35, he rescued Poland securing his reputation as an economic savior. And now, he's turning his attention to Africa. Sachs believes that Africa, through no fault of its own, is trapped. The economist is calling for $45/person in foreign aid for the next 10 years. As an American, he note... posted on Nov 10, 1075 reads

The Gates of Central Park
While February 2005 may seem like eons away, it is not, at least for Christo and Jeanne-Claude. That is when the artists will finally realize their 24-year-old dream of decorating 23 miles of Central Park's walkways with 7,460 gates, 16 feet tall and topped with translucent saffron-color fabric.... posted on Dec 10, 890 reads

Cognitive Overload
Richard Levy has a plan that's part technology, part caffeine, part rolled-up-sleeves simplicity: take a data Sabbath one day a week. The University of Washington professor says that technology tools have made our lives simpler but have also stirred up deep unease. The need for speed is shrinking our attention spans, prompting our search for answers to take the mile-wide-but-inch-deep route and s... posted on Dec 1, 1431 reads

Cashing-in Million Dollars
While most folks their age look forward to winding down, a married pair of Chicago chemists decided to cash-in their million dollars of retirement to change the world -- at least Africa, to start with. In reaction to money-motivated pharmaceutical giants and the U.S. refusing to join the United Nations in making AIDS drugs globally available, Paul Lartey and Alexandra Graham have launched a plan ... posted on Jan 8, 1454 reads

Returning a Favor
A Buddhist monk in Canada stunned his congregation by putting his temple up for sale, in a bid to raise half a million dollars for victims of the Asian tsunami tragedy. For the abbot, Thich Nguyen Thao, the pledge is an expression of gratitude to the people of Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia who provided them refuge when they fled Vietnam. "They housed and fed us. This is a small gesture to tha... posted on Jan 11, 1121 reads

A Dying Man's Dream Fulfilled
As the daylight hours began to fade, a strange group congregated on St. Paul's West Side. Minstrels with guitars and harps scampered quietly beside maidens with bells on. Cars slowed in wonderment. The sound of a tuning accordion could be faintly heard outside the window of Frank Tunison's home. He didn't have a clue Thursday evening that in minutes, a fantasy would come true. It began when Tuniso... posted on Oct 2, 3774 reads

The Slow Money Movement
What if you were told that one solution to crises such as global warming and the worldwide financial meltdown could be unearthed in the simple act of growing your own food? Nothing drastic; nothing revolutionary. Just a window box for a tomato plant in your kitchen."It's remarkable, but people who grow their own food, who reconnect with the soil, can immediately appreciate the implications of an e... posted on Nov 18, 3149 reads

Meditation and the Brain
Meditation can modify the brain. That's what Richard Davidson's new study shows, further disproving the old notion that our brains don't change in adulthood. With the help of Dalai Lama's eight most accomplished meditators, with 10,000 to 50,000 hours over a period of 15 to 40 years, Davidson's study unambiguously showed that meditation on "unconditional compassion" activated the trained minds o... posted on Jan 20, 1188 reads

Antiprenuer
Imagine a chain of restaurants serving only locally-sourced food. Or an artist-controlled radio network. Or a consumer co-op for organic clothing. No sweatshops. No ads. Just sustainable, accountable companies. Antiprenuer is a project to challenge the giant corporations by harnessing the entrepreneurial spirit of activists. Instead of protests and boycotts, they want to "start putting our creat... posted on Jan 21, 1775 reads

Solar Paint
Scientists have invented a plastic solar cell that can turn the sun's power into electrical energy, even on a cloudy day. The plastic material uses nanotechnology and contains the first solar cells able to harness the sun's invisible, infrared rays. Like paint, the composite can be sprayed onto other materials and used as portable electricity. A sweater coated in the material could power a cell ph... posted on Jan 26, 1455 reads

Sacred Mirrors
The Chapel of Sacred Mirrors in New York City, is the venue artist Alex Grey designed and built to house his most widely known series of paintings. His highly developed knowledge of human anatomy and consciousness are brought to life through his painstakingly detailed paintings that provide viewers a stunning visual language to map the different levels of their own being. ... posted on Jan 29, 1431 reads

Corporate Tricksters
On December 3, Dow Chemical "spokesman" Jude Finisterra appeared on the BBC to make an astonishing announcement: His company, now parent to Union Carbide, would mark the 20th anniversary of the lethal gas leak in Bhopal, India, which killed 20,000 and injured 120,000, by paying out $12 billion to the survivors—"simply because it is the right thing to do." Unbelievable? Sure it was. Within a few ... posted on Mar 4, 1538 reads

Invent
As an adolescent, Clifford Ross was an apathetic science student but obsessed by Tom Swift. Now 52, Mr. Ross has become a character appropriate to a boys' adventure novel. An artist and businessman, he recently became an inventor - of a camera unusual enough to capture the attention of serious scientists, including the kinds who work for the government, experimenting with nuclear fusion, space tra... posted on Mar 8, 959 reads

Environmental Evangelicals
A core group of influential evangelical leaders has put its considerable political power behind a cause that has barely registered on the evangelical agenda, fighting global warming. These church leaders, scientists, writers and heads of international aid agencies argue that global warming is an urgent threat, a cause of poverty and a Christian issue because the Bible mandates stewardship of God'... posted on Mar 15, 1371 reads

Stress Relief
In a small but highly provocative study, a University of Wisconsin-Madison research team has found, for the first time, that a short program in "mindfulness meditation" produced lasting positive changes in both the brain and the function of the immune system. The findings suggest that meditation, long promoted as a technique to reduce anxiety and stress, might produce important biological effects ... posted on Mar 16, 3543 reads

Wonder Welders
The self-styled "wonder welders" of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania were offered technical training in welding by a local businessman in an imaginative scheme which has changed the lives of polio victims who previously had to beg on the streets to live. The welder's artistic collective has built a reputation for designing innovative and unusual metal animal sculptures that has provided these men with pri... posted on Mar 22, 1866 reads

Marathon
Pondering life on his 30th birthday and finding something lacking, Dean Karnazes staggered home from a night out drinking with friends, put on his gardening shoes and went for a run. A 30-mile run. All night.When he survived that, he set his sights on a 100-mile race. Then 135 miles. Then 199 miles. Then a marathon at the South Pole. Last summer he completed 262 miles non-stop.... posted on Mar 31, 1343 reads

Free Patents
Why is IBM, which earns more than $1 billion a year from licensing and selling its intellectual property, deciding to share some its patents for free? Simple economics. It believes there is more profit in collaboration and open source on its ideas rather than jealously guarding its patents with a team of lawyers. ... posted on Apr 13, 1381 reads

Invest in Life
Oral Lee Brown made a promise to a group of 23 East Oakland, Calif. first-graders in 1987, “Stay in school, and I’ll send you to college.” The realtor began saving immediately, putting $10,000 per year in a fund from her $40,000 salary. Over the years she tracked their progress, mentored them, took them on recruiting trips to colleges, attended their high school graduations, and sent 19 of t... posted on Apr 14, 1909 reads

The Hunger Project
Despite a food distribution system that can put a can of soda within arms reach of every person, one-fifth of the world's population suffers from chronic hunger and 41,000 of them, mostly children, die each day. Instead of looking to just feed the one-billion hungry mouths with aid, one NGO views those one-billion mouths as hard-working creative people that are an instrumental part of the solution... posted on Apr 22, 1171 reads

Universe
The Hubble telescope celebrates its 15th birthday this week, and in that time it has provided scientists breakthrough images on everything from the birth of stars, to the age and expansion rate of the universe, to the presence of dark matter, to comet Shoemaker-Levy 9's impact with Jupiter. Take a virtual journey thru Hubble's top 10 discoveries. ... posted on Apr 29, 2766 reads

The Refugee
After Saigon fell 30 years ago, a 6-year-old Tran Nguyen Toan became a refugee as he left Vietnam in his pajamas aboard an overcrowded flotilla of 10 boats, 9 of which sank in the storms they encountered over the two week journey. With the help of strangers and the United Nations, Toan went on to became a doctor that never forgot his refugee roots, devoting himself to improving childbirth practic... posted on Apr 30, 1196 reads

Women Build
Women Build is a partnership of Habitat for Humanity and the Lowe's chain of home improvement stores that has built 650 home so far. This year’s partnership will kick-off around Mother’s Day in 15 US cities and will give women a chance to help needy families. ... posted on May 6, 802 reads

The Nature Challenge
When Dr. David Suzuki, a noted Canadian scientist, broadcaster and environmentalist, speaks to an audience on the importance of protecting nature, the question most often asked is, “What can I do?” Based on his foundation’s scientific research, they came up with The Nature Challenge, outlining the ten most effective ways to conserve nature and improve our quality of life. ... posted on May 19, 1631 reads

Green Business
General Electric's CEO Jeffrey Immelt has launched Ecomagination in an effort to invest in green technologies that will clean GE's own processes and capture business from the increasing demand for green technologies from developed countries. Is this green washing? Perhaps, however if this green effort is legitimate it could be a catalyst for more companies and perhaps the US government to take sus... posted on Jun 1, 1301 reads

10,000 Year Clock
The Long Now Foundation was established in 01996* to develop the Clock and "Library" projects, as well as to become the seed of a very long term cultural institution. The Long Now Foundation hopes to provide counterpoint to todays "faster/cheaper" mind set and promote "slower/better" thinking. The hope is that by building a 10,000 year clock, it will inspire people would build institutions with si... posted on Jun 7, 1320 reads

The Illiterate Surgeon
Fistula is a horrible condition that afflicts many African woman with uteruses that have been badly damaged by a trauma in the birthing process, often leaving them shunned by their husbands and communities. Mamitu Gash is one of the leading fistula surgeons in the world, having treated thousands of patients and trained hundreds of doctors. She is also illiterate. ... posted on Jun 15, 1535 reads

Educational Entrepreneur
Five years ago, Teddy Blecher started a university with no resources other than sending out letters of invitation from his fax machine to 350 schools asking the brightest and poorest students to apply to the new university – promising them the “best business education in Africa”. After beginning with a borrowed building, a handful of business collogues for teachers, and photocopies of keyboa... posted on Jun 21, 1306 reads