Let the wind blow for 80 million people: Europe's crazy clean energy plan
People aren’t always too pleased when on-shore wind turbines are installed due to aesthetics and sound, so why not just build a massive artificial island surrounded by wind turbines out in the sea? That seems crazy, but it’s exactly what a group of engineers from Denmark, Germany, and the Read More...
How activists in Seattle got the city to redirect funds from police to social services
Plans to spend nearly $150 million on a new police station in North Seattle signaled to the people that political leaders were more concerned with punishing residents than helping them. At a city hall meeting, residents of the city made it abundantly clear that this money should be used for social Read More...
France has the highest fertility rate in Europe and why that is important
The fertility rates of countries across the European continent have fallen drastically since 2001. In fact, most countries are not making enough babies to replenish their populations, that is, except for France. The country recorded the highest number of births (799,700) in 2015 and the highest Read More...
What you will learn after hearing the number one regret of the dying
The scenario most people fear is that they will wake up one day in the elderly years and regret the way they chose to lead their lives. If this would happen to you, what do you think you would change? A former nurse asked people in their waning days of life this question, and what she found out Read More...
B vitamins may have 'protective effect' against air pollution
B vitamins may offer some protection against the impacts of air pollution, a small scale human trial suggests. Researchers in the US found that high doses of these supplements may "completely offset" the damage caused by very fine particulate matter. The scientists involved say the effect is real Read More...
Germany’s Optionspace wants to be an ‘Airbnb for office space’
Optionspace, a new Berlin-based startup, sees its official launch today with a service that is something akin to an ‘Airbnb for office space’. Specifically, prospective tenants — which, of course, includes startups — are able to rent furnished and unfurnished office space via the online Read More...
Lessening negative thinking can ease depression
New research suggests that learning to stop thinking or worrying about the various aspects of situations that are upsetting can be a liberating skill, a competency that can help people gain control over depression. The Norwegian study shows that learning to reduce rumination is very helpful for Read More...
China’s coal consumption declines despite increasing energy consumption
New figures published by China’s National Burea of Statistics show that while the country’s total energy consumption increased by 1.4% in 2016, the country’s coal consumption declined by 4.7%. Following China’s use of coal and the country’s corresponding carbon dioxide emission levels has Read More...
Clean water finally flows to transform lives of tea pickers in Bangladesh
Bina Patru is unsure of her age. She thinks she is in her mid-40s, but knows that she has spent a lifetime toiling in the tea bushes that carpet the rolling hills of the Surma valley of northern Bangladesh. A slight figure in a bright yellow sari, she has just returned from a morning pruning plants Read More...
Half of Norway's new-car sales are now hybrids or electrics
Norway has achieved yet another milestone in electric-car sales. The Scandinavian country may be the friendliest for electric cars in the world, thanks to a combination of aggressive incentives, well-developed charging infrastructure, and a citizenry committed to lowering carbon emissions. Thanks Read More...