Paid paternity leave for dads to achieve gender equality
Paid paternity leave is rare. According to UNICEF two-thirds of the world's children under age 1 live in countries where dads are not entitled by law to take paid paternity leave. This map shows the paid paternity leave policy by country around the world. “To achieve gender equality both in the Read More...
A sustainable solution to Afghanistan’s refugees crisis
In the past two years more than 835,000 Afghans, who fled their country for Pakistan during years of civil war, have returned to their home country. To cope with this challenge, aid agencies are working with local communities relying on the centuries-old local Pashtunwali code that prioritizes Read More...
Lowering your blood sugar with the next superfood: Lentils
Spikes in blood sugar levels are increasingly linked to inflammation as the root cause of many degenerative diseases from cancer to Alzheimer’s. So, it’s great news that a new study shows that eating lentils can lower blood glucose by up to 35 Read More...
A bloodless malaria test by Ugandan inventor won Africa’s top engineering prize
The $33,000 Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation has been awarded to a 24-year old Ugandan engineer for his invention of a bloodless malaria test. Before now, small blood samples taken from suspected patients in hospitals or pharmacies were used to test for malaria but with Matibabu, the device Read More...
See how algae could change our world
Charles Greene is a climate scientist who looks at the impact of climate on marine ecosystems. He's a Professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Cornell University and member of the Marine Algae Industrialization Consortium (MAGIC) which has a grant from the Department of Energy to look Read More...
How Aristotle is the perfect happiness guru
Happiness is not a state as far as Aristotle is concerned, it’s an activity, says Professor Edith Hall, and you just have to decide to become Read More...
McDonald’s will end use of plastic straws at thousands of locations
McDonald’s plans to stop using plastic straws in all of its 1,361 restaurants in the UK and Ireland by the end of 2019. It will start testing non-plastic alternatives in select locations in the United States, Belgium, France, Sweden, Norway, and Australia later this year, as well as test only Read More...
Scotland is subsidizing electric bikes to encourage sustainable and active travel
Scotland is a very hilly place. Sometimes it seems it is nothing but hills. I asked engineer and long-distance runner Es Tressider of Highland Passive why he moved there and he told me “for the hills.” It is often cold and wet and windy. On a recent visit I was almost blown off the roof of Read More...
Could this web browser extension be an antidote to fake news?
A couple of fact-check organizations have teamed up to create a Google Chrome extension that aims to tackle “fake news” online. The Trusted News extension, which just became available this week, labels news sites with color-coded symbols to warn users about the trustworthiness of the Read More...
This app will make sure you get enough vitamin D from sunlight
To get enough sunlight for your body to produce vitamin D, the conditions need to be just right: the sun needs to be shining somewhat directly down on you. If you live near the equator, that includes the middle of every day. For the rest of us, we get our best vitamin D time in the middle of the Read More...