After 25 years of being homeless, this man knows what you can do to help
Gregory Smith lived through 25 years of homelessness and ultimately found his way back into society. He wrote a book about his life. He also has heartfelt advice for all of us feeling powerless about making a meaningful contribution to the widespread problem: “Maybe you cannot make a difference Read More...
Antarctica rises and that’s good news for climate change
Most news from Antarctica is about rapid ice loss and record-setting icebergs breaking loose, feeding into a vicious cycle that speeds up global warming. On average, Antarctica is losing more than 175 billion tons of ice each year since 2012, including a chunk the size of Delaware last year. But Read More...
So Just Shop: Making fair trade transparent with blockchain
“Hello, I’m your Kusma scarf. I was handmade in Manali, a town in the Indian Himalaya and this is my journey.” Imagine that you could track a product from far away with such precision. The handicrafts industry provides an opportunity to lift many people around the world out of poverty. Read More...
Getting your priorities right with three to-do lists
A to-do list should help you focus and stay organized. However, the list can also increase frustration when it becomes too long and messy. That’s why it may help to create three lists: for things that need to be done today, for things that are important but less time-sensitive and a list about Read More...
“Time banking” is catching on in the digital world
Uh oh. Your garbage disposal is broken. Time to call the plumber, and shell out for a couple hours of service, right? What if there was a different way? What if, instead of calling in a professional, you could simply call a plumbing-savvy neighbor with a bit of time on his or her hands. In return Read More...
A new robotic gripper inspired by geckos and pioneered by NASA
Hands are hot items in the world of robots. That's one of the biggest trends out of the Automatica conference, one of the world's premier showcases of robot technology, which recently wrapped up in Germany. Among this year's dexterous, grippy offerings is a robotic end effector inspired by a Read More...
Mumbai bans plastic bags and bottles
Mumbai has the become the largest Indian city to ban single-use plastics, with residents caught using plastic bags, cups or bottles to face penalties of up to 25,000 rupees (£276) and three months in Read More...
This new solar farm combines clean energy and beehives
At a solar farm surrounded by orchards near Medford, Oregon, native flowers are beginning to bloom between the solar panels, and 48 beehives sit at the edge of the field. The solar farm, called Eagle Point, is now the largest “solar apiary”–a solar energy project designed to benefit Read More...
The science behind the effects that physical activity has on your brain
Wendy Suzuki is a Professor of neural science and psychology in the Center for Neural Science at New York University. She is also an author and a fitness instructor. She is researching the science behind the extraordinary, life-changing effects that physical activity can have on the most important Read More...
The first 2,000 women can finally drive in Saudi Arabia
It started yesterday at midnight local time: for the first time, women in Saudi Arabia were allowed to drive a car on their own. The moment caps a 30-year campaign to end the world’s last ban on female drivers. The first licenses were issued earlier this month and about 2,000 female drivers now Read More...