Preventing food loss in Africa with these low-tech cooling units
In most of Africa there are no refrigerators. As a result, a third of the food produced on the continent is never consumed. It is a very painful loss for the millions of people in Africa who are food insecure or undernourished. A young IT graduate developed a solar-powered, walk-in cold room that Read More...
9 big ideas to change the world for the better in 2017 and beyond
More on big, groundbreaking, world-changing ideas: Here’s a list put together by Fast Company. Global democracy driven by technology. A new fish-based food system to solve both hunger and climate change. How the aging population in the western world can be turned into an economic powerhouse. 100 Read More...
MIT presents: The first-ever Disobedience Award
Breakthroughs seldom come from continuing business as usual. That’s why it is so strange that most children are still pushed through very rigid educational systems that mostly teach what we already know. To get to a new solution, you have to step out of the system. “You don’t change the world Read More...
Deliberate learning and experimenting: Why and how leaders use the 5-hour rule
Many successful leaders would understand the message of MIT’s Disobedience Award (see above). They know that original thinking comes from being open to experimenting and new information. As it turns out many of them intuitively follow the “5-hour rule”. They sat aside 5 hours each week to Read More...
Can organic cotton become as mainstream as organic food?
Organic cotton textiles register no more than a footnote in the world’s cotton production, but Vishal Naithani wants to change that. His company, Sustained Organic Living in Edina, selects certified organic cotton grown in India with non-GMO seeds. The products are made using only fair trade Read More...
The world’s leading companies on human rights
It is difficult to gauge which multinational companies are leaders and laggards when it comes to human rights. But a report issued today makes an attempt. The study, a shared effort by Aviva Investors, the United Kingdom NGO Business and Human Rights Resource Center (BHRRC), and several other Read More...
What rural Alaska can teach the world about renewable energy
I flew into Unalakleet, Alaska, on a late fall day. With about 700 people, Unalakleet is large by rural Alaska standards and serves as a regional hub. The village is on a sandy spit of land where a clear river meets the turbid water of the Bering Sea. Out the plane window the sun shone bright, Read More...
California paves way to self-driving car tests without humans
California, the largest U.S. car market, plans to allow testing on public roads of self-driving vehicles without human backup drivers by the end of the year, state officials said Friday. The state's Department of Motor Vehicles is seeking public comment on proposed regulations for driverless Read More...
Chinese city gets bike highway in the sky
Copenhagen’s Bicycle Snake is a wonderful ride and a fun design by Dissing + Weitling Architecture. Now the firm has completed a 7.6 km (4.7 mi) elevated bicycle path in Xiamen, China that they claim was developed “with a vision to inspire people to prioritize green alternatives, such Read More...
Scientists harness solar power to produce clean hydrogen from biomass
A team of scientists at the University of Cambridge has developed a way of using solar power to generate a fuel that is both sustainable and relatively cheap to produce. It's using natural light to generate hydrogen from biomass. One of the challenges facing modern society is what it does with its Read More...