Miscellaneous
The sharing economy is winning over the mainstream in urban transportation
Crowd-sourced business models, where individual vendors and consumers are connected through an app or a web platform, are not going anywhere. Last month, ride-hailing pioneer Uber accounted for 47 percent of all rides expensed by employees whose companies use Certify, the second-largest provider Read More...
Green, cheap hydrogen now ready for fuel-cell vehicles, say scientists
Hydrogen is as clean a fuel as they come… or not. Although it emits very little greenhouse gas, more than 90% of it is currently produced from fossil sources at a high cost. Virginia Tech scientists claim that is soon to be a thing of the past. They were able to produce hydrogen from waste Read More...
Sweet images from gentle Yemen
Yemen conjures up images of violence, mayhem and heartbreaking poverty. Photographer Stephanie Sinclair has paid several visits there in the past few years, immersing herself in the culture. She says of the people she’s met that their generosity, gentleness and thirst for peace were their most Read More...
The Good Country Index aims to promote transnational thinking and conversations
The world we live in has never been as connected as it is now. Trade, immigration, climate change—opportunities and issues bring the human family together like never before, whether we like it or not. Truth be told, many of us do not like it—if the growing trend towards strengthening borders or Read More...
Could litigation prompt governments to do the right thing about climate change?
When the legislative and executive processes fail us, let’s go the judiciary route. That is the strategy behind the legal campaign spearheaded by the Oregon-based nonprofit Our Children’s Trust. Its goal is to have the courts acknowledge that the atmosphere is part of the commons and, as such, Read More...
Top academics demand that universities around the world divest from fossil fuels
The Guardian’s “Keep it in the Ground” campaign, which launched last month in partnership with 350.org’s Fossil Free, is gaining momentum. With 176,000 signatures and counting, it received this week the support of Academics Stand Against Poverty (Asap), an international association Read More...
Subway Sets brings obscure talents into the spotlight for sold-out concerts
New York City has been cracking down on musicians performing on subway platforms. It is too bad, given the crop of talents that can be found there on a regular basis. This, at least, is the opinion of Dan Pierson, the founder of Subway Sets. A couple of years ago, the Brooklyn resident started Read More...
India’s Prime Minister launches first national air pollution index
Thirteen of the dirtiest 20 cities worldwide are in India, with New Delhi holding the undesirable title of the world’s most polluted city, according to the most recent data from the World Health Organization (WHO). Prime Minister Narendra Modi acknowledged this much this week, and even urged his Read More...
The City of Lights intends to become the 'World Capital of Cycling'
In the days following the second particle-pollution alert for the second consecutive year, Paris announced its Plan Vélo 2015-2020. The city is to invest 150 million euros to double bike lanes from 700 to 1,400 km, providing parking spaces for an extra 10,000 bikes, and even subsidizing the Read More...
Web platform Dynamo helps freelance workers organize
With 53 million Americans working as freelancers, it was only a matter of time before social-media style platforms would emerge to help organize this fluid and nimble workforce seemingly devoid of bargaining power with employers. A team of Stanford researchers took the first shot at creating one. Read More...