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No walls: More people than ever traveled around the world in 2016
We increasingly live in a global village and that’s not going to change. Despite all the talk of borders and walls, more people than ever traveled around the world in 2016. There was a record of 1.23 billion international tourist arrivals last year. Europe was the top destination with 620 million Read More...
This prefab net-zero solar farmhouse generates all its own energy
A prefab “solar farmhouse” makes you independent from the grid. No more worries about electricity bills or erratic weather patterns. This house encapsulates the “American Dream”, spanning 2029 square feet with 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and a darling 128-square-foot covered front porch. The Read More...
Self-propelled lifesaving buoy zips out and retrieves drowning swimmers
Here's a nifty lifesaving idea from Noras Performance out of Portugal. U-Safe is a lifesaving buoy that can drive itself around in the water by remote control, meaning it can reach a victim quickly, and transport them to safety if need be. The U-shaped U-safe is a battery powered device you can Read More...
Oscars 2017: This year's nominees tell a different story
After two consecutive seasons, the whiteout plaguing the Academy Awards has ended. Tuesday dawned in Hollywood with diversity at center stage, as this year’s Oscar nominations recognized a range of stories and faces that for two years had been conspicuously absent. People of color punctuated Read More...
Can empathy bridge political divides?
The unprecedented level of political division in the United States has been worrisome to many Americans, but bridging that gap is not an impossible task, according to a Stanford sociologist. Robb Willer, a professor of sociology, has studied the rising polarization in the United States for several Read More...
Chemical that gives pine trees their smell could be used to make renewable plastic
Plastic is an incredibly useful and versatile material, but it's also become a plague to the earth because of the large amount of disposable plastics thrown away every day that wind up in landfills and our oceans. On top of that, it's made from petroleum, a fossil fuel, which adds to its Read More...
There are big opportunities in the world's big challenges
In every threat to the planet, there's a potential opportunity either to avert that threat or mitigate its impact. Take climate change. Rising seas and deeper droughts are enormous long-term risks, but there's also opportunities for new infrastructure and different types of agriculture, innovations Read More...
6-hour workdays lead to happier workers in Sweden, and no loss in production
Working fewer hours does not lead to a loss in productivity and does increase happiness and health of workers. That’s the outcome of a 2-year experiment in Sweden with companies that switched to a 6-hour workday. In an earlier government experiment, the Swedes concluded that the extra costs were Read More...
Recycling 2.0: Scientists discover a plastic-eating bacteria
Plastic pollution is a big problem. The good news is that a research team has finally found a microbe that eats plastic. Unlike natural polymers (such as cellulose in plants) plastics aren’t biodegradable. Bacteria and fungi co-evolved with natural materials, coming up with new biochemical Read More...
Study: Autism symptoms diminish after gut improves with fecal transplant
Rebalancing the bacteria in the gut with a fecal transplant leads to positive behavioral changes in children with autism. That’s the outcome of a new study. A fecal transplant is a method of introducing donated healthy microbes into people with gastrointestinal disease to rebalance the gut. The Read More...