REASONS FOR OPTIMISM

A Caring Robot?
technology

Whether they be nursing homes, geriatric hospitals or hospices, all seem to suffer a dire shortage of nursing staff.
—The Economist

For a fellow student
art & design

So two students built a robotic locker for a fellow student
—GOOD

Birth by cellphone light?
technology

On this evening, the midwife shows me the only light available. She pulls her cell phone out of her pocket and shines a dim blue light in my direction
—GOOD

What makes us human?
self

Chimps are hierarchical with an alpha chimp getting priority in feeding. One experiment set a high-ranking chimp against a low-ranking one to compete for food.
—NAUTILUS

Harvard develops tiniest robot
technology

Scientists at Harvard University have developed tiny winged robots that mimic insects in nature.
—The Globe & Mail

Instruments from gargage
culture

The idea for the orchestra first came about after Chávez brought a youth orchestra from the neighboring town of Carapeguá
—Mother Jones

Patagonia's Venture Fund
global

The clothing giant recently decided to launch an internal venture fund, called $20 Million & Change
—Fast Company

Soaring High In Nat'l Competition
science

The May 11 competition ended an eight-month experience for the girls that began in September at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt
—Washington Post

Kickstarter for Classrooms
business

DonorsChoose.org provides a simple way for people who want to lend a hand to help teachers meet their classroom needs.
—Vanity Fair

Happiness....The Best Medicene
self

New research suggests that mood-enhancing activities can serve as a nutrient for the human body
—SALON

Vietnamese Kids Smarter
technology

By grade 3 kids are learning to how to use Microsoft Windows. Vietnam is a 100% Windows XP monoculture.
—Neil's Blog

A Dieing Art
art & design

As a lover of exquisite hand-lettering, elegant vintage-inspired typography, and vibrant storefront signage, I was instantly smitten with Sign Painters (public library)
—brain pickings

Investing Where It Counts
global

Nobel laureates, political leaders, and celebrity NGO founders all agree that an investment with the possibility of infinite returns is the investment in young women.
—GOOD

Public Markets Catalyze
urban

The farmer gets a guaranteed base of consumers, and the neighborhood gets good food and local jobs.
—GOOD

The Happy States
culture

Live in Hawaii, Colorado, or Minnesota? Chances are, you’re happier than your brethren in Mississippi, Kentucky, and West Virginia
—FastCo

Protein Could Change Biotech
technology

A tiny molecular machine used by bacteria to kill attacking viruses could change the way that scientists edit DNA.
—Forbes

Human Liver Outside Body
science

A new machine can keep human livers warm and functioning outside the body for 24 hours before successfully transplanting them
—POPSCI

Housing Rebound Continues
business

Building permits climbed to the highest level in almost five years, adding to signs of progress in the housing market that's helping boost the economy.
—NPR

Solar-Powered Medical Airship
science

Solar Impulse, a well-funded project based in Switzerland, has already flown a plane day and night using just the sun
—CO.EXIST

3D Printer For Organs
technology

Autodesk has teamed up with bioprinting company to deliver the future of personalized medicine: new organs that can be printed just for you.
—Fast Company

Before Birth, Babies Learn Language
science

A new study shows how newborns can tell the difference between their native language and a foreign one.
—POPSCI

Stethoscope: Diagnose Pneumonia
science

Every year 2.1 million children die from pneumonia—more than die from HIV, malaria, and measles combined.
—GOOD

10 Acts of Kindness
culture

Pixar movies look like they’re for children, but their stories are universal tales that tug at the heartstrings.
—FLAVORWIRE

Bandage Inspired By Spiderweb
science

These new easy-to-rip-off bandages aren’t just to make your life slightly more convenient. They’re going to play an important role for sick kids in hospitals.
—Co.EXIST

More High Schoolers To College
culture

Today's high school students are taking more math and science courses and going straight to college after graduation.
—GOOD

Amputee Climbs 103 Stories
self

A man with a mind-controlled bionic leg climbed to the top of Chicago’s famous Willis (SEARS) Tower Sunday
—POPSCI

The Story Behind Sandy's Viral Photo
technology

On the morning the storm hit New York City, Nick Cope snapped a photo of rising flood waters from the window of his Red Hook, Brooklyn apartment. Then things got interesting.
—American Photo

Biodegradable Shoes Are Here
environment

One Moment is going even further by manufacturing footwear “from soft and durable bioplastics that are not only eco-friendly in construction, they’re 100 percent biodegradable.”
—bigthink

Art From Abandonment
art & design

Russian street artist nikita nomerz transforms abandoned structures by re-purposing their features into distinctive characters through graffiti.
—designboom

Removing Salt From Water
technology

Finding clean water can be a matter of life and death. Globally 3.4 million people die each year due to a lack of clean water, roughly the population of Los Angeles.
—Co.Exist

Sculptures Symbolize Perseverance
art & design

The visual representation of horses running on the river's surface, symbolize the struggles and perseverance, the simple grace yet powerful attitude that everybody needs in difficult situations.
—My Modern Met

Robots & Autism
technology

Toy robots can bring out the kid in anyone, but children with autism are especially mesmerized by them
—FastCo

Making A Violin Isn't easy
art & design

Almost wholly self-taught, Needham relies solely on word of mouth — and whatever marketing approaches he can devise to sell his violins.
—Washington Post

Architecture & Math Intertwined
architecture

Thanks to modern technology, architects can explore a variety of exciting design options based on complex mathematical languages, allowing them to build groundbreaking forms.
—FlavorWire

A Liquid Cooled LED Bulb?
technology

If you miss the sun-like glow of the old Edison bulbs and care about energy savings -- and price is not an issue -- then this bulb is for you.
—PopSci

From Homeless To Harvard
self

Sometimes, though, we need one of those beat-the-odds kinds of stories to remind us that it's still possible for kids to overcome even the direst circumstances.
—GOOD

Increase Your Walking Speed
self

There’s no saddle. Instead, you’re suspended in place with a swinging harness.
—Co.Exist

Wood Waste Stronger Than Kevlar
science

Cellulose by-product materials with applications in military defense, engineering, medicine, and consumer products.
—inHabitat

Feet of Engineering
technology

The P&O lab is expansive—parts of it resemble a tidy garage workshop mashed up with a sculptor’s studio.
—GA Tech Alumni Magazine

Street Art & Spirit
art & design

They call it the “Great Wall of Mumbai,” and it is just one part of the Wall Project, a growing, bottom-up social movement to paint unattractive walls around Mumbai.
—FORBES

Deaf & Hearing Music For First Time
science

How much of our experience of music is the cultural connotations we have absorbed and how much of it can be conveyed to someone who is hearing everything for the first time?
—The Atlantic

Adaptive Technology Opens Doors
technology

Learning a new video game can be frustrating. For kids with a disability, the experience can be especially hard. If you can’t play with other kids, it’s like being picked last for kickball.
—WIRED

Energy from Moonlight?
technology

Spheres are able to concentrate diffused moonlight into a steady source of energy.
—Inhabitat

Letters of Fatherly Advice
culture

Five very public dads reveal love, patience and support through private letters to their children.
—BrainPickings

Vertical Farms Take Root
technology

Vertical farms offer the vision of growing year-round, wherever we want, unaffected by droughts and weather-related events, while saving outside space.
—FastCo

Young Entrepreneurs Making Impact
culture

DoSomething.org is focused on creating a “massive (fun) movement of teens taking action to fix causes they care about.”
—Forbes

Free Rides and Free Books
culture

From New York City to Los Angeles, a vintage cab, offering free rides to strangers along the way.
—GOOD

Inventions Made by Mistake
self

Think necessity is the mother of invention? Not always. There is a very thin line between brilliant innovation and absolute failure.
—INC

Music Glove Helps Paralyzed Fingers
science

Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) and Atlanta’s Shepherd Center conducted a study focusing on people with weakness and sensory loss due to SCI.
—futurity.org

Vegetables Grown In Parking Space
technology

Short on space but hankering for some fresh vegetables? The $70,000 Agri-Cube might be the answer to your problems.
—Co.EXIST

The Magic Of Central Park
urban

You cannot live without establishing an equilibrium between the inner and outer.
—Brain Pickings

Gabby Douglas' New Brand
self

How does this quirky portrait mesh with her new brand as America's Olympic hero
—Salon

7 Minutes Of Terror
science

Here's an interesting engineering challenge. Fly an unmanned spacecraft carrying a 2,000 pound rover 300 million miles to Mars.
—Big Think

Making It To The Top
self

Rock steady: At 19, Alexandria’s Sasha DiGiulian is arguably the best female climber in the world.
—The Washington Post

Change Your Life In Ten
health

There are a number of other things research says we can do to make life better but we don't need to do them every day:
—Spaces

100 Design Changers
art & design

A thoughtfully curated inventory of abstract concepts that defined and shaped the art and craft of graphic design
—Brain Pickings

Kids Of The Google Science Fair
science

These kids have come up with projects that can do everything from helping meth addicts to improving breast cancer testing. They’re also all 18 and under.
—Co Exist

And It Slides Right Off
science

The applications are endless: from plane wings to which ice can’t stick to signs that you can’t grafitti on
—Co Exist

Craziest Sports You've Never Seen
culture

Events like mutton busting, Big Wheel racing and live monster wrestling won't be featured in London this year; and photographer Sol Neelman likes it that way.
—NPR

Lifelike Street Art
art & design

Visitors can become a part of these murals. If you dare, you can even get eaten by a voracious dinosaur or douse a scary fire-breathing dragon.
—My Modern Met

Riding From Bejing To London
self

She has slept inches from scorpions, broken her ribs and separated from her husband during the 8,000-mile endurance ride spanning nine countries.
—The Telegraph

Tweeting Olympians
global

This summer the Twittersphere is booming with #London2012 fever — and we have some seriously social media-savvy Olympians to thank
—Greatist

A Better Way
culture

Chuck Templeton underwent a dramatic change in values, in the process developing a new business that may transform the way we interact with our neighbors.
—Good Business

Turning Obstacles In To Assets
business

How Extremely Successful People (And Even Homer Simpson) Turn Obstacles Into Assets
—Forbes

Education's Unlimited Future
culture

New Charter University can be accessed for free online by anyone. Is its freemium model going to truly democratize higher education?
—Co Exist

$10 Robot Could Save Schools
technology

Such a low-cost machine could prove to be revolutionary for education in poorer countries around the world.
—Wired

Solar Power From Unseen Light?
science

Much of the light spectrum doesn’t register to the human eye. A new device could go right on top of existing panels, to help get more energy from the sun.
—Co Exist

The Truth Behind Happiness
culture

Things you didn't know about happiness.
—Spaces

Small Plots Of Land Save Village
art & design

Land ownership is an important factor in getting people on an upwardly mobile path. But how much land do you need to own? Less than you would think.
—Co Exist

The Computer As An Artist
technology

Computers have taken over an astonishing array of tasks humans used to do. But can they tell us a good story?
—Studio 360

How Good Books Can Change You
self

Ever read a book that's changed your life? You're not imagining it -- the process of digesting a character or a series actually turns you into a different person.
—The Atlantic

The T-Shirt Battery
technology

Our T-shirts could have more functions; for example, a flexible energy storage device that could charge your cell phone.
—Co Exist

The King Of US National Parks
environment

The world’s first national park, and with 3,000 square miles of unspoilt beauty, Yellowstone is like nowhere else on Earth.
—BBC Travel

Life Lessons From The Family Dog
self

While Felix is not exactly what we’d anticipated as we first clipped him to the leash, he seems happy to be along for the ride, together.
—Good Lifestyle

2012 National Georgrahic Photos
environment

Our partners over at National Geographic just sent us some of their most eye-catching entries from the 2012 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.
—My Modern Met

Sharing Bicycles Saves Lives
culture

Barcelona started its bike sharing program, Bicing, in 2007. Two years later, more than 180,000 citizens had enrolled.
—Good News

A Sustainable Future: 4 Concepts
culture

A scenario where sustainability and strong community ties are emphasized; and a world where the sharing economy has taken off on a global scale.
—Co Exist

A Restaurant Run By Robots
technology

A robot-themed restaurant is proving to be a success after opening in Harbin, located within northeast China's Heilongjiang Province
—Wired

The Journey Of Curiosity
science

Curiosity will go from 13,000 mph to zero in those seven minutes, and even worse, scientists have to sit at home base and wait it out
—POPSCI

Rock, Paper, Scissors,...Robot Hand
technology

So much for best two out of three.
—POPSCI

The Fututre Is Better Than You Think
culture

But what is curious about this situation is that in nearly every measurable way, the world is much better off than it has ever been.
—Forbes

The 500-Mile Electric Car
technology

To get more out of our batteries, we’re going to have to design them differently. One suggestion: Use the air around them to add to their power.
—Co Exist

32 Innovations Of Tomorrow
technology

That’s what this issue is about: all the little failures, trivialities and not-quite-solved mysteries that make the successes possible.
—The New York Times

10 Reasons To Climb Kilimanjaro
environment

Why do 40,000 people a year seek to climb the world’s highest freestanding mountain–a mountain so popular it has become known as “Everyman’s Everest”?
—National Geographic

Dominoes Recreate Van Gogh
art & design

The trial-and-error process of setting it up is almost more mesmerizing than its eventual destruction, which the video documents from every angle.
—The Atlantic

Donating Organs Through Facebook
health

Every day, an estimated 18 people die waiting for an organ transplant. Can Facebook change that?
—Mother Nature Network

Tightrope Walk Over Niagara Falls
self

Nik Wallenda walks over Niagara Falls on a tightrope, last week.
—Wired

Solar Power At Night
science

Eventually, we’re going to replace all of the energy requirements of the world.
—Co Exist

Ideas From Across The Globe
global

From the good folks at the Infinite Thinking Machine, here’s another fun episode highlighting innovative ideas from across the globe.
—KQED

A Story About Customer Delight
business

The Ritz-Carlton staff clearly went the extra mile for Chris’s son and I’m sure they’ll be going back, and telling lots of others who will then tell lots more!
—Customer Think

The Beauty Of Imagination
self

Urville: An Autistic Savant’s Remarkable Imaginary City, 20 Years in the Making
—Brain Pickings

Living To 100 And Beyond
health

We interviewed people in their 100s to find out how they did it.
—Forbes

The Patch That Monitors Your Blood
technology

A new painless patch will soon send your vital signs wirelessly to your phone, giving you constant analytics on your health.
—Co Exist

Enjoying Ketchup To The Last Drop
science

MIT PhD candidate Dave Smith and his team have created a way to empty the bottle once and for all with the help of LiquiGlide.
—The Verge

A School On The Barter System
culture

Education can be expensive. But a new learning system lets you pay your teachers with your own skills or goods.
—Co Exist

Space Station Photos Of Earth
global

These amazing photos of Earth were taken by astronauts in the International Space Station through special photographic equipment.
—Amazing Data

Tiny Companies Making Millions
business

Companies with less than 50 employees figured out how to turn each of these niches into multi-million dollar revenue streams.
—The Street

MIT Creating Happiness Barometer
science

If only every location was equipped with a Mood Meter.
—Bost Inno

Coke Cams Capture Kindness
self

Security cameras may be used to deter the bad guys from committing crimes, but occasionally they do capture acts of kindness by everyday heroes.
—Taxi

Farmers Using Social Media
business

Beginning Farmers Are Using New Media to Advocate for an Old Vocation
—Good Environment

Folding Bike Is Changing Transit
urban

Sixty four percent of trips in the U.S. are two miles or less.
—Good Business

The Car That Runs On Air
technology

Electric cars taking too long? There might soon be a new way to power your car gas-free, brought to you by the people behind the world’s cheapest car
—Co Exist

Three Nerdy and Real Superheroes
technology

The algorithm correctly predicted twice as much crime as LAPD analysts using best practices in a double-blind study.
—Co Exist

New TV Show Meant To Inspire
science

An new show on the National Geographic called The Link tells the history of human innovation in 5 episodes, and gets a little dangerous doing so.
—Co Exist

5 Kids Changing The World
culture

These kids’ results are anything but amusing. They’re potentially world changing.
—Co Exist

The Honey Hunters Of Nepal
global

When we think of honey, we don’t think of scaling a cliff with giant bees to get it.
—Visual News

Turn Trash Into Power
environment

That’s the idea of the Muckbuster.
—Co Exist

An Efficient State Of Mind
environment

The degree to which the entire industry is moving towards environmental building practices and energy efficiency was indeed striking.
—Sustainable Cities Collective

A Satellite Financed By T-Shirt Sales
self

The question is: which is more important, the art or the science?
—Wired

Dark Chocolate Key To Healthy Heart
health

Dark chocolate lowers blood pressure and cholesterol, which are the main culprits in heart attacks and strokes.
—Big Think

Silicon Valley: Real Things, Real Jobs
urban

In the past two years manufacturing has been rising, mostly due to growth in the tech sector: a net increase of 7,300 jobs, up 4.8%.
—Forbes

10 Years Later: Cincinnati Heals
urban

In ten years time, the city center has experienced a resurrection from what appeared to be a near death experience.
—Streets Blog

A Musical Wall At A Hospital
art & design

Here, without any ability to read sheet music, a child can draw shapes on a projected screen that will play back as a melody.
—Co Design

Rise Of The Micro Economy
business

As more and more services let people monetize their own assets and knowledge, it’s creating a new sector of the economy.
—Co Exist

9-Year-Old Improves School Lunches
health

Martha Payne is a 9-year-old Scottish girl with a taste for good, healthy food.
—Good Is

From Old Park To New Art
art & design

This June, a group of creatives based in Berlin plans to revamp and reestablish the newly christened "Kulturpark" as a haven for public art.
—Good Is

Tomorrow's Innovators
urban

People with passion are responsible for the world’s greatest innovations.
—Forbes

Twitter and Charity
culture

Claire Diaz-Ortiz amplifies the best uses of the hashtag empire, such as charity.
—Fast Company

A Robot on Your Shoulder
technology

The MH-2 (for “miniature humanoid”) is a remotely controlled robot that lives on your shoulder.
—Popsci

How to Stick With It
culture

This ability to believe in your vision despite current reality is fundamental. You cannot intentionally change the world without it.
—Fast Company

Green from Good Engineering
science

The objective of making something work better leads to engineering innovations.
—Co.Design

The Best in Sustainable Seafood
health

The supermarket chain doing the most to sell fish in a way that doesn’t destroy our oceans.
—Co.Exist

Germany Sets Solar Record
technology

Germany has almost as much solar power capacity as the rest of the world combined.
—Wired.Co.UK

Cultivating The Desert
environment

The Sahara Forest Project has a simple yet ambitious goal: to grow vegetation in the desert.
—Wired

Armstrong Narrates Moon Landing
science

Armstrong is almost as famous for his reluctance to talk about his experience as he is for making that “one small step.”
—Popsci

Apollo Astronauts Tracked in 3-D
technology

In the future Robinson hopes to develop 3-D maps of the remaining Apollo landing sites, then publicly post the data for anyone who wants to use it.
—Wired Science

Cancer Sensor Created by Teen
science

It’s also 90% accurate, 400 times more sensitive, and 26,000 times less expensive than today’s methods. In short: It’s a lot better.
—Fast CoExist

TOMS: One for One
global

With every pair of shoes you purchase, TOMS will give a pair to a child in need.
—TOMS

Tracing Subway Evolution
urban

New research digs up the underlying rules governing the shape of subway systems across the world.
—Fast CoExist

An Eisenhower Leadership Lesson
culture

#1: How to Build and Sustain Morale
—Art of Manliness

Library for the Homeless
self

"Feel empowered to help change the world―even if it is just one child at a time."
—GOOD Education

Creating Lving Buildings
architecture

The Living Building Standard results in some of the most energy-efficient and environmentally friendly structures around.
—Fastcoexist

When Brain Injuries Create Geniuses
health

If you could choose to be an acquired savant, perhaps sacrificing speech for another virtuoso's skill, would you?
—Big Think

The Energy Gym
technology

But what if there was a point to exercise, aside from the distant possibility of losing weight? Like generating electricity, for instance.
—Fastcoexist

The Blind Changing the iPhone
culture

At first many blind people thought that the iPhone would never be accessible to them, with its flat glass screen. But the opposite has proved true.
—The Atlantic

Forest in the Big City
environment

This fact and the contrast of the lush, green patch that sprouts from the center of the concrete roughness of the city, make the small Trianon an incredible spot.
—Treehugger

How Dogs Beat the Neaderthals
science

Over 20,000 years ago, humans won the evolutionary battle against Neanderthals. They may have had some assistance in that from their best friends.
—The Atlantic

Robot "Spider" Weaves Web
technology

This three-week-old robot created at the MIT Media Lab’s Mediated Matter group is spinning a web.
—POPSCI

Drug Seeks to Stop Alzheimer’s
science

Experts say the study will be one of the few ever conducted to test prevention treatments for any genetically predestined disease.
—New York Times

The Environment & Creativity
self

For most of human history creativity was something that came from the muses; it was about flashes of insight from another world.
—Big Think

Encouraging Kids
culture

What could be wrong with encouraging kids to set their sights high?
—Mind Shift

Shipping Container "Cities"
architecture

Large, colorful, multi-family “cities” of work spaces and homes built from shipping containers in London, Mexico, Amsterdam and, perhaps soon, New York.
—Sustainable Cities

Paralyzed Student Walks
self

A team designed and built a robot exoskeleton that enabled Whitney to stand and walk.
—GOOD

Informal Recyclers In Brazil
technology

Brazil is now trying to turn this army of informal recyclers into a crack recycling operation capable of collecting and selling a city’s recyclables without central coordination
—FastCo

Mothers Are Special
culture

She taught me valuable lessons about the role of work in a woman’s life: I learned that work can be a solace, a refuge, a turning point.
—Globe and Mail

Better Than An Igloo
architecture

Building incredibly efficient buildings is hard enough, but it gets a lot harder when you have to make them be able to work in the freezing conditions of rural Alaska.
—FastCo

Still Racing At 70
self

I can still remember Julie rolling toward that start line as if she were part of a gracefully constructed piece of moving, three-dimensional pastel art.....
—Bicycling

Artificial Retinas & Blind patients
technology

Two British men who were completely blind for years have regained some of their vision
—i09

Paralyzed Woman + Marathon
self

It took 16 days and one impressive bionic exoskeleton, but she did it. Watch the video and try not to tear up a little.
—POPSCI

Food Factory Transformed
environment

Factory will become a zero-energy, food business incubator, research facility, education space, and working urban farm.
—InHabitat

Wacky Designs
architecture

The allure of the metropolitan lifestyle is creating an urban density nightmare for planners and those in the architecture sector.
—DesignBuild

Eternally Motivated
self

Motivation is an attitude, it is a habit. It can be cultivated, nurtured, boosted and instilled like all other habits.
—Pick the Brain

Unknown Inventor Saving The World
science

In his spare time, he’s come up with solutions for water, cooking, and energy quandaries, improving lives from the Sudan to India.
—CO.Exist

20 Inspirational Quotes
self

Scouring the web from time to time looking for awesome insights and super-inspiring words from the world’s great teachers.
—FinerMinds

What Was Picasso Like
art & design

One of the aims of Picasso and Modern British Art has been to think about Picasso’s relationships with British artists and writers.
—TATE

7 Viral Videos to Inspire You
culture

Thought leaders worldwide have taken to online digital media to spread important ideas that can change the world.
—Life Scoop

Teaching Children Urban Design
art & design

Together parents, teachers and professionals can teach future generations about the different ways to live and build a community.
—Urban Times

Six-year-old Computer Expert
technology

Creating video game emulators since he was four and knows computers better than most adults.
—Slash Gear

How Green Cities Clean Up Trash
science

It’s convenient to think of the trash can as a black hole into which scraps and discards and mistakes disappear. But these cities know better.
—GOOD Environment

Students Invent a Pothole Repair
technology

A little non-Newtonian fluid pothole filler could spare your wheel alignment after a harsh winter.
—POPSCI

Making Smarter Computers
technology

By studying how toddlers learn and adapt to the world around them, computer programmers are trying to create smarter computers--machines that think more like humans.
—FastCo

Hitchcock on the Secret of Happiness
self

In this brilliantly wise and articulate short excerpt from an archival interview, the great Alfred Hitchcock shares his definition of happiness
—Brain Pickings

Deer-Shaped Electrical Towers
architecture

The towering animal structures remind us of Jin Choi and Thomas Shine's Land of Giants.
—Modern Met

Young Americans Are Driving Less
environment

Today's teens and twenty-somethings don't seem all that interested in buying a set of wheels.
—The Atlantic

How 17 Equations Changed the World
culture

Learn to value equations and uncover vital features of the world.
—Brain Pickings

Life Reboot to Hundreds
urban

Homeboy Industries, the passion project of an L.A. priest is helping to change lives for the better.
—Fast Co

Why Every Monday Matters
culture

What if we all smiled more, planted a tree, donated blood, wrote a note of gratitude, or took better care of our health?
—FAST COMPANY

Are You Happy?
health

Happiness isn’t easy to quantify, but a lot of people have tried.
—FastCo

Brilliant Management Ideas
business

A lot of these ideas may seem strange, but they result from a willingness to set aside convention and focus on the realities of the workplace.
—GOOD

Popcorn Actually Good For You
health

If you think popcorn is just another salty snack, think again. A new study is bringing popcorn into the same arena as fruits and vegetables. They are nutritional powerhouses.
—The Atlantic

Working Inside The Box
art & design

Today, when these containers aren’t moving cargo on truck, ship, and rail, they are being used for various methods of habitation: a home, office, and—in at least one case—an environmental education center.
—Ecomagination

How Entrepreneurs Hire
business

Diving into a small business can be a shock if you are used to a larger organization. Consider spending time with entrepreneurs, and informally advising a few, to get a better idea of your unique value in the business.
—Inc.

Timeless Commencement Addresses
culture

It’s graduation season. Let’s use this as an invitation to remember some of the most compelling, provocative and deeply inspirational speeches of years past.
—Brain Pickings

Delivering Tacos Via Quadcopter
business

It’s the kind of tech startup that we could really get excited about. A Web site has popped up that offers a unique service: tacos airlifted directly to your doorstep via unmanned quadcopter drone.
—Pop Sci

Neuroscience at Early Age
science

Neuroscience may seem like an advanced subject of study, perhaps reserved for college or graduate school. Two researchers propose that it be taught earlier. As in first grade.
—Mind Shift

What Will Be Obsolete in 2020
culture

Expounding on the ideas of the wildly popular article '21 Things That Will Be Obsolete in 2020,' we asked a few of those who attended Big Ideas Fest, to predict what they think will be obsolete in 2020.
—Mind Shift

Unconventional Cancer Treatments
science

Breast cancer patients have a number of treatments available to them these days, from surgery to hormone therapy to chemotherapy. But new research is leading the quest for a cure in some odd directions.
—The Atlantic

Puzzle Play Improves Math Skills
art & design

Psychologist Susan Levine and colleagues recently conducted a study that found 2-4 year-old children, who play with puzzles, have better spatial skills when assessed at 4 1/2 years of age.
—The Epoch Times

Footage from Cameron's Dive
science

First video footage is surfacing from James Cameron’s record-setting dive to the deepest known point in Earth’s oceans, and the landscape down there is about what one might expect.
—Pop Sci

Sparrows Change Their Tune
science

A new study confirms that sparrows in the Presidio District of San Francisco appear to have changed their tune and raised their voices to be heard over the increasingly noisy racket of the Golden Gate Bridge.
—Atlantic Cities

Mobile Device Reads Thoughts
technology

New mobile device, iBrain, can read the electrical signals produced by your brain when it thinks. The device's makers want to decode those signals into human language and use the device to monitor patients with neurological disorders.
—Big Think

Fully Biodegradable Shoe
art & design

Now a Spanish company called OneMoment is bringing that ancient, cutting-edge technology to the rest of us. Their completely biodegradable shoe--measuring only 2 millimeters thick on the sole.
—Co.Exist

LittleSun Solar LED Lamp
art & design

The lamp's small size makes it easy to mount or carry around for charging during the day, as well as hang at night. On top of that, the LittleSun is less expensive and safer to operate than a kerosene lantern.
—The Verge

Blind Use Sounds to 'See'
technology

Scientists in Jerusalem have developed a visual-to-auditory SSD involving headphones attached to a camera. The images taken by the camera are converted into sounds through a known algorithm.
—The Epoch Times

Dog Heroes of Iraq & Afghanistan
global

Most of the dogs are trained at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas in a course that's grueling for both handlers and canines. Some smaller dogs enter into service too, like tiny Jack Russell terriers.
—Fast Company

Lytro's Weird Design
technology

The Lytro has tech nerds buzzing about its futuristic technology. But the design has just as important a role in selling such a radical leap for photography.
—Co.Design

6 Habits of True Strategic Thinkers
business

You're the boss, but you still spend too much time on the day-to-day. Here's how to become the strategic leader your company needs.
—Inc

Leadership from Dirty Harry
business

No matter how badly things were going, Harry got results. Here are his five leadership keys — and you can use them, not shoot anyone, and still be a good company man or woman.
—Forbes

Scientist Videos Son's First Words
culture

MIT scientist blew the curve for Flip cam-packing proud pops by capturing his son's every movement and word with a series of fisheye-lens cameras installed in every room.
—Fast Company

Vertical Gardens & Urban Farms
environment

In response to global urban population, Terreform, Inc. has come up with innovative ways for New York City to deal with issues that arise with sustainability. The plan calls for total self-sufficiency.
—Inhabitat

Bringing Comics to Music
art & design

Crumb’s covers for yesteryear’s forgotten masters were so influential in and of themselves that they spurred the rediscovery of many of these old records in the 1960s and 1970s.
—Brain Pickings

Surreal Buildings
art & design

Victor Enrich is a Spanish photographer who rips all the science from architecture to create surreal and whimsical variations on existing buildings.
—Co.Design

5,000 Bicycle Bells Sing With Wind
art & design

Amsterdam-based artist designs architectonical installations and sculptural art, and he just finished a project called Sound Architecture IV that is made from 5,000 repurposed bicycle bells set on steel pins.
—Inhabitat

Be Free From Paralysis of Analysis
health

Self-analysis is not necessarily a bad thing. But there’s a difference between reflective positive self-analysis and brooding, perseverative self-analysis.
—Psych Central

Eat Chocolate, Be Thinner
health

Good news for all! A press release from the Archives of Internal Medicine shows that chocolate eaters are thinner.
—Reporting On Health

Why People in Cities Walk Fast
culture

Most work on urban walking speed dates back to 1976, when psychologists Marc and Helen Bornstein published a provocative paper on the topic in the top-tier journal Nature.
—Architecture Lab

Scaling Future by Blending Past
architecture

How will the city of tomorrow reflect adaptive reuse of the city of today?
—Sustainable Cities

New Way To Think About You
science

Connectome: How the Brain’s Wiring Makes Us Who We Are, proposes a new model for understanding the totality of selfhood, one based the emerging science of connectomics.
—Brain Pickings

Leadership From America's Deli
business

Zingerman’s new book, it’s stuffed full with ideas (more than you can digest in one sitting) that can apply in any work place, whether it’s a small business or a corporate department
—Forbes

'Father of Video Games' Reflects
culture

Ralph Baer, who turns 90 this year, discusses his life's work, which includes creating the Magnavox Odyssey, the first home video game console, and the iconic pattern game Simon
—The Atlantic

Hitchcock on the Secret of Happiness
culture

In this brilliantly wise and articulate short excerpt from an archival interview, the great Alfred Hitchcock shares his definition of happiness.
—Brian Pickings

Solutions for Homeless Housing
urban

These 14 designs for homeless housing provoke thought as to how we can meet the needs of disadvantaged people living in our own communities, and ensure that the situation is only temporary.
—Web Urbanist

About Face
art & design

Solar panels have a reputation as being unsightly, but this U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon show home sheds the stereotype that photovoltaic arrays are eyesores.
—Dwell

Internal Clock Affects on Health
health

Not getting enough sleep leaves us tired during the day. But the body's clock also affects mood, mental alertness, hunger, and heart function.
—The Atlantic

Einstein's Ideas and Opinions
culture

Albert Einstein’s Ideas and Opinions, the definitive collection of the great thinker’s essays on everything from science and religion to government to human nature, gathered under the supervision of himself.
—Brain Pickings

Art of Colorful Mimicry
art & design

We are always picking up habits of others and constantly adapting to our surroundings. In a series entitled Mimicry, a photography team works to explore and visually discuss these concepts.
—My Modern Met

Find Purpose and Do What You Love
culture

“Find something more important than you are,” philosopher Dan Dennett once said in discussing the secret of happiness, “and dedicate your life to it.” But how, exactly, do we find that?
—Brain Pickings

The New Rules of Innovation
business

In his new book, Vijay Vaitheeswaran argues that we’re thinking about worldchanging innovation all wrong: It’s not going to come from where we expect it.
—Co.Exist

Microsoft Word's Affect On Work
business

Thirty years after Word was invented, we are no nearer to understanding the impact it has had on writing
—Guardian

New York's First Subway in 60 Years
architecture

The Second Avenue subway is seventy years in the making, with nearly as many false starts and delays. The last completed full route was the Eighth Avenue Line, in 1932.
—Architizer

Survive with Energy Drinks and Knife
environment

Kite surfer found himself stranded in the open ocean being attacked by sharks. With only mineral water, energy drinks, energy bars, and, most importantly, a knife he survived.
—Big Think

Strange Buildings Around the World
architecture

Check out some of the strangest buildings from around the world, from baby grand pianos to exotic elephants. No inspiration seems too bizarre or out of reach.
—Amazing Data

World's First Pedestrian Airbag
technology

Volvo has come out with the world's first commercial airbag designed to protect pedestrians rather than drivers in a car accident.
—Life Science

A Floating Wind Farm
environment

Installing wind turbines in deep, turbulent seas is a laborious and expensive project. Here’s an idea: Put them on a boat.
—Co.Exist

30-Story Hotel Built in 15 Days
art & design

A Chinese company has seemingly accomplished the impossible, putting up a 30-story building in half as many days.Construction on the 30-story hotel prototype was complete after 15 days of construction.
—ABC News

40 of Don Draper’s Best Lines
art & design

While we wait to catch up with Mad Men during season five, which premieres on March 25, we thought we’d host a little party to celebrate the passing of Hamm’s 40th year.
—Flavor Wire

Best Countries for Cleantech Startups
business

Where in the world does a solar company have the best chance of success? It’s not the economic powerhouse you might think, though the U.S. and China aren’t far behind.
—Co.Exist

The Empire State Building
culture

Helen Keller was asked what she "saw" from the height. She responded with the incredible letter, within which lies one of the greatest, most evocative descriptions of the skyscraper and it’s surrounding.
—Letters of Note

Winner of Rethink Preservation
environment

After 132 entries and 71,000 votes, The Union Depot in Keokuk, Iowa, won the grand prize of $10,000 to put towards its preservation and rehabilitation.
—Dwell

Three Simple Words to Happiness
culture

What do you need to make your dreams come true? Three wishes? Think again. Martha Beck on a goal-setting strategy that will get you where you want to go.
—Oprah

Architecture Without Architects
architecture

From Rome’s theater districts to China’s underground cities, Rudofsky peels the pretense of architecture from creative and utilitarian acts of building to reveal a vernacular, communal architecture.
—Brain Pickings

Drive a Wheelchair with Your Tounge
science

Engineers are developing a wireless device that enables people with spinal cord injuries to operate a computer and maneuver a wheelchair simply by moving their tongues.
—Futurity

The Lollipop House
architecture

Do you find this family residence in South Korea fun or a bit out there? If you were to live in a childhood-inspired home, how would it look like?
—Freshome

Iconic Portraits by Top Illustrators
art & design

Check out Illustration Now! Portraits — a stunning new showcase of illustrated portraits by over 80 of the world’s most exciting artists.
—Brian Pickings

Why So Long to Invent the Wheel?
science

The tricky thing about the wheel is not conceiving of a cylinder rolling on its edge. It's figuring out how to connect a stable, stationary platform to that cylinder.
—Scientific American

Pushing Innovation
business

Great ideas never die. They are put into freeze until they either are introduced by someone else and THEY make millions while your company follows suit. So take charge and make your millions.
—Webdesigner Depot

Coffee Shop Buzz Is Good
culture

A new study suggest the ambient background noise or buzz of conversation in public places can fuel creativity.
—Life Hacker

Weird Vehicles that Need No Training
culture

You have to pass a test to get behind the wheel of a car, but by simply signing a lengthy wavier you can take off in a hover craft, tank, train and barge without one bit of training or testing.
—Lonely Planet

Backyards Get Better
environment

From innovative projects about water use to simple neighborhood composting initiatives, Ioby is a Kickstarter for neighborhood improvement, and it’s expanding from New York to the whole country.
—Co.Exist

Illuminating the History of Medicine
science

Technology has the potential to transform our concept of sickness. An expert demonstrates how the digital revolution can be used to change individual care and prevention, and even the economics of healthcare.
—Salon

Water Tanks to Works of Art
art & design

For three months in the spring of 2013, water tanks around New York City will be transformed into works of public art, thanks to a campaign to teach residents to be more responsible with water.
—Taxi

Mapping Innovative Cities
culture

With key factors of a good mayor, ethic mix, education, and intensity innovative cities can flourish in creating a space for ideas and inventions.
—Sustainable Cities Collective

10 Amazing Letters From Presidents
culture

"Letters of Note" archives publishes notes from men who would hold or were holding the highest office in the land. Here are ten of their favorite letters from the presidents.
—Mental Floss

Hard Boiled Housing: The Blob VB3
art & design

Belgian architectural firm designed the blob VB3, a smooth white structure that resembles a hard boiled egg. The egg-like living pod contains a bathroom, a kitchen, interior lighting, a bed and several niches
—If It's Hip, It's Here

Fashioning Apollo
art & design

The story of the Apollo spacesuit is a surprising tale of an unexpected victory: of Playtex, maker of bras and girdles, over the large military-industrial contractors better positioned to secure the spacesuit contract.
—Brain Pickings

Infographics Powered By Sun
business

Austria Solar's 2011 annual report ships in a foil package. Open it indoors and find a tastefully embossed cover, followed by many blank pages. The magic happens when you expose it to the sun.
—Co.Design

Redesigning People
science

Radical human modification is coming, like it or not, by the end of this century—if not earlier. How much are you willing to alter yourself?
—The Atlantic

Lego Prosthetic Arm
science

Engineering student Max Shepherd has built a Lego prosthesis that accurately mimics the full range of motion of a normal human arm.
—The Atlantic

Images of Single Molecule Charges
science

Researchers have shown off the first images of the "charge distribution" in a single molecule, showing an intricate dance of electrons at tiny scales.
—BBC

Stop Being a Slave To Data
culture

By their very nature, people are resistant to change. So if your goal is to innovate, why would you listen to them?
—Co.Design

Chain-Link Lace Fence
art & design

Lace Fence — a high-end, metal fabric used to transform your average, industrial chain-link fence into a beautiful work of art (that’s still functional!)
—Flavor Wire

Bandage Allows You To Save a Life
culture

If you’re already bleeding, why not send some of your blood to the national bone marrow registry, which might be able to connect you with someone whose life your marrow could save?
—Co.Exist

Newspapers Power Batteries
technology

Old newspapers can be broken down into cellulose that can power batteries with producing byproducts that are as harmless as water.
—PopSci

Cities Improving Citizens
urban

The Living Labs Global Award was created to encourage cities to strive for excellence in areas of mobility, tourism, smart housing and many other areas.
—Urban Times

Child Creates New Molecule
science

When teacher instructed his fifth grade class to build molecules with modeling kits, he didn’t expect one of his students to make a scientific discovery.
—Humboldt State

The Boxx: Electric Square Bike
technology

The Boxx, the battery-powered moped, is geared towards people who would rather ride a Macbook than a Harley if they could.
—Co.Exist

Love Ever After
culture

Love letters are brought to life as a photographer unlocks the love stories of couples who have been together for over 50 years.
—Kick Starter

The Sky Is The Limit
urban

Extreme urban climbing has become a youth sub-culture and each year more young Russians are taking to the skies of their city.
—The Telegraph

Waterless Washing Machine
technology

The Orbit is a concept washing machine that uses no water and cleans clothes with dry ice in a matter of minutes. Is it too good to be true?
—Digital Trends

Exhaustion Inspires
art & design

The faces of several climbers returning from Mount McKinley were photographed to capture the human reaction to such extreme elements.
—Flavor Wire

The Boys Who Walked to Europe
global

Out of war and desperation several young boys make the grueling trek from Afghanistan, across the Middle East, to Europe in search of new life.
—The Guardian

Urville: The Imaginary City
architecture

From remarkable architectural detail to the thoughtful cultural context, Urville offers a rare glimpse of the extreme frontiers of human ability and imagination.
—Brain Pickings

Cities Make People Happy
culture

The cliche of the mean and unfriendly city dweller is untrue. People in cities are happier. Which is good, because it’s where we’ll all be living soon.
—Co.Exist

Incredibly Elaborate Tiny Buildings
art & design

Japanese artist creates astoundingly detailed sculptures of tiny buildings. The sculptures are inspired by the Japanese art forms of bonsai and suiseki.
—Laughing Squid

Sleepbox: Mini-Hotel for Travelers
global

A person stuck in an airport used to roll up a sweater like pillow and get a few minutes of shuteye.Now the Sleepbox has arrived as a saving grace.
—Good

The Foldable Car
urban

The first fold-up car is coming to a city near you.This 6.5 foot car runs on two rechargeable batteries and is changing the future of urban travel.
—Big Think

Fleeting & Fabulous: Art of Dirt
art & design

Museum features sculptures and installations of stuff an average person would wipe off with a sponge: mud, sand, rocks, twigs, grime, smog, and even skin cells.
—Co.Design

Going Green Can Save You Green
business

Company rewards recycling by tracking amounts of recycled material and offering you discounts at participating stores.
—GreenBiz

Leave Your Leftovers for Charity
business

What restaurants don't put on the table, they donate as cash to groups working on food insecurity, homelessness, and hunger.
—Co.Exist

Skydiver Breaking Sound Barrier
global

A skydiver is set to become the first person to break the sound barrier during a free fall by leaping from a balloon on the edge of space later this year.
—The Telegraph

Algae Could be the Future of Biofuel
science

Algae is no longer slime from a fish tank. Scientists and entrepreneurs hurry to turn the organism into biofuel on a scale that's commercially viable.
—Good

Cathedral of 55,000 Lights
art & design

The Ghent Light Festival featured a cathedral of over 55,000 lights. Energy wasted? On the contrary, they were LED.
—Fresh Home

Your Morning Coffee is Good for You
health

That cappuccino ritual? It’s full of antioxidants, isn’t a diuretic, and if the caffeine keeps you from sleeping, just try decaf.
—National Post

The World's Best Long Walks
environment

Forget planes, trains and automobiles. Check out the greenest and greatest way to travel using your own two feet.
—Lonely Planet

The Bicycle Bus
culture

Kid friendly and environmentally approved. Children in the Netherlands are pedaling their way to school on the bicycle school bus.
—Co.Exist

Year's Most Generous Billionaire
business

Ms.Cargill died in 2006, but she contunies to be ranked as a generous billionaire. She left all her shares of Cargill stock to charitable foundations.
—Forbes

Building Blocks of Happiness
culture

City attributes do indeed make a difference. The more people feel as if their city is beautiful, clean, and safe the more happiness they feel.
—Sustainable Cities

Arts Inspire a Sustainable Generation
architecture

Boston student center, Arts for Humanity, encourages students to build with sustainability while building self-confidence.
—Green Biz

By the City/For the City
culture

New Yorkers are getting hands on with ideas to create urban improvement.
—GOOD

Plastic Eating Fungus
environment

An Amazonian fungus, found by a group of students from Yale, could eat our most durable landfill waste.
—Pop Sci

Nashville’s Healthy Initiatives
health

Nashville is mplementing programs for healthier lifestyles. Activities include a monthly mayor walk and companies offering healthy lunch choices.
—Wall Street Journal

New Focus on Old Gadgets
technology

Old gadgets get new life as U.S. Micro takes tossed phones, computers, and all things electronic and placing them in schools and communities.
—GOOD

They That Labored
culture

The 50 or so learned men who labored in teams to create the King James Bible did not set out to create a literary masterpiece.
—The Chronicle

The SuperCooperators
culture

Life is based on competition — for the food, territory, mates, and other resources that will increase our own chances of survival and reproduction.
—Big Questions Online

Going for Gold
health

Hannah Powell went from ballet to weightlifting. She has hopes of beating the boys and qualifying for the London 2012 Olympics.
—The Independent

Using Nature To Nurture
health

Imagine if your health practitioner wrote out a prescription for kayaking, camping or rock climbing to help you through a health challenge?
—The Globe & Mail

Smog Eaters
architecture

When applied to aluminum panels, the titanium dioxide coating interacts with sunlight to break down the smog-causing compound nitrogen oxide.
—GOOD

Blasting Garbage Into Gas
technology

Plasma gasification, a technology turns trash into a fuel without producing emissions.
—WIRED

The Reason for Recess
science

Physical activity does the body good, and there's growing evidence that it helps the brain too.
—TIME

Biggest Plane in World
technology

The people who built the first private aircraft to fly into space are teaming up once again to construct the largest aircraft ever flown.
—PopSci

Laughter Improves Health
health

Researchers have found that laughter can de-stress our bodies and improve heath.
—ksdk.com

Green Transport Technology
urban

For years, bus systems across the country have been going green by switching over to vehicles powered by natural gas.
—GOOD Environment

Smartphone Knows Your Thoughts
technology

Context-aware computing has been around for decades, but it’s been gaining steam as costs fall.
—The Globe & Mail

100 Years From Now?
culture

Readers of BBC News Magazine give their predictions for how life will be 100 years from now.
—BBC News

Robots Inspire Learning
technology

Children fall in love with robots because of the bots’ ambiguous nature and relative autonomy.
—Latitude

This Is Generation Flux
business

The future of business is pure chaos. Here's how you can survive--and perhaps even thrive.
—Fast Company

Tiny USB A Computer
technology

Norwegian developers have created one of the world's smallest computers on a USB-like stick.
—Syndey Morning Herald

Synthetic Windpipe Breakthrough
science

Surgeons in Sweden replaced cancerous windpipe of man with one made in laboratory
—New York Times

Rethinking Innovation
technology

What led Darwin to the theory of natural selection is grist for his mill, but so too is what led Willis Carrier to invent the air conditioner.
—BQO

Smartphone App Rewards Exercise
technology

New phone tracking technology to reward walking and biking.
—Co.Exist

Project Spurs Urban Renewal
urban

Efforts helped create a local arts charity, the Heidelberg Project, and helped tame crime in the neighborhood.
—Philanthropy

Urban-Development Legends
urban

The history of local economic development is a story of academic fads.
—City Journal

Social Media Power Influencer
art & design

Chris Brogan has an astonishing 122,000 identifiable followers on Twitter (up from 115,000 last week)
—Forbes

Jobs Rise 15th Consecutive Month
business

■December capped a solid year of job growth as the economy generated positive hiring every month in the year for the first time since 2005.
—Marcus & Millichap Blog

Blogging Moby-Dick
art & design

Kish carved out time for the Moby-Dick project around his full-time job as a librarian and the long commute that bracketed his work day on both ends.
—Common-Place

Stocks Soar On Upbeat Data
art & design

The Dow rises 179 points after reports show that the manufacturing industry grew in December and that construction spending rose in November.
—LA Times

The Rise of Local Mfg.
business

The appreciation for local goods has begun to fuel a resurgence in local manufacturing.
—GOOD News

Google+ Gains Traction
technology

Google’s mission to compete with Facebook in social networking may be gaining speed.
—New York Times

The Joy of Quiet
culture

In barely one generation we’ve moved from exulting in the time-saving devices that have so expanded our lives to trying to get away from them.
—New York Times

Rare species discovered
science

A brainless and faceless fish was one of 15 rare species discovered during a series of marine surveys this year.
—The Independent

Ecommerce Way Up
business

IBM Coremetric Benchmark’s snapshot of online shopping on Christmas Day revealed 16.4 percent growth over Christmas Day 2010
—Portfolio.com

Freakonomics: What Went Wrong?
business

The word “freakonomics” has come to stand for a light-hearted and contrarian, yet rigorous and quantitative, way of looking at the world.
—AMERICAN Scientist

Music On Their Deathbeds
art & design

There is usually something revealing about the music of a composer who feels death at his shoulder.
—slate.com

How Smart Is This Bird?
science

Pigeons have now shown that they can learn abstract rules about numbers
—New York Times

7 Christmas Songs That Don't Suck
culture

With the possible exception of Otis Redding, Ike & Tina Turner cranked out the best rendition of Merry Christmas Baby.
—Mother Jones

People Are Awesome
culture

Movement growing around the country that finds wealthy donors secretly paying off people's layaway accounts at Kmart.
—GOOD News

Cities Are Making Us More Human
urban

Harvard economist Edward Glaeser believes urbanization to be a solution to many unanswered problems.
—The European

Attention Spans, After All
culture

Our preference for time-consuming entertainment options might also be seen as a reaction against sound bite culture
—National Post

Visitors Changed Our Museum
art & design

The Oakland Museum published “How Visitors Changed Our Museum: Transforming the Gallery of California Art"
—ArtFWD

Window Wonderland
art & design

The term “window shopping” takes on new meaning as boutiques put their creative might into an unspoken competition for the most imaginative displays.
—Financial Times

America's Most Generous Cities
culture

Overall, more than half (56 percent) of adult Americans live in a household that donated money to a charity of some kind.
—The Atlantic

How Does the Brain Perceive Art?
art & design

Our response to art is conditioned by all sorts of variables that have nothing to do with oil paint.
—Wired

Quintillions of Possibilities
culture

The Polish teenager recently won his title in Thailand, lining up all six colors on all six sides of the cube-shaped toy in an average time of 8.65 seconds.
—Wall Street Journal

Thermostat for the iPhone generation
technology

The Nest thermostat is designed to learn homeowners' schedules and surroundings.
—Chicago Tribune

Creating Artificial Intelligence
technology

In designing chips that bear some structural resemblance to the brain, so-called neuromorphic chips, neuroscience was a guiding principle as well
—New York Times

Happiest (And Saddest) Countries
culture

Whatever happiness is to you, there’s some conditions under which it most readily blossoms.
—FORBES

'Super Earth' exists
science

French astronomers earlier this year confirmed the first rocky exoplanet to meet key requirements for sustaining life.
—NZ Herald

Chinese Stone Carvers
art & design

The town of Dangcheng once drew buyers from around the world for its ornate carvings and statues.
—The Globe and Mail

Size Up Economic Indicators
global

More than an examination of macroeconomics, though, Worldshapin is a fun, informative toy. Make fun shapes!
—co.exist

Concept Is Half Car, All Driver
technology

The car that just might foreshadow next-generation personal mobility in crowded cities.
—Wired

Fluorescent Spray Identifies Cancer
health

A group led by the National Cancer Institute has developed a fluorescent spray that can label cancer cells within a minute.
—Technology Review

Organic Can Feed World
science

The current food production system, a 75-year-old experiment, leaves nearly 1B of the world's 7B humans seriously undernourished today.
—The Atlantic

Become a British Spy?
technology

The GCHQ — Britain’s secretive agency of intelligence experts — wants to find new spies.
—Wired

Hotel From Shipping Crates
architecture

Each room comes with a trunk that hinges open to reveal a desk stocked with drinks, a logbook, information packs and electrical sockets.
—Dezeen magazine

WWII Bunker To Energy Hub
technology

A disconcerting reminder of the past is transformed into a constructive symbol of clean-energy.
—Green Source

Skyscraper With A Forest Inside
architecture

Architects are starting to craft biological buildings in cities that blur the line between green space and living space.
—co.exist

Africa Unleashed
global

A new Africa that bears little resemblance to the caricature of a "dark continent" that still rears its head in the media.
—Foreign Affairs

Cyber Monday Biggest Ever In U.S.
business

Monday was the highest-grossing online shopping day in U.S. history, with spending reaching $1.25 billion.
—CNN

A Better Life In Sight
science

For Dr Khatun, 54, it is just another operation – but one that should spare a child from a lifetime of blindness.
—Financial Times

Retailers See Record Numbers
business

American consumers opened their wallets over the holiday weekend in a way they had not since before the recession.
—New York Times

Engineering the 10 000-Year Clock
technology

Parallel computing pioneer Danny Hillis dreamed up the 10 000-Year Clock as a way to encourage long-range thinking.
—IEEE Spectrum

Are We Getting Nicer?
culture

The pace of moral progress has accelerated in the last few decades.
—New York Times

An Underground Park In NYC
architecture

The proposed “low line” park would take up three blocks underneath the Lower East Side, Manhattan.
—CBS-New York

World’s Cheapest Plastic Lightbulb
global

No electric grid but a simple solution - a plastic bottle.
—Co.Exist

Crowdfunded Public Art Projects
urban

Crowdfunding has taken off among artists and entrepreneurs as an easier way to raise money.
—The Atlantic

The Box Is the Thing
business

The growing focus on sustainability means that luxury providers are increasingly looking at containers through green-tinted glasses.
—New York Times

Food As Art
art & design

A cutaway image of a pot roast from Nathan Myhrvold's Modernist Cuisine. Photo: The Cooking Lab, LLC
—New Statesman

The Tweaker
technology

His gift lay in taking what was in front of him and ruthlessly refining it.
—The New Yorker

Stem-Cells & Heart Regeneration
science

Research demonstrated a 30-percent increase in healthy heart-muscle cells.
—University of Buffalo

Keyed to Detail
art & design

It’s a big challenge for a designer to come up with intelligent objects, which will last…
—New York Times

The World's Longest Floating Bridge
architecture

What does it take to get 230 tons of concrete to float?
—Popular Mechanics

Car Steered By Thought
technology

German scientists develop new technology able to read the driver's brain waves.
—Mother Nature Network

The Ground Bot
art & design

The GroundBot system by Swedish firm Rotundus is a remote-controlled, all-weather polycarbonate sphere.
—BLDGBLOG

Google As A Visionary
culture

Space elevators, driverless cars and Internet-enabled household devices being produced in secret Google lab.
—Fox News

A Life Saving Bag
health

2.6 billion people don't access to toilets and millions die from diseases caused by poor sanitation, Anders Wihelmson created a bag to change that.
—PopularScience

EyeWriter
technology

The eyewriter project is a collaborate research effort that allows graffiti writers and artist with paralysis to draw using only their eyes.
—Graffiti Research Lab

Man Made Tornado
technology

The Mercedes-Benz Museum can repurpose its internal ventilation system to form an artificial tornado.
—BLDGBLOG

Ball Of Energy
technology

Four Harvard students develop a soccer ball that covert the energy used during play to electricity for lighting.
—Discovery.com

Pebble Breaks Sound Barrier
science

A pebble that is dropped into water ejects an air-filled cavity at supersonic speeds.
—NewScientist

Playing With Fire
architecture

An outdoor fire place designed for children.
—Contemporist

Revolutionary Wheel
culture

MIT researchers have re-created the wheel to help change behavior.
—PSFK

Bottom Up Diplomacy
global

A movement started by Cuban artist, scholars hopes to change the United States policy toward Cuba.
—The New York Times

Curing The Incurable
health

Inspirations from unexpected sources is helping scientist discover new cures.
—PopularScience

Alabama's Homeboys
culture

Former gang members travel to rural Alabama to speak to kids about gang life and poverty.
—LA Times

Freefall From Space
science

A 'space diver' attempts to become first person to go supersonic in free-fall.
—NewScientist

New Piano Man
art & design

He goes by the Napkin Holder and he doesn't need sheet music.
—Youtube

Its All In The Mind
science

Researchers use video games to determine the differences in learning rates.
—BBC News

Free Money
culture

Bank gives money for others to give away
—Springwise

Sesame Street's 40th
culture

Sesame Street celebrates 40 years on the air
—New York Times

Next-Gen Costume
art & design

A different type of Halloween costume
—booooooom.com

Keith Schofield
art & design

Keith Schofield hits the pause, rewind and fast-forward in his new music video
—keithschofield.com

Immeasurable Intelligence
science

What does your IQ really mean?
—newscientist.com

2010 Olympic Medals
technology

Each medal at Vancouver Games to have unique design
—reuters.com

Open Calories
health

Coca-Cola has announced global plans to include caloric information on the front of nearly all product packages
—Designtaxi.com

Musical Hope
culture

Musician Changes Tone of Impoverished Village
—New York Times

Color Blind Primates
science

Possible cure for color blindness
—nature.com

Beauty Evolution
science

Women Are Getting More Beautiful
—timesonline.co.uk

Human Glow
science

Imaging of Ultraweak Spontaneous Photon Emission from Human Body Displaying Diurnal Rhythm
—plosone.org

Anti-Aging from Easter Island
science

Easter Island Compound Extends Lifespan of Old mice, Scientists Report in Nature
—San Antonio UT Health Science Center

Life Support Coke
health

ColaLife
—mrmattspangler.com

The Purple Bus Lady
health

Ground shifting on Rx debate
—Atlanta Journal Constitution (ajc.com)

This Couple, 40 Years Later
culture

Woodstock Concert's Undercover Lovers, Nick and Bobbi Ercoline, 40 Years After Summer of Love
—nydailynews.com (photo by Burk Uzzle/Courtesy

Saving Languages
culture

Linguist's Preservation Kit Has New Digital Tools
—nytimes.com, July 27, 2009

Billboard Planters
environment

Green Sleeves
—torontoist.com, July 22, 2009

Haiti: Decreased HIV Infection Rate
health

From Haiti, a Surprise: Good News about AIDS
—MSNBC, July 6, 2009

A Moving Facade
art & design

Mind-blowing 3D Projection on German building Created by UrbanScreen
—freshome.com

The Dutch Master
art & design

The Dutch Master by Core77
—core77.com, July 8, 2009

10-30% Longer Life
science

Antibiotic Delayed Aging in Experiments With Mice
—July 08, 2009 - The New York Times

Tooth-growing Cells
health

4 Next-Generation Medical Procedures
—July, 2009 - Popular Mechanics

The Benefits of Catastrophe
global

How Global Catastrophe Could Make Us Smarter
—July 07, 2009 - Live Science

Eco-Friendly Houseplants
environment

Top 10 Natural, Eco-Friendly and Anti-Pollutant Houseplants
—July 07, 2009 - The New Ecologist

Civilization
art & design

Marco Brambilla: Civilization
—motionographer, June 28, 2009

Hydropolis
architecture

Hydropolis Underwater Hotel, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
—design-buildnetwork.com

Computable Civilisation
technology

An Invention That Could Change the Internet Forever
—The Independent, May 3, 2009

How We Remember
science

Sleep Helps Build Long-Term Memories
—MIT News, June 24, 2009

SXSW Music Clips
culture

Tune Yards - Dig For Fire's SXSW '09
—Babelgum

Hunting Dark Matter
science

Work begins on world's deepest underground lab
—June 22nd, 2009 By DIRK LAMMERS , Associated

35,000 Year-old Flutes
culture

'Oldest musical instrument' found
—BBC News

Solar Shingles v.2
technology

Flexible Solar Cell Roof Shingles Unveiled
—archiCentral.com

Breakdancing Robot Manoi
urban

MANOI GO
—Youtube

Swedish Wisdom
art & design

Malmö win for topless Swedish bathers
—The Local: Swedish News In English

Curiouser and Curiouser
art & design

First Photos: Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland - What Do You Think?
—SlashFilm.com

African Sunlight
technology

Holy Solar Funding: Project Desertec to Get $500 Billion Cash Infusion?
—solveclimate.com, June 18, 2009

Annecy 2009
art & design

Gobelins - Annecy 2009
—YouTube.com, June 12, 2009

Empathy in the Middle East
global

Palestinians Assist Injured Settlers
—The Jerusalem Post, June 10, 2009

The High Line
urban

High Line Open!
—thehighline.org, June 09, 2009

Beautiful Information
art & design

GOOD Magazine's Transparencies Archive
—Flick, June 11, 2009

Virtual Twins
science

Virtual Twins Could Bring the End of Animal Research
—NewScientist.com, June, 03, 2009

Art Rafts
art & design

'Swimming Cities' Art Rafts Arrive in Venice
—AnimalNewYork.com, June 3, 2009

Spontaneity
culture

Sasquatch Music Festival 2009
—YouTube.com, May 26, 2009

Hyalinobatrachium Pellucidum
science

South America's Wildlife Wonders
—BBC News, June, 16, 2009

Bananas Replacing Firewood
environment

Going Bananas for Energy in Africa
—BBC, May 12, 2009

Quantum Entanglement
science

Can Positive Thoughts Help Heal Another Person?
—National Public Radio, May 21, 2009

Breathing Gin
culture

Bar Serving Alcoholic Mist Gets You Drunk as You Breathe
—Fast Company, April 20, 2009

Starchitect Shoes
culture

Zaha Hadid + Lacoste Footwear
—HighSnobiety, May 11, 2009

Collaboration in Bb Major
art & design

Bb 2.0
—YouTube.com, May 15th, 2009

Super Slo-Mo Surf
technology

Super Slow-Motion Camera Catches a Wave
—Wired, May 7, 2009

Social Stock Exchanges
business

Markets with a Social Mission
—Ode, May Issue, 2009

Building Blocks with Integrity
architecture

The First Green Replacement for the Concrete Block
—GAB Report, April 26, 2009

Farthest Object Ever Detected
science

Exploding star is oldest object seen in universe
—CNN.com, April 29, 2009

Wrinkle Remover
science

Is a scientist's face proof that a £20 skin cream really gets rid of wrinkles?
—The Independent, April 29, 2009

Exploration is Alive and Well
global

British explorers discover the light at the end of the tunnel... in the world's largest cave
—DailyMail.com, April 30, 2009

Chemical "Caterpillar"
science

Chemical 'caterpillar' points to electronics-free robots
—New Scientist, April 28, 2009

Space-Based Energy
technology

Sci-Fi Meets Cleantech: Space Based Solar Energy Becomes a Reality
—Consumer Energy Report, April 30, 2009

The Lost Tribes of New York CIty
culture

Urban Anthropologists, Andy and Carolyn London interview some of New York City's more overlooked citizens.
—Vimeo

Shared Propulsion Car
art & design

Shared Propulsion Car
—YouTube

Ten Jews, One Piece of Wood
culture

The Minyan Board
—CNN

3d Printer
technology

Jay Leno's Garage
—NBC.com

Cardboard Box Oven
environment

Inventor Turns Cardboard Boxes Into Eco-friendly Oven
—CNN

Peter Zumthor, Pritzker Winner
architecture

Reclusive Swiss Architect Peter Zumthor Wins Pritzker Prize
—Curbed.com

Cul-de-sac Communes
environment

A Social Experiment: Communes In Cul-De-Sacs
—NPR

Trees To The Rescue
environment

Trees are growing faster and could buy time to halt global warming
—Telegraph.co.uk, April 6, 2009

Segway, Again
art & design

GM, Segway team up on 200-mpg 2-seater
—USA Today, April 76, 2009

U.S. Trade Deficit Plummets
business

U.S. Trade Deficit Narrows as Imports Fall Sharply
—The New York Times, April 9, 2009

Good Fat
health

Calorie-Burning Fat? Studies Say You Have It
—New York Times, April 8, 2009

Friendlier Concrete
environment

Concrete Is Remixed With Environment in Mind
—The New York Times, March 30, 2009

Nick Cave's Soundsuits
architecture

Nick Cave Soundsuits
—YouTube

The Sexiest Electric Car To Date
technology

Tesla Model S: $50,000 Electric Car that Seats Seven
—EcoModder, March 26, 2009

"It Could Happen Anytime Now"
science

Are We On the Brink of Finding a Second Earth? NASA/Harvard Teams Say "It Could Happen Anytime Now"
—The Daily Galaxy, March 31, 2009

Nuclear Spring Cleaning
environment

DOE to Spend $6B in Stimulus Funds Cleaning Former Nuclear Weapons Sites
—GreenBiz, March 31, 2009

What Slow Down?
global

Global box office hits record $28.1 billion in '08
—Reuters, March 31, 2009

Free Pie
culture

A Pie for a Pi: Belfast Hosts 'Irrationally Good Time'
—Bangor Daily News, March 16, 2009

Transcendental Meditation for Kids
health

The David Lynch Foundation
—DLF.tv, March 12, 2009

We Saved the Ozone Layer!

Reasons for Optimism