From Guns to Guitars
He is a classically trained musician and composer who studied at Colombia's best conservatory. But instead of concert hall performances Cesar Lopez plays on the streets of Bogota. There’s something that speaks even louder: his musical instrument looks much like a Winchester Rifle. That’s because it used to be one. But now, six metal guitar strings are threaded over the weapon's barrel, ending ... posted on May 08 2006, 1,831 reads

A 5 year-old Victim's Forgiveness
A child's grace and forgiveness have inspired Boston. 5-year-old Kai Leigh Harriott looked up from her blue wheelchair in the hushed courtroom and faced the man who fired the stray gunshot that paralyzed her nearly three years ago. "What you done to me was wrong," the dimpled girl with purple and yellow plastic ties in her braids said softly. "But I still forgive (you)."... posted on May 06 2006, 3,558 reads

Soccer Balls for a Better Future
He'd won 4 Olympic Golds, broken 11 world records, and was 25. So he retires?! Speed skater Johann Olav Koss had a much deeper outlook. “You’re very focused on yourself, you’re very narrow-minded and your world is limited. At a certain point you want to see the greater meaning—the greater whole.” And so he went to Eritrea with a plane full of soccer balls, a week after President Afewerki... posted on May 05 2006, 1,514 reads

The Trust Network
The most important network in an organization? Some say it's the 'trust network'. Former MIT professor Karen Stephenson teaches that it’s a company's human infrastructure that really determines whether it lives or dies, and knowing who trusts whom is as important as knowing who reports to whom. In this view, organizations have a sort of double-helix system, with hierarchy and networks constantly... posted on May 02 2006, 3,223 reads

A Small Hero
When his mom rolled off the bed and hit the floor, 8-year-old Jacob Clini knew three things: she was not moving, she needed help and he had to find a telephone. Remembering what his teachers and his cousin had told him about 911, Jacob picked up the phone, punched in the three numbers and saved his mother's life.... posted on May 01 2006, 1,957 reads

Finding Flow
Athletes refer to it as "being in the zone" and artists and musicians as "aesthetic rapture.” For decades now, a remarkable researcher from the University of Chicago -– and author of President Clinton's favorite book -– has studied exactly this. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi started with art students, then chess players, musicians, inner-city basketball players, and eventually Bornean weavers and ... posted on Apr 24 2006, 1,734 reads

Unexpected Outcomes
Dr. Hill asks his mathematics students at Georgia Tech to go home and either flip a coin 200 times and record the results, or merely pretend to flip a coin and fake 200 results. The following day he runs his eye over the homework data, and to the students' amazement, he easily fingers nearly all those who faked their tosses. There is more to this than a classroom trick. Dr. Hill is one of a growin... posted on Apr 09 2006, 2,215 reads

300 Stories From an Eight Year Old
Adora Svitak loves to read and write. Over the past 18 months she has had a 296-page book published and written 400 short stories and nearly 100 poems. Typing at 80 words a minute, she has produced 370,000 words while reading up to three books a day. The last novel she finished was Voltaire's Candide. And her greatest ambition? To get a Nobel prize in Literature and Peace. Not bad for an eight-ye... posted on Apr 06 2006, 1,962 reads

Found Art
You are finishing up your usual overpriced latte in your local java joint when you notice it at the next table -- a tiny sculpted wall plaque leaning against the sugar caddy. You look around, wondering whether someone forgot it. It has a sticker on it saying "Found Art!" with a Web address. Suddenly, it clicks: You've just found a free piece of art and an invitation to join a growing global art pr... posted on Apr 03 2006, 1,947 reads

Bread For My Neighbor
Ten years ago, at the age of twelve, Craig Kielburger gathered a handful of his friends over pizza to discuss a newspaper article about a young boy in Pakistan who was sold to a carpet weaver at the age of four. He wanted to figure out how they could help. Their brainstorming session gave rise to what is today the largest network of children helping children in the world. Today the youth volunteer... posted on Apr 01 2006, 1,340 reads