I Heart Strangers
"Every single day, I went out into the world to seek out someone I had never before met. I introduced myself and asked them if I could photograph them. I took something valuable away from every encounter and did my best to pass that along." Artist Joshua Langlais started the "I Heart Strangers" project as an attempt to love his neighbors. Starting it in 2008 with the intention of doing it for a ye... posted on Jun 28 2011, 4,685 reads

Mother of All Languages
The world's 6,000 or so modern languages may have all descended from a single ancestral tongue spoken by early African humans around 50,000 years ago, a new study suggests. The finding could help explain how the first spoken language emerged, spread and contributed to the evolutionary success of the human species. Quentin Atkinson, an evolutionary psychologist and author of the study, found that t... posted on Jun 27 2011, 5,274 reads

A Change of Heart Changes Everything
Did you know that briefly re-experiencing a cherished memory creates synchronization in your heart rhythm in mere seconds? It increases the release of healthy, energizing hormones, while decreasing levels of damaging stress hormones, and strengthening the immune system. HeartMath, an emotional physiology research institute, has also discovered that if someone has a coherent heart rhythm, it has a ... posted on Jun 26 2011, 15,875 reads

Learning to Love Uncertainty and Failure
Edge Magazine called for eminent scientists, philosophers, and artists to submit responses to the question, "What scientific concept would improve everybody's toolkit?" The results have recently been published online. A common basis among the responses was that many people currently misunderstand the scientific process, undervalue the need for scientific doubt, and fail to recognize the role of fa... posted on Jun 25 2011, 5,448 reads

Why Is Humility So Underrated?
Generally we don't equate genius with being humble. If anything, we expect the opposite, and are pleasantly surprised when we find a counterexample. But this presumption is actually relatively modern. Ancient Romans believed that a genius was actually an invisible, divine entity who would assist a person in a creative work. In effect, this view positions a person as an instrument of their work, a... posted on Jun 24 2011, 4,759 reads

Sometimes It Just Takes a Penny
In this real-life kindness story, a man inspires generosity in a homeless woman after being approached by her for money. Having just heard good news in a friend's life, he offers to buy food for her and shares his inspiration with the homeless lady: "Something nice happened to my friend recently, after a lot of struggles. When you came in, I thought that I should keep that chain of goodness going ... posted on Jun 23 2011, 3,047 reads

Soap That Saves Lives
Perhaps he noticed because his father was a soapmaker in Uganda. When Derreck Kayongo learned how much soap was thrown away by hoteliers in the US, and that 2 million children die each year due to a lack of santitation, he decided to do something about it. He started Global Soap Project. Volunteers across the U.S. collect the hotel soaps and ship them to the group's warehouse in Atlanta. On Saturd... posted on Jun 22 2011, 3,088 reads

Measuring the Wisdom of a Crowd
The "intelligence" of a group can be measured, according to a new study, and it has little to do with the brain power of its individual members. What makes a team more intelligent has more to do with the group's interactions. More equal participation and greater social awareness on the part of its members are the key factors in predicting a group's intelligence. "It really calls into question our ... posted on Jun 21 2011, 6,792 reads

Why Gratitude Is Good
"Count your blessings," we're often told -- but what good does that do us? Plenty, according to Robert Emmons, the world's leading scientific expert on gratitude. After a decade of research, Dr. Emmons has found that people who practice gratitude have stronger immune systems, feel happier and more optimistic, and are more generous and compassionate. In this thorough article from Greater Good magaz... posted on Jun 20 2011, 76,720 reads

The Reading Promise: An Extraordinary Father-Daughter Story
When Alice Ozma was in the fourth grade, her family was going through a rough patch. Her parents had just split up, and her older sister had recently left for college. Ozma was suddenly spending a lot more time alone with her dad, Jim Brozina, an elementary school librarian. So Ozma and her father made a pledge: to read together every single night for 100 days. But after 100 days, they just kept g... posted on Jun 19 2011, 4,617 reads