Connecting for Good: Social Networks in 2015
New networks are emerging everywhere. It's exciting, and daunting. What is this new network-centric world? What could it mean for community and social change? A new report by the Knight Foundation and Monitor Institute explores how an increasingly connected world - where social networks are proliferating on and off-line- will affect the way people push for social change by 2015. Drawing from more ... posted on Apr 14 2011, 5,076 reads

Zero-Waste Living
Five years ago, the Johnson family decided to move into a smaller home. Not only did they downsize their belongings but they took on a zero-waste style of living. Along the way, this family has found a balance, a way to maintain the lifestyle they enjoy, while drastically cutting down on waste. Scott Johnson, was initially skeptical of the project, confessing, "I was just afraid that I'd be eating... posted on Apr 13 2011, 17,223 reads

Laundromat Art
When a Harlem-based group of artists and community activists wanted to make a difference in their local neighborhoods, they looked for a space that was already being used by the community and had gathering potential. And then they stumbled upon a laundromat. With the help of local and artists participating in their own residency programs, the group sets up daily in a number of laundromats and pro... posted on Apr 12 2011, 3,821 reads

Today You, Tomorrow Me
A touching story of a random act of kindness: "During this past year I've had three instances of car trouble: a blowout on a freeway, a bunch of blown fuses and an out-of-gas situation. They all happened while I was driving other people's cars, which for some reason makes it worse on an emotional level. Each time, when these things happened, I was disgusted with the way people didn't bother to he... posted on Apr 11 2011, 10,478 reads

Meditation More Effective Than Morphine?
Meditation has long been touted as a holistic approach to pain relief. And studies show that long-time meditators can tolerate quite a bit of pain. Now researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have found you don't have to be a lifelong monk to pull it off. Using a special type of brain imaging, researchers saw significant brain changes even in novices who hadn't meditated before. Their ... posted on Apr 10 2011, 6,416 reads

82 Hour Hunger Fast
Anna Hazare, a 73-year-old Gandhian, sat fasting in the burning sun, and he promises to stay until death -- unless his Indian government agreed to consider a powerful law that could rid Indian politics of the scourge of corruption. A tall order. Yet, after single-handedly provoking a people's revolution that galavinized millions of his countrymen, the 72-year-old activist who launched what he cal... posted on Apr 09 2011, 7,507 reads

Nine-year-old Saves Her Sister's life
Nine-year-old Anaiah Rucker is being hailed as a hero after saving her sister from being hit by a truck last month. Anaiah didn't think twice before pushing her little sister out of the path of the vehicle as the pair crossed the street to get to the school bus stop. She took the hit instead. After a round of CPR from their mother, her first words upon regaining consciousness were: "Am I going to ... posted on Apr 08 2011, 4,556 reads

The Mathematics of Being Nice
Cooperation is interesting because it essentially means that you help someone else, someone who is a potential competitor. You reduce your own success in order to increase the success of somebody else. Why should you do that? Why should natural selection favour such behavior? To answer these questions, Martin Nowak highlights 5 types of humans cooperation via evolutionary dynamics and experimental... posted on Apr 07 2011, 12,355 reads

Trading Wall Street for the Simple Life
He was a successful currency trader handling a $15 billion portfolio. But something wasn't right. So Henry Quinson walked away from his comfortable life, gave his savings to charity, and joined a rural monastery in France. "I thought the spiritual part of my human life was more important than a career or making money," he explains. For six years, Quinson spent his days in silence and prayer, follo... posted on Apr 06 2011, 3,769 reads

Pedaling For Peace
"I grew up in Lancaster, PA, joined the Navy and ended up on an aircraft carrier doing intelligence work in Japan, got married to my first wife in the Czech Republic, sold health club memberships (got to hang out with Magic Johnson almost everyday for a few months :)), started a screenplay competition, made a million in real estate and let it go in my second divorce, was a lifeguard in Australia a... posted on Apr 05 2011, 7,774 reads