Removing Stigma One Idli At A Time
A small idli shop in south Tamil Nadu, India, is the talk of the town. At daybreak, people crowd around to buy idlis and dosas from two women who are HIV positive. Despite the stigma of HIV/AIDS in their town, the customers are aware of their condition and continue to patronize their shop. With community support, Vijayarani and Sumathy have overcome the devastating news, "look as healthy as any... posted on Feb 08 2011, 2,345 reads

Generous Vegetable Seller
After the morning hustle, a lone lamp shines on a vegetable stall. With head bowed, Chen Shu-Chu is the first to arrive in the market and the last to leave. She earns marginal profits. Yet, her frugality has allowed her to donate NT$10 million (about 350,000 US $) towards various charitable causes, including schools, orphanages and poor children. The generosity of a woman with such a humble income... posted on Feb 07 2011, 2,856 reads

Runner Crawls to a Finish For Her Coach
Jim Tracy, a cross-country coach at San Francisco's University High School, was recently diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease and now walks with difficulty using braces on his legs and his back. But that doesn't stop him from coaching. And inspiring. At the state meet this year, star runner Holland Reynolds collapsed near the finish line. Despite all odds, she finished the race, crawling on hand a... posted on Feb 06 2011, 2,095 reads

Children Show They Can Make a Difference
Parents want their kids and teens to care about others - whether at school, in their community, or in need a continent away. The good news is that children "are sort of hard-wired" to want to help others, says Michael Ungar, author of "The We Generation: Raising Socially Responsible Kids." "They want to take on responsibility." From a second grade environmentalist to a 21-year-old peacemaker, here... posted on Feb 05 2011, 4,768 reads

Mall Shoppers Get a Surprise
Shopping can be exhausting, whether or not it's the holiday season. Enjoying a meal of pizza and Coke in the food court one afternoon, mall shoppers were also served an unsuspecting and generous reminder of life's spontaneous miracles.... posted on Feb 04 2011, 9,900 reads

Graphene Wins Nobel Prize
Two University of Manchester scientists were awarded the Nobel Prize in physics for their pioneering research on graphene, a one-atom-thick film of carbon whose strength, flexibility and electrical conductivity have opened up new horizons for pure physics research as well as high-tech applications. Graphene is one of the strongest, lightest and most conductive materials known to humankind. It's al... posted on Feb 03 2011, 3,833 reads

His Life's Calling is To Die Well
Jim Stanicki is at a party, where he's having a great time with his family and friends. But when it's time to go, he says he has to go, and his intention is to go well. Stanicki says it is his life that is the party. After being diagnosed with bronchoalveolar cancer almost four years ago, he has shared the highs and lows of his journey with friends online through Inspire.com, a health and wellness... posted on Feb 02 2011, 3,562 reads

A Light in India
When we hear the word "innovation," we often think of new technologies or silver bullet solutions - like hydrogen fuel cells or a cure for cancer. But some of the greatest advances come from taking old ideas or technologies and making them accessible to millions of people who are under-served. One off-the-grid electricity company based in Bihar is doing just that. With an innovative solution to th... posted on Feb 01 2011, 3,418 reads

The Man Who Doesn't Ask for Money
During a two-week period of "self-chosen exile", Vinod Sreedhar made a radical commitment to himself: no more price tags on his work. Everything would be offered as a gift, and he would accept whatever came back his way. After the initial "noble high" of this major life decision subsided, questions rushed in. How will I make a living now? Am I setting myself up to be taken advantage of? After near... posted on Jan 31 2011, 6,998 reads

Not Without My Daughters
Pharmacologist and medical researcher Vimala Seshadri lives with 10 girls between the ages of 4 and 20 who come from underprivileged backgrounds. "We're an all-women household," says Vimala, who has brought up the girls as her own daughters in a small home in India for the past nine years. The girls live with her through the year and visit their parents during holidays. "We go back for a while, bu... posted on Jan 30 2011, 1,478 reads