Like Water From a Hummingbird
On a trip to Japan, Wangari Maathai learned the story of the hummingbird in the forest fire. While other animals run in fear or hang their heads in despair, the hummingbird flies above the fire time and again, releasing a few drops of water from its tiny beak. "Why do you bother?" the animals shout. "I'm doing the best that I can," the hummingbird replies. For Maathai, the Nobel Peace Prize recipi... posted on Mar 05 2011, 4,247 reads

A Town Lines Up to Save An Unknown Man
Howard Snitzer clutched his chest and crumpled on a freezing sidewalk. He wasn't breathing. He had no pulse. If he didn't get help soon, he would die. For the next 96 minutes, more than two dozen local towns folks, first responders, took turns performing CPR on the fallen man. Their teamwork saved Snitzer's life, in what may be one of the longest, successful out-of-hospital resuscitations ever. Wh... posted on Mar 04 2011, 3,373 reads

What Lies Beneath
In 2000, the Census of Marine Life embarked on a 10-year mission to deepen our knowledge of the ocean. The study involved 2,700 scientists, 80 countries, 600 institutions, 500 expeditions and a staggering 9,000 days at sea. On top of recording tens of millions of individual marine organisms and their locations, it also identifies important climate changes. Among the discoveries of 6,000 potentia... posted on Mar 03 2011, 2,519 reads

Pizza Delivery Saves the Day
Every day for the past three years, 82-year-old Jean Wilson has ordered a large pepperoni pizza and two diet cokes from the local pizza shop. One day, she took a particularly hard fall in her house that left her unable to get up. After her regular order failed to surface for three days, delivery driver Susan Guy took it upon herself to check on her, an act that saved Wilson's life!... posted on Mar 02 2011, 3,722 reads

Beauty and Science: A Conversation with Ed Johnson
As this distinguished molecular biologist says, "the ultimate decision of whether or not a piece of data is going to get used is completely subjective! To put it analytically, you look at your piece of data and you decide whether or not you think it looks pretty." He continues, "Scientists devote not just a great deal of energy in thinking about their problem, but devote a great deal of personal e... posted on Mar 01 2011, 3,255 reads

Shhh! Quiet People at Work
Justice Clarence Thomas has not spoken during a Supreme Court argument in five years. In the past 40 years, no other member has been totally silent through a whole term-- not to mention, five terms. Loud People, of course, get all the attention. But if we take a look around, we'll notice that quiet people are everywhere. Quiet People are different from loners or introverts or recluses. And quietne... posted on Feb 28 2011, 7,707 reads

Coach Donates Kidney To Star Player
A college coach has stepped up to the plate for one of his players with an amazing gift. Wake Forest University baseball coach Tom Walter just donated a kidney to freshman outfielder Kevin Jordan, a 19-year-old he recruited last year. Jordan's family was not compatible and could not donate their organs; Coach Walter tested himself and was found to be a perfect match. According to the National K... posted on Feb 27 2011, 1,308 reads

Camellias: Blossoming in Winter
Camellias are flowers that often have showy blooms, some as big as plates. Their leaves can also make tea. But their standout trait is timing: they blossom in winter.... posted on Feb 26 2011, 3,454 reads

Life is 'Baeutiful'
Do you remember the name of your kindergarden teacher? I do, mine. Her name was Mrs White. I don't remember much about what we learned in her class, but my mother once told me that we used to write a lot. And I would bring back what I wrote and she would look at it and see there were so many mistakes. But no red corrections. And always a star. Sometimes even a Good! scrawled in that would make my ... posted on Feb 25 2011, 16,373 reads

The Power of Touch
A pat on the back, a caress of the arm--these are everyday, incidental gestures that we usually take for granted. But after years spent immersed in the science of touch, University of California, Berkeley, psychology professor Dacher Keltner has found that the power of touch is much more profound than we usually realize. In this Greater Good magazine essay, he argues that touch is our primary lang... posted on Feb 24 2011, 43,326 reads