PLASTIC WASTE USED IN ROADS

This is happening in India and has spread to the UK. Until we learn how to reduce our manufacture and use of plastic, this is a great option. Let's hope we see it in the USA soon!

NEW HOPE FOR CORAL REEFS

We have lost a huge percentage of our world's coral reefs in the last decades. Coral reefs put forth more oxygen into the atmosphere than plants, and are both vital and beautiful.

David Vaughn has discovered new ways of growing coral much more quickly than before, and says he will not retire until he has planted a million new corals. This is wonderful news!

AN ECO-SOLUTION THAT EATS UP 150X MORE CARBON THAN A TREE!

This video is three years old. Apparently, the micro-algae lamp is now being used for some street lighting in certain spots in Paris. We hope this catches on: who can beat gorgeous glowing light that eats up carbon in our atmosphere...from humble algae!

JUST WHAT YOU WANT TO WATCH TODAY!

This may bring tears to your eyes, but it will also make you feel awfully good about being a human being! Thanks to Director Asger Leth.

NEW ENERGY SOURCE?

While in the United States we are caught up in politics and the transition of power--rightly so--something else has popped up in the news that may have enormous implications for the future! It's called a Sun Cell. Here's hoping... And many thanks to Brilliant Light Power for their hard work in researching and developing what the world so desperately needs. These are the true but often overlooked heroes of our time.

A NEW REVOLUTION IN WHEELCHAIRS

A new wheelchair developed by Israeli company UpNRide will soon be available that allows people to stand as well as to sit, and to shift those positions easily! This is not only excellent for muscle tone; people tend to look down on those in wheelchairs, to treat them in a patronizing way, or to overlook them entirely. Being at eye level with others will offer greater dignity for those who are mobility restricted.

TEENAGER DISCOVERS FORGOTTEN MAYAN CITY

William Gadoury of Quebec, Canada, is the latest of many teenaged wonders. He had always been interested in the Mayans, and over time surmised that their cities were built to correlate with the stars. By studying star charts, he located a previously undiscovered ancient Mayan city. Cudos to William!

The new anti-science climate in the USA is frightening. Please don't stop believing in science, or in our kids!

WILL BIODEGRADABLE PACKAGING REPLACE PLASTIC? HOPE SO!

While there are some seriously egregious things happening in the dairy industry, this packaging seems like a good replacement for non-biodegradable plastics which get used only one time and then wind up in a landfill:

Paul Stamets and the Intelligence of Nature

This short video features Paul Stamets, fungi, and an important message:

ZION HARVEY'S HAND TRANSPLANT

This wonderful little boy, who is now nine years old, lost his hands and feet to an infection at the age of two. His organs were beginning to shut down, and when he was four, he received a kidney transplant from his mother. A few years later, he was the first child to receive a double hand transplant. He is a wise and loving little boy who reveals that his grandmother taught him with that with hard work and hope, one can achieve almost anything. You will enjoy watching this short video from NBC, and a YouTube search will bring up many more videos with details about his story!

IF ONLY ALL BUSINESS CEOs WOULD THINK LIKE THIS!

Chobani yogurt's founder has just done something startling...and wonderful. If all businesses and corporations did this, we might have a very different world:

WAR IS ACTUALLY DECLINING ON OUR PLANET

While we primarily post videos on this site, this is a link to a beautiful article about the decline of war. The gist of it is that despite the terrorism, despite the brutalities, despite the wars, we are now experiencing more peace on the planet than ever before.

https://medium.com/@angushervey/the-decline-of-war-8760f9a5b5ce#.hfreybcbe

CHARGE YOUR PHONE...FROM A HOUSEPLANT!

A new product gathers energy from a simple houseplant and harnesses it so that you can charge your cellphone. This is definitely a step in the right direction!

EDIBLE SIX-PACK RINGS

This Florida craft-beer brewery has created something we hope will catch on! They replaced plastic six-pack rings that are so destructive to marine life with edible six-pack rings that fish (or humans!) can nibble on! Cudos to the Saltwater Brewery!  Coca cola? Budweiser? Are you paying attention?!?

PLASTIC FISHERS

Congratulations to the Plastic Whale, the world's first plastic fishing company, whose goal is to rid of the oceans--FINALLY!--of its massive plastic pollution. The company is based in Amsterdam.

EDIBLE "SILVERWARE"

Here is a wonderful alternative to those plastic forks and spoons, usually used only once, that clog up landfills and will remain intact for thousands of years: EDIBLE CUTLERY! We hope this innovation catches on and eventually replaces the ubiquitous and environmentally dreadful plastic utensils.

 

SAVING CORAL REEFS WITH UNDERWATER STATUES AND MAN-MADE ART

As the coral reefs on our planet disappear, a novel and gorgeous way to preserve them has emerged! Watch!

GIVING BACK

In the Twin Cities in Minnesota, a couple, who wish to remain anonymous, put a check for $500,000 into a Salvation Army bucket.

When the organization called to see if the check was legitimate, they learned that it was. This couple had once been so poor that they had to rely on leftover food from grocery stores that was going to be thrown away. They now prosper, and they wanted to give back.

For all the ugly things happening in our world, there are also many, many, MANY beautiful people with good souls whom we will never hear about!

HOW ABOUT ADOPTING AN ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOOD?

We see so much of the ugliness of human beings in the news, but there are also who quietly go about doing wonderful things. Here is such a man.

Twenty years ago, hotel owner and philanthropist Harris Rosen adopted an entire community in Florida--an unsafe neighborhood where about 75% of the kids dropped out of high school. He offered free day care for the entire community, and then took it a step further, offering free college tuition for the kids. Now nearly 100% of the kids complete high school, property values in the neighborhood have quadrupled, and many have gone on to college and better lives, thanks to the generosity of one man!

THE UNDERCOVER BOSS

This may well bring you to tears of joy. On a TV show, "Undercover Boss," bosses go undercover and mingle with their employees. This is what happened when one boss did so and was trained by a single mother who, he learned, was living in a homeless shelter.

KOKO AND HER KITTENS

For her 44th birthday, Koko, the gorilla who has won all of our hearts, was given kittens. See more about Koko (including her visit with the late Robin Williams) or contribute by going to http://www.koko.org/

GIRAFFES HUM!

New studies have shown that giraffes, long thought to be unable to vocalize because of their long necks, spend the night humming to one another! The pitch of their hum is at such a low frequency that it is not audible to the human ear. The short video, below, has samples of their sounds!

SCIENCE FICTION IS COMING TRUE!

Many of us grew up on science fiction in books and movies where people in space grow their own food on spaceships. The very first step toward this has just been accomplished! Astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) have just eaten lettuce they grew in space.

The below video, while robotic and not very romantic, gives more details about this huge and rather wonderful step:

GENERATING SOLAR ELECTRICITY WITH A BIKE PATH!

According to TakePart, this bike path built last year in Amsterdam, paved with solar panels, is creating far more energy than had been expected. We hope to see more of this kind of design EVERYWHERE! It's safe for birds, unlike the huge solar farms, and also gives people a safe opportunity to get healthy exercise!

FRANCE CREATES A REPLICA OF A FAMOUS CAVE WITH PREHISTORIC ART

France has created a beautiful replica of the Chauvet cave, containing wonderful paintings and etchings of animals made by humans who lived tens of thousands of years before us. Unfortunately allowing tourists to see such sights introduces temperature changes and bacteria that threaten such prehistoric pieces of art. The replica is said to be stunning and detailed, faithful to the original drawings, and now available for all of us to see.

Good work, France!