Hurricane Harvey hit southern Texas full force on August 25th, developing from a tropical wave and tropical storm before reaching hurricane status. It crossed the Windward Islands, Suriname, Guyana, Nicaragua, Honduras, Belize, the Yucatan Peninsula, as well as Texas and Louisiana. Of course many people in the United States remember Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, which did a […]

Currently about half of the world lives without access to reliable energy to power their homes, meaning many people either have no access to electricity or they only have access for a few hours a day. This lack of energy means they have no way to power mobile phones, computers or televisions. Importantly, it also […]

PlanetRead aims to help everyone around the globe read in their native language. How? With same language subtitling (SLS). PlanetRead and the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad developed the methodology which, according to the non-profit’s website, has “doubled the number of functional readers among primary school children” in India. Illiteracy is a global crisis. […]

What good is a car without pedals or a steering wheel? One such car was built so Rodrigo Hubner Mendes could drive it. How? By using only his mind. That’s because Mendes is paralyzed. He drove the F1 car using brain commands. A helmet captured his brainwaves and translated them to steer the car. He became the first […]

Lewis Pugh calls himself an ocean advocate and a pioneer swimmer. To call attention to climate change, he’s swimming in the most challenging waters on earth, such as in the Antarctic, Arctic and the Himalayas. On his website, he states, “I am doing it to carry a message about the health of our oceans. We […]

This story has already made it around America but is worth repeating. It’s about willpower, accomplishment, and victory over hardship. Bad things happen, but in many cases they can be overcome. Mandy Harvey is an inspiration.

French born Simone Veil, née Jacob, a woman full of courage, rebelliousness, resilience and dignity, a fighter and strategist of reconciliation, died on 30 June 2017 at the age of 89. She fought for peace and remembrance, despite being arrested by the Gestapo in 1944 in Nice, France and taken with her family to the […]

Did you know? Although it may not seem like it from all we hear in the news, taken altogether, humanity has never been better off, based on GDP and other measures of well-being. Here are some facts: 1) The number of people living in absolute poverty has been reduced by 60% since 1980. 2) The world is safer […]

Crystals made of proteins help cure cancer Crystals made of proteins are revolutionizing cancer research and treatment. They are not the usual crystals found in nature made of minerals but are man-made in a laboratory. They are tiny, clear and colorless, barely visible to the naked eye. As they are also very fragile, they break easily. So […]

Skin-to-skin Contact Helps Child Development The human touch, in this case skin-to-skin contact, sometimes called “kangaroo care”, is essential for healthy physical and psychological development. Holding a newborn, and even more so a premature baby, against skin on the chest of an adult, usually a parent, increases the probability that the baby will grow healthier across the board.  Many studies […]