InSitu Foundation is a tax-exempt non-profit organization dedicated to training dogs to detect cancer in humans. According to the Foundation, “Dogs’ accuracy levels have been proven to be 88% specific, and 99% sensitive in the early detection of lung and breast cancer.” So just as dogs have been trained to find narcotics, explosives, insects (lice or […]

It’s a fact that deep sleep reactivates and strengthens specific memories. How does that work? Through replay. The neurons that make new connections in the brain when you are in the process of learning something reactivate during sleep. So, if you study for a test just before going to bed at night or before a nap, you’ll remember better […]

Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, the Swiss pilots and co-founders of the solar-powered airplane, Solar Impulse, have announced a partnership between ABB, a power and automation technology company, and PACT, an international non-governmental organization, to bring solar energy to rural communities in Myanmar. The partnership was announced during Solar Impulse’s fourth stop on its trip around the world. The airplane […]

Everyone’s talking about it! And it’s great news. Solar Impulse, the Swiss long-range solar-powered aircraft, took off this week to fly around the world without a drop of fuel. Instead, the plane uses solar power and can fly day and night on that energy. Follow pilots Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg on their journey around the […]

“Watermen” are amazing. But, you ask, What are they? “Watermen are people who truly love the water and everything that has to do with the ocean.  Salt water runs in their veins. They would rather be in or on the water than on land, comfortable enjoying it in whatever manner they can. Freediving, sailing, surfing, […]

Yves Rossy is Jetman. He’s a Swiss pilot who has wings. To be exact he has carbon-fiber wings. He had developed a flying suit and backpack equipped with semi-rigid wings that span 2.4 metres (7.9 feet). They are powered by four modified jet engines.  Rossy’s career started when he learned how to fly, became a fighter pilot and then […]

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has placed its big bet for the future. The annual letter written by Bill and Melinda Gates details the bet they are making in 2015, which doubles down on the bet they made 15 years ago, in 2000, when they founded their foundation. The bet is this: “The lives of […]

The United Nations climate negotiations in Lima, Peru, ran over by two days this week due to the refusal of developing countries to accept the position of developed countries on what their contribution should be to cutting emissions and who is going to pay. But in the end, a deal, albeit one that appears weak, […]

We all have heard that laughter is the best medicine, but studies are increasingly bearing out that conclusion. “Dr. Lee Berk, an associate professor at Loma Linda University in California, has spent nearly three decades studying the ways the aftershocks of a good laugh ripple through your brain and body,” says a 19 November article on […]

KickStart image Have you heard of the social enterprise KickStart? It develops affordable technologies for small African businesses. It states its accomplishments in this way: “Since 1991, 160,000 successful new businesses have been started in Africa using our tools. Today more than 800 new businesses are being created each month. Since each of these enterprises supports […]