Kenyan company Ushahidi is a free, open source or shared platform designed to crowdsource (use a community or large group of people to accomplish particular goals), amass and map crisis information from numerous sources in real time, including via text message, Twitter, Facebook, blogs, media sources and e-mail. Ushahidi can thus track real-time information, but […]
One of the consequences of the AIDS pandemic is the estimated 15 million or more children worldwide under the age of 18 who have been orphaned as a result of the disease. In response to this huge problem, in 2000 Dr. Sunette Pienaar Steyn founded Heartbeat. Heartbeat is a non-profit organization whose stated missions is: […]
A group of six countries in Oceania – Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste – have agreed to develop a roadmap and plan of action, called the Coral Triangle Initiative, to preserve their coral reefs. The area, which covers over 2 million square miles of ocean, encompases more than […]
A Swiss non-profit, public service Foundation, Just for Smiles (www.just4smiles.ch/) was founded to give polyhandicapped persons a chance to enjoy the outdoors and experience environments and sensations they are unfamiliar with. In the Foundation’s words, it was created to offer joy to those whose multiple handicaps confine them all too often to their wheelchairs and […]
Most of the world eats insects – only in North America, Europe and Australia do people not usually include this staple in their diets. Yet insects as food provide quality nutrients (protein, omega-3 fatty acids, minerals and vitamins) and are an excellent environmentally and ecologically beneficial alternative to the production of expensive beef and other […]
The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), consisting in a group of nuclear supplier nations, aims “to contribute to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons through the implementation of Guidelines for nuclear exports and nuclear related exports.” The Guidelines seek “to ensure that nuclear trade for peaceful purposes does not contribute to the proliferation of nuclear weapons or […]
Automakers received an unexpected boost in August, when Asian sales surged thanks to variations on the American “cash for clunkers” scheme to encourage consumers to turn in old gas guzzlers and buy new, cleaner models. The US plan, you may recall, was designed in part to help rescue the American auto industry, but ended up […]
Edhi Foundation, a reputable non-profit NGO, has been providing social services in Pakistan since 1951, including direct humanitarian assistance. The Foundation is currently delivering basic items of food, water and essentials (blankets, soap, mosquito nets) to the country’s flood affected areas. Its typical aid includes sheltering abandoned babies, providing homes for the destitute or mentally […]
Interested in helping astronomers search outer space? It’s possible with a program called Einstein@Home, which allows your computer, when it’s idle, to help scientists search the skies for pulsars and other neutron stars. The idea behind the program, called distributed computing, is straightforward: downloaded software connects your home computer with thousands of others throughout the […]
