Sunday, November 7, 2010 A Garden For Everybody  Alan Toy's carrots don't come out of the ground. Instead, you can find them sprouting out of fiberglass bins filled with compost and potting soil. They're propped on metal legs and have a cantilevered design that allows Toy to roll up his wheelchair and tend to plants more easily. With the success of his container plots, which are specifically designed for gardeners on crutches or in a wheelchair, Toy hopes more disabled and elderly gardeners will also have opportunities to grow and enjoy their own food in the future. Read More >>
back to top  Saturday, November 6, 2010 DIY Foreign Aid Revolution  Like so many highly trained young women these days, Elizabeth Scharpf has choices. She could be working in a Manhattan office tower with her Harvard Business School classmates, soaring through the ranks as a banker or business executive, aspiring to become a C.E.O. There's no question that women enjoy opportunities that didn't exist a few decades ago. Yet those exerting the greatest pressure for change often aren't presidents and tycoons but those further down the pyramid, driven by a passion to create a better world. This kind of Do-It-Yourself Foreign Aid shows that it's not only high-ranking officials who chip away at global challenges. Passionate individuals with great ideas can do the same, especially in the age of Internet and social media. Read More >>
back to top Friday, November 5, 2010 Teens Become Civil Servant Guitar Stars  After overhearing her children talk of starting a rock band and noticing that nothing ever came of their dreams, Sandra Rizkallah and her husband, Tom Pugh, decided to help. Starting with five teens, the group soon evolved into a full-fledged nonprofit that has affected 400 students. But it's become more than just music. Throughout the year, the teens put on benefit concerts, donating the proceeds to causes they care about. "Many teens come to us struggling with low self-esteem. Through connecting with other young musicians, they learn they can help others through their love of music. They gain confidence, compassion, a social conscience - and hope." Read More >>
back to top Thursday, November 4, 2010 Oliver Sacks: A Neurologist Examines 'The Mind's Eye'  Neurologist and writer Oliver Sacks has spent his career examining patients struggling to survive with a wide range of neurological conditions: Tourette's syndrome, autism, Parkinson's, musical hallucinations, Alzheimer's disease and phantom-limb syndrome. But in his latest book, "The Mind's Eye," Sacks turns the tables on himself. He writes about being diagnosed with a rare eye tumor and the subsequent total loss of vision on his right side. In this interview with Terry Gross, he shares the experience of adapting to a world that appears to be entirely flat. Read More >>
back to top Wednesday, November 3, 2010 Scientist Discover 200 New Species  For thousands of years, steep mountain ranges and dense forests have limited interaction between many of Papua New Guinea's indigenous groups, creating one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse countries in the world. Geographic barriers also have limited scientific exploration in the country, which is known to harbor many undiscovered species. Trekking by foot, canoe, and helicopter, a team of scientists set out in 2009 on a survey to collect biodiversity information for conservation efforts. A year later, they've revealed over 200 species new to science, including 24 frog species, six mammals, nine plants, about 100 spiders and 100 insects! Read More >>
back to top Tuesday, November 2, 2010 Is Pure Altriusm Possible?  All around us we see evidence of human beings sacrificing themselves and doing good for others. Still, doubting altruism is easy. It's undeniable that people sometimes act in a way that benefits others, but it may seem that they always get something in return - at the very least, the "warm glow" of having their desire to help fulfilled. Biological altruism attempts to explain how unselfish behavior might have evolved but it implies nothing about the intentions of the agent. Even when we appear to act unselfishly, there may be other hidden motives. Conversely, if we didn't desire the good of others for its own sake, then attaining it wouldn't produce the warm glow. Whatever else is true of altruism, perhaps the only kind of altruism with staying power is the kind that's satisfying to those who practice it. Read More >>
back to top Monday, November 1, 2010 5 Steps to Breaking Bad Work Habits  We all have our own bad habits at the office. Maybe it's gossiping or complaining. Or binge eating or nail-biting. Or checking e-mail incessantly. Whatever the habit, we'd be happier without it. Andrew Rosen, author of "How to Quit Your Job," offers 5 steps to leave bad workplace habits behind as you pave a healthier, balanced lifestyle. Read More >>
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"I have been confronted with many difficulties throughout the course of my life, and my country is going through a critical period. But I laugh often, and my laughter is contagious. When people ask me how I find the strength to laugh now, I reply that I am a professional laugher." So begins an excerpt by Dalai Lama on why he laughs: [ 
When he was 21, heir to the Baskin-Robbins throne John Robbins left the ice cream company and his fathers money, determined to find happiness and fulfillment on his own. After becoming a successful author and establishing an independent fortune, he lost everything in the Bernie Madoff scandal. Through tumultuous relationships with money, Robbins discovered that: "Money, it seems, is a little like beer. Most people like it, but more is not necessarily better. A beer might improve your mood, but drinking 10 beers not only won't increase your happiness tenfold, it might not increase it at all." In a reflective essay, Robbins talks about his relationship to money and the economics of happiness. [ 
Of all the students at Smithfield High School, Eric Duquette may have been least likely to speak on graduation day. Diagnosed with autism at birth, he didn't learn how to speak until the age of five. Doctors told his parents that he'd probably end up in an institution. In a way, they right. Eric excelled to the point of getting accepted into every college he applied to. With parents who taught him that "in life, it is all about the choices we make," Eric refused to be defined by others' expectations. His story is an inspiration to parents and students alike. [ 
These days, many share the desire to do work that helps the world. Yet, despite good intentions, social enterprises and nonprofits are not immune to ethical challenges. This line of thinking- that because my cause is pure, I don't need to be concerned about values, conflicts, or ethics- is particularly relevant for social innovators. It can blind social innovators to their own value biases or failings; and worse, it can too easily let them conclude that their pure ends can justify some questionable means. Despite very real and thorny ethical complexities and pressures, some people find successful ways to voice and act their values, and we can learn a lot from them. This is a skill to be developed, and scholar Mary C. Gentile outlines the seven principles behind this skill. [ 
Several times a week, a 74-year-old grandmother drives into the crime capital of the world to help keep a sanctuary for its citizens alive. Guadalupe Arizpe De La Vega insists on returning to her hometown to preserve the Hospital de la Familia, a health center she started more than 30 years ago. Despite the violence, De La Vega's hospital and its staff- which treats about 900 patients daily, regardless of their ability to pay- have remained unharmed. Refusing to turn away patients, the hospital has become light in the midst of turmoil, a safe place for healing, loving, and empowering people. [ 
A recent Harvard Business School study found that giving a sum of money to someone else lifted well-being than spending it on oneself. Preventative medicine professor Stephen Post writes that giving to others has been shown to increase health benefits in people with chronic illness. Neuroeconomics researcher Paul Zak found that people who share and experience gratitude release oxytocin, a hormone known to relieve stress and improve immune function. The research is piling up- sharing is good for happiness and health. Why? It builds trust, releases health-boosting hormones, increases positive social interaction with others, and promotes cooperation, and much more. [ 
