Sunday, November 14, 2010 Bilingual Babies Learn in the Womb  Babies who hear two languages regularly when they are in their mother's womb are more open to being bilingual, a study published this week in Psychological Science shows. Researchers tested one group of newborns who only heard English in the womb and the others who heard English and Tagalog and the infants exposed to two languages during pregnancy showed an equal preference for each one. Read More >>
back to top  Saturday, November 13, 2010 Dalai Lama: A Professional Laugher?  "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: Read More >>
back to top Friday, November 12, 2010 Why Money Is Like Beer  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. Read More >>
back to top Thursday, November 11, 2010 Inspirational Graduation Speech by Autistic Student  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. Read More >>
back to top Wednesday, November 10, 2010 Turning Values into Action  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. Read More >>
back to top Tuesday, November 9, 2010 Grandmother Runs a Hospital of Hope  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. Read More >>
back to top Monday, November 8, 2010 7 Health Benefits of Sharing  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. Read More >>
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"We have a crisis of leadership in America." In a speech delivered at West Point, writer William Deresiewicz states that many of today's leaders have jumped through the hoops and climbed up the greasy ladder of hierarchy only to maintain the status quo. Real leadership, though, "means finding a new direction, not simply putting yourself at the front of the herd that's heading toward the cliff." They recognize when they're in a position that compromises their values, and have the courage to hold steadfastly to what they believe is right. So how does one know what is right? By practicing solitude. [ 
Memory loss is the single biggest fear for Americans over the age of 55. And it's understandable: over 4 million currently suffer from Alzheimer's disease, and those numbers are expected to quadruple by 2050, according to the Alzheimer's Foundation. That may be why memory-boosting products like Sudoku puzzles and ginko-infused soft drinks are lining storefronts. But beyond the marketing campaigns, there's one common practice that's been proven to preserve memory: exercise. Just walking six miles a week can increase the growth of new cells and improve cellular processes associated with learning and memory. [ 
As they say, the more things change, the more they remain the same. And this adage will be proven true by a British woman who will walk on the path Mahatma Gandhi took 80 years ago. Eight decades ago, Gandhi embarked on a Salt March demanding to break free from British colonialism through a nonviolent movement. Starting today, an inspired Jill Beckingham will retrace his route in the same Gandhian spirit of "right over might". Walking from India's Ahmedabad to Dandi, she plans to raise funds for six NGOs, three each in Mumbai and Gujarat. [ 
Enacting one of the nation's most aggressive environmental measures, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted yesterday to ban plastic grocery bags in unincorporated areas of the county. The ban, which will cover nearly 1.1 million residents countywide, is to the point: "No store shall provide to any customer a plastic carryout bag." Grocers who choose to offer bags will sell them for 10 cents each. Environmentalists hope that the ban will help diminish the 6 billion plastic bags used in LA each year, 1.5 billion of which ends up as "urban tumbleweed" on the street. [ 
Though her story is nearly forgotten, she was once America's most admired civil servant. Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey's journey - honored with the FDA's first Kelsey Award - has transformed medical safety in the US and throughout the industrialized world. Thanks to Dr. Kelsey, thalidomide - causing children to be born limbless or with flipper-like arms and legs - had a far more limited effect in the United States than in Europe. Furthermore, the FDA was authorized to demand that drug makers prove their products safe and effective. Dr. Kelsey helped write the rules that now govern nearly every clinical trial in the industrialized world, and was the first official to oversee them. And these accomplishments almost remained unknown. [ 
Nelson Mandela didn't always look like a visionary. For 27 years, he simply looked like a prisoner, locked up for antiapartheid activism. What seemed like a long exercise in futility is now legend: after his release, he became his country's president, and today is an icon of commitment and compassion. Fortunately, visionary thinkers aren't always imprisoned, but they are often ridiculed, marginalized, or just plain dismissed for proposing big ideas that sound outlandish to others. To prove that dreams are possible, Utne Reader highlights a few of the lofty, laudable, and reachable goals of 25 visionaries. [ 
