All Perspectives
Could the blackout be fuel for India's energy entrepreneurs?New technologies created by India's energy entrepreneurs could provide affordable clean energy through community-scale micro-grids, solar home systems, and solar lanterns that displace the need for subsidized kerosene and provide a hundred times the lumens for a fraction of the cost.
As cities grow, technology could help quench the world's thirstApplying known technologies and changing old practices could make a big difference in ensuring an adequate water supply for both agriculture and cities, one expert says.
How cities can get drivers bikingHow can planners attract the 60 percent of Americans who say they would bike more if they felt more secure? The answer could be cheap and simple.
A modern, wired university grows in NigeriaThe American University of Nigeria provides a modern education right in the backyard of Boko Haram, Nigeria's homegrown terrorist group. One clue: The campus claims 55 percent of all the Internet traffic in Nigeria.- Readers RespondReaders Write: Family dinners are good investment; Both GOP and Dems lean rightLetters to the Editor for the August 6, 2012 weekly print issue: Family dinners at home cost less, are more nutritious, teach children verbal skills, and build connections. American political parties aren't governing from the extremes; they're both governing from the right.
Bamboo farming takes pressure off Kenya's forestsEvicted from Kenya's protected forests, displaced people are finding a new way to make a living 鈥� without cutting trees 鈥� by turning to bamboo farming.- Difference MakerOne-time skinhead Arno Michaels helps youths respond with compassionHis Kindness Not Weakness outreach program challenges diverse audiences to show the kind of 'warrior' strength needed to practice nonviolence.
12 innovations that could combat droughtClimate change is making it increasingly important to protect US agriculture and address its vulnerability to natural disasters, such as drought.
'Own your own boda' (motorcycle taxi) empowers UgandansA startup helps motorcycle taxi drivers in Kampala, Uganda, buy their bikes, which in turn helps them buy homes, start businesses, and send their kids to school.
'Popovers for Pigs' helps green up famous Acadia National Park restaurant'Popovers for Pigs' is just one of the many environmental initiatives undertaken by Jordan Pond House, the only restaurant to operate inside Acadia National Park on the scenic seacoast of Maine.- Readers RespondReaders Write: How to eliminate tax breaks (and the deficit); Wake up, 99 percentLetters to the Editor for the July 30, 2012 weekly print issue: Look at effective tax rates, cap deductions, put an expiration date on tax breaks; With the US meritocracy now based on nepotism and cronyism, the '99 percent' had better wake up and demand better.
After Aurora: the role of media violenceThe connection between violent images and violent acts is an age-old debate. Recent research appears to show the connection is real. So what's to be done? There's an age-old antidote.
Tracing America's green rootsJohn Muir and Gifford Pinchot represent the two strains of environmentalism in the United States -- and most of us think like both of them. We want nature pristine and undisturbed, but we also rely on its resources and understand the need to use care in extracting them.
Difference MakerChepe Ubaque survived Colombia's mean streets. Now he helps others do the same.Hip-hop, graffiti, break dancing, and journalism programs give teens in Colombia a safe way to express themselves 鈥� and avoid violence.
Charities plan to distribute $2 million in aid for Colorado shooting victimsMore than 2,500 individuals have donated to help victims and their families in the aftermath of a shooting spree in a Colorado theater. At GivingFirst.org donors can choose from a list of 10 organizations to contribute to.
Progress WatchKids Count report: America's children are advancing despite the economyThe widely-watched Kids Count annual survey on the state of America's children shows gains in health and education despite the poor economy. But advocates say raised poverty rates merit more attention from lawmakers.
Teach Twice shares stories with the worldTeach Twice's title echoes its dual purposes: Provide parents with great stories to read to children, and provide financial aid to schools and students in developing countries.
Fish-loving Japan begins to embrace sustainable seafoodIn fish-crazed Japan, where eating seafood is a vital part of the nation's culture, conservation groups are working with companies to persuade more Japanese to eat certified, sustainably caught seafood. If they succeed, it could have a significant positive impact on the world's fisheries.
Water harvesting slakes thirst at an innovative Kenyan innFaced with an expensive and unreliable municipal water supply, an entrepreneur collects rainwater for his inn in an underground tank, creating an abundant supply for the guest rooms, toilets, bathrooms, kitchen, and restaurant.
The end of 'faster, higher, stronger?'As the cream of the world's athletes converge on London for the Olympics, sports scientists say humans may be reaching the limits of their ability to set world records. But that takes nothing away from the drama of athletic competition.
