The Solar Decathlon Shines on the Future

Last week 20 college and university teams competed in the Department of Energy’s third Solar Decathlon. Each team's challenge: to design and build a fully functioning home powered solely by the sun. The homes were built on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. and were open for public viewing.

As competing students have to stretch every watt of electricity generated by the solar panels on their roofs, they learn that energy is a precious commodity. Using high-tech materials, design elements, and sheer ingenuity, they figure out ways to heat and cool the homes and run all those plugged-in conveniences we rely on every day—fridges, washers, dryers, small appliances, electronics, automatic toilet seat warmers, you name it.

Which team won? Visit the official Web site, www.SolarDecathlon.org, to find out. While you’re there, enjoy a few of the Virtual House Tours. You’ll be inspired by the creativity involved, and excited about the possibilities.

A Few Friday Good News Quickies . . .

The Black-Footed Ferret Is Back
Declared extinct in 1979, the masked cousin of the weasel has made a comeback. This month’s Smithsonian magazine reports that, thanks to captive breeding, hundreds of black-footed ferrets now live in the wild.

Under 50 and Considering a Face Lift?
“Put down the knife and walk away from the table,” says More magazine (November 2007). “Almost three-quarters of cosmetic surgery is done on patients under 50 years old. Seems a funny thing happens after [we women] hit that big birthday: We relax. Surveys consistently show that post 50, we’re happier, more confident and socially involved than younger women.”

Organic Crops Earn More Cash
According to a study by U.S. Agricultural Research Service scientists and economists, grain farmers could make more money by switching to organic crops. The Futurist (Nov-Dec 2006) reports that “researchers used computer simulations to project costs, yields, and risks over a 20-year period. They found that farmers would net $50 to $60 more per acre a year by going organic”—a bit of economic news that should bring about some positive agricultural changes.

Desktop Computers for $99
And, they only use 10% of the energy of a standard PC. Don’t believe us? Visit Zonbu.com.

Thought of the Day
“There are things you do because they feel right and they may make no sense and they may make no money and it may be the real reason we are here: to love each other and to eat each other’s cooking and say it was good.” —Brian Andreas, StoryPeople.com

Cancer Death Rates Dropping

“The evidence is unmistakable: we are truly turning the tide in the cancer battle,” said John R. Seffrin, Ph.D., chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society (ACS).

Lauran Neergaard of the Associated Press has the story: "Cancer Death Rates Dropping Fast."

Now that the tide has turned, what if we all imagine cancer rates decreasing at a phenomenal rate? It's a thought worth putting our collective mind power to.

Put a Little Action Behind That “Support Our Troops” Bumper Sticker

No matter where we stand on the war, we all want to support our troops. A military mother-in-law and a bookstore in North Carolina held an event this summer that illustrates the power of taking some action.

As any military person with family will tell you, the hardest thing about being overseas is being away from his or her children. To help military parents stay connected with their young ones, event coordinator Rene Martin of Quail Ridge Books & Music in Raleigh, North Carolina, initiated an event on Memorial Day weekend that encouraged customers to purchase children’s books for donation to the USO’s United Through Reading program (UTR).

UTR provides a selection of books to active-duty service men and women, who choose one and are recorded on DVD as they read the book aloud. The DVD is then sent to his or her child at home.

Martin organized the UTR event after she was contacted by Catherine Billingsley. “Catherine was absolutely the driving force behind this event,” Martin says. Billingsley’s son-in-law, who has served four tours of duty in Iraq, participated in the United Through Reading program and she saw directly the positive effect the experience had on her grandson Walker.

The photo above shows Walker’s enthusiastic response to his father, Staff Sergeant Steve Bixby, stationed at Al Asad Airbase, outside of Baghdad.

The Quail Ridge event was so successful, Martin and Billingsley are encouraging other bookstores to hold similar events. They're also offering to share their advice on the ins and outs of organizing them—contact Rene Martin at QRBrene@aol.com and/or Catherine Billingsley at billingsleyca@ecu.edu.

Individuals interested in getting involved, click here for a list of ways you can donate to the United Through Reading program.

You’ll be happy to know that Staff Sergeant Bixby came home this month for what he and his family hope is at least a year before being deployed again. He met his three-month-old daughter, Victoria, for the first time and is enjoying reading time—in person—with both of his children.

Nobel Prize Recipient Mario Capecchi Wins in Medicine and in Life

Feeling a little overwhelmed by life’s challenges? We have just the story to keep you going.

As co-winner of this year’s Nobel Prize for medicine, Italian-born American Mario Capecchi has been celebrated all over the world and all over the media this week. Rightly so, as his genetics research may define the science of the 21st century, contributing to humanity in ways we can’t yet imagine. In fact, his life story is a contribution to humanity as well. From feral four-year-old child in the streets of Nazi-occupied Italy to Nobel winner, Capecchi's life provides testimony to the tenacity of the human mind and spirit.

Click here to read Andrew Gumbel’s excellent “Mario Capecchi: The Man Who Changed Our World.”

And while you're at it, why not do a little Nobel Prize exploring. You'll be informed and inspired:

For a year-by-year listing of former Nobel recipients in the various fields (it's fun to browse the categories) click here.

Share the Noble Laureate Facts page with your kids. Who was the youngest recipient? The oldest? Did you know that Madame Curie was one of only four people to have one the Prize more than once? She won in 1903 for physics and 1911 for chemistry. Not only that, her husband won the Prize and so did her daughter. Can you imagine what the conversations around the Curie dinner table must have been like?

Refresher Course: Since 1901 the Nobel Prize has been awarded each year for achievements in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. It's an international award administered by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden. In 1968, Sveriges Riksbank established The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, founder of the Nobel Prize. Each prize consists of a medal, personal diploma, and a cash award.

Venice, Florida, Launches Civility Campaign, Because It Matters

What if you received a smile with every sales transaction and smiled back?

What if your neighbor picked up your trash can lid rather than watching it blow down the street?

What if you didn’t shake your fist at the driver who wouldn’t let you merge into traffic?

These are questions posed by the Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice, Florida, as it launches a new civility campaign. The "Because It Matters" initiative, launched this week, will stress improving quality of life by increasing civic participation, civil discourse, and social capital.

When we act civilly we feel good. "Research bears it out," says the Foundation. "Emotions are contagious. When humans feel good, those good feelings extend to the next person we encounter. Human brain chemistry signals us to feel better about the world around us. That is the essence of Because It Matters."

“Because It Matters gives all of us an opportunity to improve the quality of life in our region, one encounter at a time,” says Foundation President and CEO, Teri A. Hansen.

Visit BecauseItMatters.net for more information and to read the 10 Keys to Civility. (Which you already know, of course . . . right?)

Georgia Tech Student Puts His (Apparently Boundless) Energy To Work For the Environment

Do you remember what you were up to during your twentieth summer? Thomas Christian of Atlanta, Georgia, was in Leverkusen, Germany, being elected to the Tunza Youth Advisory Council of the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP).

Christian is one of 12 young adults—six young men, six young women—on the Council, two representing each of the six UNEP regions: Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America, and West Asia. During its two-year mandate, the Council will advise UNEP on better ways of getting young people engaged in its efforts.

“I now realize that we as youth concerned about the state of our Earth need to educate people on environmental issues,” Christian says, "then advocate for change in our communities, the nation, and the world. As Mahatma Gandhi stated, we must be the change we wish to see in the world. All of us elected to the the Council feel we have a long road ahead of us, but we’re ready for the challenge.”

Though busy enough attending the Georgia Institute of Technology, Christian recently co-founded the Environmental Alliance, the only environmental student organization on the Georgia Tech campus. He also serves as a regional director for 2020 Vision (2020Vision.org), a U.S. non-profit organization that focuses on oil addiction and climate change.

Sleeping, apparently, is not on his agenda.

Click here for more information about the Tunza Youth Advisory Council and to meet the other Council members.

Making Music Makes Us Smarter

So you didn’t become a concert pianist after all those music lessons as a kid. They were still worth it. A new study from Northwestern University shows that the number of years a person practices music strongly correlates with enhanced basic sound encoding mechanisms that also are relevant for speech.

In fact, according to the study, music training may be more important for enhancing verbal communication skills than learning phonics.

“Audiovisual processing was much enhanced in musicians’ brains compared to non-musician counterparts, and musicians also were more sensitive to subtle changes in both speech and music sounds,” said Nina Kraus, Hugh Knowles Professor of Communication Sciences and Neurobiology and director of Northwestern’s Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory, where the work was performed.

Since music is inherently more accessible to children than phonics, the new research suggests music training may provide considerable benefits for developing literacy skills.

The study, “Musicians Have Enhanced Subcortical Auditory and Audiovisual Processing of Speech and Music,” was published online the week of September 24 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The co-investigators are Gabriella Musacchia, Mikko Sams, Erika Skoe and Nina Kraus.

Click here to read Northwestern’s study synopsis (mercifully in lay language).

Martini and a Movie, Anyone?

Here at AndNowfortheGoodNews.com, we love kids, of all ages. But when we heard that some movie theaters are offering a new over-21-only option in moviegoing, we couldn’t help but consider it good news. (Options are a good thing, right?)

P.J. Huffstutter of the Los Angeles Times explains the new movie experience some theaters are now offering to entice adult adults back to the big screen.

Professor Gives New Meaning to "The Last Lecture" Series

As Jeffrey Zaslow of The Wall Street Journal reports, a growing number of universities are conducting a lecture series in which professors are asked to give hypothetical last lectures—as in, if they only had one shot left, what would they tell their students. It's a great idea in itself, but for 46-year-old Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, the term "last lecture" takes on true meaning. Professor Pausch has pancreatic cancer and expects to have only a few weeks or months to live.

Click here for the 4:40 minute video.

A week after that first video ran, which resulted in a rush of public response, Zaslow ran this update:

Click here for the 4:20 minute video follow-up.

Click here for the entire 1.5 hour lecture (includes introductions by colleagues and friends).

200 Countries Agree To Make History and Cut Threats to the Ozone Layer

This weekend nearly 200 countries, including the U.S., agreed to accelerate the elimination of chemicals that threaten the ozone layer.

According to the agreement reached at the United Nations–sponsored conference in Montreal on Saturday, September 22, developed countries will phase out the production of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) by 2020 and developing states have until 2030. This is 10 years earlier than previously promised under the 1987 Montreal Protocol.

"It is perhaps the most important breakthrough in an international environment negotiation process for at least five or six years," said United Nations Environmental Program chief Achim Steiner.

The Montreal Protocol was initially designed as a way of stopping destruction of the ozone layer, but it turns out that it also provides a way of curbing global warming, making Saturday’s new agreement all the more important and historic.

Read what the BBC has to say.

Read what the global news agency AFP has to say.

Bullied Boy Finds Pink Is Pretty Powerful

Here's a conversation-inducing good news story to share with your kids. A couple of 12th graders got courageous and creative and came to the rescue of a 9th grader being bullied for wearing a pink shirt to school.

"It was my last year," explains Canadian high schooler David Shepherd. "I’ve stood around too long and I wanted to do something." Read the full, inspiring story in The Chronicle Herald.

Park Your Sod and Potted Plants, It's National Park(ing) Day

Did you miss it? We did. Friday, September 21, was National Park(ing) Day and when we weren’t looking 150 public parking spots across the country were transformed into mini public parks.

After rolling out their sod or Astroturf, placing their potted trees and lawn chairs, volunteers soaked up the sun in their makeshift parks as curious onlookers asked questions.

National Park(ing) Day is sponsored by The Trust for Public Land and is part of a nationwide movement to publicize the need for more natural spaces in urban areas. The concept may sound a little silly, but the visual these spots offer is undeniably effective, as illustrated by these photos of mini-parks in cities across the U.S.: San Francisco, New York, and Palm Beach, Florida.

So, get that potted tree growing and mark you calendar for next year. Visit The Trust for Public Land for information and pictures of some of this years marvelous mini-parks.

Get Ready, the World’s Largest Shared Reading Experience Is About To Take Place

On Thursday, September 20, hundreds of thousands of children and adults across America will have their noses in the same book. Yes, it’s time for Jumpstart’s second annual Read for the Record event, part of a record-breaking campaign aimed to raise more than $1 million for early education programs in low-income communities.

NBC’s Today Show with Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira will broadcast the event from Rockefeller Plaza. The book everyone will be reading is a special edition of The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, illustrated by Robert Lawson. Pearson, the education publisher, is underwriting all publishing costs for this special edition, which means Jumpstart will receive 100% of the book’s cover price.

Read for the Record is just one more example of a non-profit organization and a for-profit company teaming up to do a world of good. The event is not only a great way for Jumpstart to raise money and awareness, it’s a great excuse to get the family together and share the experience of reading a great book.

Want to get involved? It’s easy. The Story of Ferdinand special edition will be on sale for the month of September only, so buy your copy now at one of Jumpstart’s national partners: Toys “R” Us, American Eagle Outfitters, or Hanna Andersson. Can’t get to one of these retailers? Go to www.readfortherecord.org/books, make a minimum donation of $10.00 to support Jumpstart and Pearson will send you a copy The Story of Ferdinand. (Or if you prefer, Pearson will donate the book to a Jumpstart child in your name.)

As a bonus, for each $10 you donate, Pearson will match you and donate a children’s book to one of several organizations working to bring books and literacy to children all over the world.

Anyway you look at it, you get a powerful philanthropic punch for your $10 investment.

To learn more about the September 20 Read for the Record event and how you can
get involved, visit http://www.readfortherecord.org/

To read more about Jumpstart visit http://www.jstart.org/

Reality Check Quickie #2

About 85% of the U.S. population now has at least a high school education, compared to about 51% in 1967, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Iran Adopts a Custom Long Seen As a Sign of Western Social Progress

This summer Sarem hospital in Tehran became the first in Iran to allow a father inside a delivery room during the birth of his child. “Now a custom long seen as a sign of western social progress is being adopted in the conservative setting of Iran,” journalist Robert Tait writes in The Guardian (July 23, 2007).

Dr. Abutaleb Sarem, a western-trained specialist obstetrician and medical director is making an effort to persuade more women to have natural childbirth. In Iran, 70% of babies are born by caesarean section, a procedure with high risks of infection and other serious side effects. Doctors find that the presence of the father calms the mother’s fears and the support helps make a natural birth easier.

Dr. Sarem said of this groundbreaking event, “The husband was emotional and in tears.” We hear it all the time, “Having a baby changes everything.” Seeing their children enter the world, being present with the mother as she goes through the labor process, surely that would affect fathers psychologically. It’s interesting to consider what might result socially and politically as more and more fathers in Iran share this experience.

Our expert, Laura E. Berk, professor of developmental psychology, Illinois State University, weighs in:

Iran’s sky-high cesarean rate is believed to be an outgrowth of the country’s Islamic revolution, which required women to cover their bodies in Islamic dress. They focused on beautifying what remained visible—their faces—and opted for “nose jobs” in record numbers. A new generation receptive to elective surgery arose in which C-sections became routine, a trend supported by the procedure’s affordability. In Iran, the surgery costs only slightly more than a vaginal delivery.

Needless C-sections, however, pose risks. Although the surgery itself is safe, mother and baby require extra time for recovery. Anesthetic often crosses the placenta, making newborns sleepy and unresponsive and placing some at risk for breathing difficulties. These factors can make a cesarean newborn more difficult to care for, with potential negative effects on the early parent-infant bond.

Alarmed by the high cesarean rate, the Iranian government recently initiated media campaigns that inform the public of health risks. The time has grown ripe in Iran to draw women away from routine C-sections toward natural childbirth, with the incentive of a peak life experience. Because men, including husbands, are banned from delivery rooms in Iranian hospitals, Dr. Sarem’s achievement—a father supporting the mother during childbirth—is truly a landmark event.

Social support—the presence of a trained, caring companion who encourages, touches, and promotes relaxation—is crucial to the success of natural childbirth techniques. It is linked to a shorter labor, fewer birth complications, higher Apgar scores (a rating of the newborn’s physical condition), and more positive interaction between mother and baby. Continuous—rather than intermittent—social support strengthens these favorable outcomes.

A father’s early interaction with his baby is also beneficial. Most fathers are overjoyed at the arrival of their son or daughter, describe the experience as “awesome” and “unforgettable,” are intensely interested in the newborn child, and touch, look at, talk to, and kiss the newborn as much as mothers do. And as with mothers, certain hormonal changes in fathers, which are triggered by the presence of the newborn, help foster their involvement and sensitivity.

In sum, when fathers participate in natural childbirth, mothers recover more quickly from the birth experience and are more effective newborn caregivers. And paternal contact with the baby in the minutes and hours after birth may be one of several factors that help build a good father–infant relationship.

Boys, They Aren’t What They Used To Be

(Note to parents: You might want to share this good news story with your teenage boys. After all, when was the last time they heard the media say something positive about them?)

“Boys today look pretty good compared with their dads and older cousins,” writes David Von Drehle in “The Myth About Boys" (Time, July 26, 2007). “By some measures, our boys are doing better than ever.”

In fact, Justice Department statistics show that the juvenile crime rate is down by two-thirds from its peak in 1993 and the juvenile male prison population is only half its historical high.

“My favorite statistic seemed to sum up all the others,” writes Von Drehle, “fewer boys today are deadbeats. The percentage of young men between 16 and 19 who neither work nor attend school has fallen by about a quarter since 1984.”

Von Drehle, father of a 10-year-old son himself, gives us a lot of good news regarding the state of our boys and offers some wise advice about where we can go from here. He points out that perhaps boys are doing better in part simply because we’re paying more attention to them. In particular, he sites a University of Michigan sociological study that indicates that there has been a sharp increase since the 1970s in the amount of time men spend with their children.

Click here to read the full, encouraging Time article, which includes interesting stats and a photo essay, "The Boys are All Right," by David Burnett. (It’s in the August 6, 2007 print issue.)

Reality Check Quickie #1

Today’s youth are doing better than we give them credit for. Here are just a few telling stats:

According to the 2006 Monitoring the Future survey of eighth, tenth, and twelfth graders, there has been an across-the-board decline in drug use among U.S. teens.

The teen birth rate in the U.S. has fallen to its lowest level ever recorded, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

And, since 1991, the prevalence of many health-risk behaviors among high school students nationwide has decreased, according to The National Youth Risk Behavior Survey, the results of which were released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For more reality check stats and stories, read the “Youth and Hope” chapter of And Now for the Good News.

Athletes and Dogs—They CAN Be a Healthy Combination

A lot of media attention has been given to one well-known athlete and his criminal mistreatment of dogs. Let’s switch our focus for a moment, shall we, to an athlete who’s helping promote positive interaction with animals.

Olympic and World champion Bruce Jenner will host the 2007 Cynosport World Games. The event is put on by the United States Dog Agility Association (USDAA) and will benefit The Human Society of the United States, an organization that helps improve the lives of dogs and other animals across the nation.

Jenner will be joined by other high-profile athletes including boxer Winky Wright and Olympic diving champion Greg Louganis, who actually participates in agility programs with his own dog.

The USDAA is the world’s largest independent authority for the sport of dog agility, a competitive sport that tests a person’s skills in training and handling of dogs over a timed obstacle course. With scoring based on faults similar to equestrian show jumping, dog agility has become an exciting spectator event for many.

The USDAA has more than 30,000 registered competitors and more than 30,000 dogs representing 200 different breeds of dogs, including mix-breeds, which means even loveable mutts can join in the games.

Dog lovers, mark your calendars. This year's Cynosport World Games will be held October 31 through November 4 at the Westworld Equestrian Center in Scottsdale, Arizona. For more information, visit www.cynosport.com.

Dreaming About Building a New Home? Read This First—It Could Save You a Ton of Dough and Help Save the Planet at the Same Time

The 2007 Modern Marvels Invent–Now Challenge which celebrates ingenuity, imagination, and inventions that could change history, awarded its 2007 Grand Prize to homebuilder Michael Sykes and his Enertia Building System.

Sykes’ Enertia homes save money in building costs, dramatically decrease heating and cooling costs, are built from a 100% renewable resource, and last far longer and are far stronger than conventional homes. They even look like a regular earthling home (your neighbors won’t curse you and your alien home).

Enertia—which means Energy from a shift-in-time—is a new energy technology, invented by Sykes, using the thermodynamic properties of—surprise—wood. There’s nothing new about building with wood, of course; it’s the type of wood and method of construction that make the difference.

Enertia homes are built with "Green Building Blocks" which are glue-laminated wooden blocks precut and numbered to form a prefab Geo-solar house. The wooden structure of the home doubles as a "thermal battery," shifting daytime solar gain to nighttime heating needs.

The blocks, made from tree-farmed, certified-sustainable Southern Pine timber, are 100% natural and 100% renewable. The US Southern Pine Forests are so vast, and the trees grow so fast, that the material used for the house will rejuvenate in less than 30 seconds. (that’s not a typo, 30-seconds.) The whole structure is Green and carbon negative when solar thermal panels and solar electricity are installed.

The blocks also speed up the construction time and can lower the cost of construction. During most of the building process the only tool needed is a high-torque electric drill. According to Sykes, building and living in an Enertia home is the environmental equivalent of taking 50 cars off the road.

Curious? Visit Enertia.com.

Sykes and his invention were recently featured on the new Discovery Science Channel series ECO-TECH. If you missed it, check channel listings as it will be re-broadcast.

The Invent–Now Challenge is sponsored by the History Channel, the US Patent office, Lexus, and Time magazine. Find details at The History Channel.