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).