Ode Magazine (daily good news)
Publish2 Ode Magazine - And now for the good news Newsgroup
Updated: 17 min ago
An underwater beauty salon for sharks?
Kathy Marks of The Independent takes an amusing look at the reef "salons" where sharks often go for upkeep. It turns out that at several spots along the Great Barrier Reef sharks are using smaller fish to groom them. By parking themselves in strategic places, they allow the ocean's little creatures to "swarm all over them, removing dead and diseased tissue, mucus, scales and ectoparasites."
"The stunning diversity of plants"
SEED Magazine presents biologist Kirsten Bomblies of Harvard University with ten questions about studying the immune systems of plants: "Think of the stunning diversity of plants. They’re everywhere and come in a huge variety of shapes, colors, and sizes. They feed us, shelter us, bring us joy, heal or poison us. They monitor their surroundings constantly and adjust as needed, since they cannot move to escape danger. Like animals, they have adapted to a specific set of circumstances. Today, more and more plant populations (wild species and crop species alike) are being impacted by human activities or pushed to the limits of their adaptations by habitat or climate changes."
Rooftop solar panels for Canada's largest supermarket chain
Loblaw grocery stores in Ontario may be in store for an eco-makeover... According to The Globe and Mail, the nation's largest supermarket chain is about to install rooftop solar panels in many of its locations. The contracts will be awarded through Canada's "feed-in-tariff" program, which helps companies move toward renewable energy.
Conan O'Brien's Twitter stunt reaps surprisingly charitable rewards
Our story begins when a newly-out-of-work Conan O'Brien decided to join twitter last month. One of his early pranks was to begin following a stranger at random, just to see what would happen. That stranger was 19 year old Sarah Killen, aka LovelyButton, who suddenly found herself with 18,587 strangers following her account. Instead of wallowing in the spotlight, Killen used her new-found fame to generate funds for the Michigan Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure for breast cancer, which prompted a chain reaction of charitable giving...
Ancient shipwrecks discovered in the Baltic Sea
Peter Norman of the Swedish National Heritage Board is excited about recent discoveries in the Baltic Sea: "We have managed to identify 12 shipwrecks, and nine of them are considered to be fairly old. We think many of the ships are from the 17th and 18th centuries and we think some could even be from the Middle Ages."
"Survival of the kindest"
According to UC Berkeley psychologist Dacher Keltner, human evolution is not a matter of brute force and selfishness. In his book, "Born to be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life," he argues that altruism and compassion are important contributors to our evolutionary success: "Human beings have survived as a species because we have evolved the capacities to care for those in need and to cooperate. As Darwin long ago surmised, sympathy is our strongest instinct." Thanks to Ode reader Charity Moschopoulos for the link!
Travel as a political act
Fans of PBS know that TV and radio personality Rick Steves loves to travel. But he appreciates the political landscapes he encounters as much as the artistic and culinary ones: "I enjoy bettering myself by observing others. And I appreciate constructive criticism from caring friends. In that same spirit, I enjoy learning about my society by observing other societies and challenging myself (and my neighbors) to be broad-minded when it comes to international issues."
Happiness makes for a healthy heart
It's official - happiness is good for your heart. And if a recent study at Colombia Univeristy Medical Center is to be trusted, we mean that literally. For ten years, specialist Karina Davidson followed 1,739 participants in a Canadian health survey. During that time, they found that "positive affect" was often the key to psychological and physical wellness...
New hope for mountain gorillas in Congo
Primates Ndeze and Ndakasi offer new hope for the endangered mountain gorillas of eastern Africa. Though orphaned during the social unrest of 2007, the pair may soon find new adoptive parents at Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. If all goes well, they'll be returned to the wild eventually as well...
How a Malawian teenager harvested the power of wind
William Kamkwamba's life changed when he borrowed a textbook titled "Using Energy" from a library in the African nation of Malawi, at age 14. The book inspired him to create a windmill from scrap materials like plastic pipes, discarded fans and a broken bicycle. Eventually, he transformed it into a functional wind turbine, bringing much needed electricity to his impoverished community! Thanks to Ode reader Bobby Murshid for the link!
"Gross National Happiness" in Bhutan
In this article, Ode reader Charity Moschopoulos takes us to Bhutan, where personal well-being is measured according to the concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH). The index is split into nine dimensions: "psychological well-being, health, education, the use of time, cultural diversity, governance, the vitality of democratic life, environmental diversity and standard of living."
"Hybrid" power plants?
In Indiantown, Florida, the FPL Group utility is currently at work on the world's second largest solar energy plant. And it's being "grafted onto the back of the nation’s largest fossil-fuel power plant, fired by natural gas." This is one of a series of recent experiments hoping to combine conventional energy sources with more sustainable upgrades. And it's the first attempt to do so on a massive industrial scale...
Controlling your energy use at home
Slate's "The Efficient Life" is a project that encourages readers to conserve energy at home while saving money. In this edition, questions are raised regarding the use of heating oil and propane: "I know exactly how much electricity my family used yesterday. But I have only a vague guess of how many gallons of heating oil we burned. As a result, I can't measure how different behavioral changes would affect consumption. What would happen if I turned the heat down to 65 instead of 68? Would it save a gallon or a half a gallon? How much oil does it take to get the house from 68 to 72 in the morning? Given that heating oil costs more than $3 per gallon, small amounts can add up to significant savings."
African poverty falling faster than thought?
According to a new study by U.S.-based economists Xavier Sala-i-Martin and Maxim Pinkovskiy, Africa may be slowly inching closer to economic prosperity: “The growth from the period 1995-2006, far from benefiting only the elites, has been sufficiently widely spread that both total African inequality and African within-country inequality actually declined over this period.”
Big plans for renewable energy in Australia
The Victoria–based advocacy group Beyond Zero Emissions is optimistic about renewable energy in Australia. In a report set to be released later this year, they claim that the country can use solar and wind power to produce all percent of its electricity in just 10 years. "We have concluded that there are no technological impediments to transforming Australia’s stationary energy sector to zero emissions over the next 10 years," says Matthew Wright, the company's executive director.
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