With the new reality of $70 (US) crude oil, the plastics industries are turning to corn and fast-growing switchgrass to manufacture everything from carpet to car parts. Bio-degradable and reusable shopping bags made of corn will break down in a landfill â€" or home composter â€" within four to 12 weeks.
For one sick boy who might not make it to Christmas, his community has brought the holiday to him.
A picture may be worth 1,000 words, but it'll only take about 150 to explain what makes this one out of Hamilton, Ontario is so beautiful.
For those who can't work out due to chronic pain, disability, or obligations, a pill may one day offer some of the benefits of exercise.
A police sergeant made himself an "easy mark" for criminals wanting to rob the vulnerable. What he got instead was an outpouring of kindness from strangers.
When U.S. airspace was closed on 9-11, Delta flight 15 and 52 other airplanes from all over the world were diverted to New Foundland. The small town of Gander and surrounding communities sent convoys of school buses pick up the 10,500 stranded passengers.
Tributes have hailed Frances Kelsey as a hero since her death on Friday. The Canadian doctor fought tenaciously to keep thalidomide out of US pharmacies.
A jovial 87-year-old has parlayed a huge construction business in Iran into a Canadian philanthropic legacy that will continue after he is gone. His Djavad Mowafaghian Foundation has given away tens of millions of his personal wealth to build children hospitals in Vancouver -- and building schools for children around the world. Most ambitious, his Foundation has built a new $68.8-million center for brain health at the University of BC with 500 scientists working on diseases like alzheimer's.
An anonymous do-gooder trying to keep Ottawa residents warm has been leaving dozens of handmade scarves outside wrapped around the necks of city statues, brightening the landscape of Canada's war heroes. In response to deeply frigid temps in Ontario, the scarves include friendly notes that read: "I am not lost! If you are stuck out in the cold, take this scarf to keep warm."
Over the last year Althea Guiboche has run out of money and run out of baking supplies, but she has never stopped giving away free bread and soup to the city's homeless every week. The aboriginal mother of seven was even forced by the province to become trained in food-handling if she wanted to continue, but now she has an official certificate and she cooks inside a commercial kitchen at the community center -- all toward the goal of becoming more compassionate and giving.
A Winnipeg Transit bus driver is being hailed a Good Samaritan after stunned passengers watched him give the shoes off his feet to a man who was walking barefoot on the sidewalk.
A $30-million philanthropic gift from an anonymous wealthy couple is allowing the City of Vancouver to reopen Taylor Manor as a home for street people with complex mental health issues.
The sight of snow brought out the little girl in this 101-year-old woman who just had to play in it.
Asfaw, the winner of the Volvo prize for 2006, is a medical doctor who has galvanized over 550 medical and non-medical professionals in the US and Canada to give their time and talents to address the profound healthcare crises in Ethiopia.
A 27-year-old PhD student at Dalhousie University in Halifax is developing a topical cream that he says will make tattoo ink eventually fade away.
Studies show that knitting can lower blood pressure, improve memory skills, and make you a healthier person.
Chum salmon are spawning again at an urban creek in the heart of East Vancouver. The salmon returned this week to Still Creek, which sits in a ravine surrounded by warehouses and was once thoroughly polluted by urban garbage, sewage and toxic chemicals. Much of the credit goes to people who have painstakingly restored their habitat.
The City of Vancouver, B.C. has launched the world's first cigarette butt recycling program in its bid to become the greenest city. The pilot project began last Tuesday with the installation of 110 receptacles in four downtown areas where discarded butts are a messy problem. Fortunately, cigarette filters are made of cellulose acetate, which can be recycled into building materials.
Vancouver's parking enforcement agency awakened the spirit of Christmas early in a one-day toy drive yesterday for residents with unpaid tickets. To benefit children served by The Salvation Army's Belkin House, violators were invited to trade new toys in exchange for forgiveness of all their parking fines.
UNICEF and the government of Rwanda have invited a professor from the University of B.C. to expand a 12-month nutritional pilot study involving 1,100 children into a national program for nearly half a million toddlers aged six months to two y
Recent Stories
The Broken Bicycle: A Short Moral Story
The Tortoise's Tears: A Short Moral Story
Tokyo's Restaurant of Mistaken Orders Employs Dementia Waiters for Unexpected Meals
Man Who Vanished Nearly 30 years ago Found Alive Under Neighbour's Cellar
Man Who Won $1,300,000,000 Lottery Jackpot Sued by Family After Breaking Promise to Share Winnings
Derinkuyu, Turkey's Underground City of 20,000 People
The Monster Waves at Nazare, Portugal
The Inspiring Journey of Amber Rachdi, From 'My 600-Lb Life' to Instagram Influencer
Iceland Unveils the Largest Carbon Removal Facility on Earth
Playa de Las Teresitas: A Famous European Fake Beach Made From Sahara Desert Sand
"4 Children for Sale": The Tragic Story Of the Siblings Sold In Iconic 1948 Photo
A Tale Of Two Hands: A Starving Boy and a Missionary in Uganda