Worth Sharing

WS

Earth

Showing 261 - 280 of 605 Posts

Find Health and Happiness on a Walk in the Woods

Do you want to be happier, healthier, and smarter? I have just the prescription for you: add a daily dose of nature to your routine. Over the past decade, researchers from fields as diverse as biology, psychiatry, horticulture, neuroscience and medicine have discovered countless links between time spent outdoors and cognitive, physical, and emotional improvement. Over the past decade, researchers from fields as diverse as biology, psychiatry, engineering, horticulture, neuroscience and medicine have discovered countless links between time spent outdoors and cognitive, physical, and emotional development -- and a reduction in blood pressure, anxiety, and stress levels.

# Everything Else

Wildlife Thrives in Restored Chicago Wetlands

A chance to restore the wetlands came in 1994 when the Chicago Parks District established its Ecological Restoration Program. Now there are loons, coots, mergansers, and herons too.

29 October 28 Views

Viet Nam Ranks Second on the Happy Planet Index

Despite complaints of traffic jams and overcrowded hospitals and schools, Viet Nam is considered the second happiest country in the world in terms of sustainable well-being -- behind Costa Rica, with Colombia third. The ranking, the Happy Planet Index, was compiled and released by the New Economics Foundation, a UK independent think tank that wanted to create an index to measure the sustainability of a country and the happiness of its people (how efficient is their happiness).

By Jeanne Goddard

18 June 33 Views

Man and Goose Form Unlikely Friendship

They walk around the park together like they're in love, reports Steve Hartman. It all started when a gray goose named Maria started following Dominic every time he went to his local Los Angeles park.

By Jeanne Goddard

16 October 28 Views

Happy Employees, Culture of 'Weirdness' Equals Success for Green Products Company Method

Since Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan launched Method in 2000, to sell pretty bottles of eco-friendly soaps and cleaners in glowing pastel colors, the company has grown into a $100 million (£62.3m) company. Their company's culture of keeping it weird is a social mission that keeps employees happy. To stay focused on employee happiness and high-end innovative design is the business model.

By Jeanne Goddard

16 November 24 Views

Cheetahs From Zoo Get Workout at Horse Track

As the world's fastest animals, the big cats can run up to 65 mph and need to get up to speed to burn off metabolic compounds. But the two who live at the Houston Zoo don't have much opportunity to do that. Until now. In early November, an entourage of 10 people took a pair of 5-year-old cheetah brothers to the Sam Houston Race Park.

By Jeanne Goddard

21 December 35 Views

Virgin Develops Jet Fuel With Half the Carbon Footprint of Others

Virgin Atlantic Airways and LanzaTech are developing an aviation fuel that will cut in half the carbon footprint of conventional flights. Instead of using plant stock for the fuel, waste gases are being captured from steel mills. The gases, which would otherwise burn up in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, are fermented and chemically converted into jet fuel.

By Jeanne Goddard

13 October 28 Views

Artificial Trees Capture Both Sun and Wind Energy

Using cutting edge materials and proven technology to harvest energy from the sun and wind, SolarBotanic is planning to produce artificial trees that look like real plants, but produce electricity when the wind blows and sun shines.

By Jeanne Goddard

27 November 29 Views

Amazon Forest More Resilient to Climate Change Than Feared

The Amazon rainforest is less vulnerable to die off because of global warming than widely believed because the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide also acts as an airborne fertilizer, a study showed on Wednesday.

By Jeanne Goddard

08 February 28 Views

Retired Parking Meters Raise Funds for Rainforests

Many people would be willing to donate a quarter for wildlife conservation, reckoned Norman Gershenz, a conservation biologist at San Francisco State University.

19 February 32 Views

Mexico City Roof Gardens Take Root to Combat Smog, Warming

In one of the world's biggest and most polluted cities, rooftop gardens are springing up in an effort to battle the smog, part of an initiative driven by Mexico City's government --mainly targeting schools and hospitals.

By Jeanne Goddard

22 June 33 Views

Sea Lion Pup Jumps on Boat, Cuddles With Driver (WATCH)

While sailing off Newport Beach, California, James Gilkinson and his niece got the surprise of a lifetime when a sea lion cub jumped onto their boat. The young mammal seemed tired but also became quite affectionate, rubbing against the captain and angling for pats on the head for an hour or more.

By Jeanne Goddard

14 June 29 Views

Animal Odd Couples: PBS Features Cross-Species Compassion (WATCH)

According to Dr. Marc Bekoff Ph.D., emotions like joy, love, empathy, compassion, kindness, and grief can readily be shared by improbable friends including predators and prey such as a cat and a bird, a snake and a hamster, and a lioness and a baby oryx.

By Jeanne Goddard

12 November 32 Views

Over 6 Million Acres of New Protected Areas Established in the Amazon

On June 6, 2006 the Brazilian government announced the creation of protected areas of the Amazon rainforest totaling 6.2 million acres, including The Juruena National Park, now the third largest park in Brazil (4.7 million acres).

By Jeanne Goddard

28 June 24 Views

Hidden Borneo Orangutans Provide Population Bump of 5-7 Percent

A team of conservationists have uncovered a hidden population of around 200 of the world's rarest Bornean orangutans in Malaysian Borneo. The Sarawak government has pledged protection.

By Jeanne Goddard

12 April 35 Views

Turkmenistan Begins Planting 3 Million Trees to Transform Desert Nation

A decree recently signed by the Turkmen President ordered government ministries to plant 3 million trees in 2013 with the aim of transforming the desert Central Asian nation into a blooming garden. Radio Free Europe reports that 465,000 public-sector employees, including those working at schools and universities in the country, took shovels in hand on March 10 and spent the day planting 755,000 trees.

By Jeanne Goddard

12 March 29 Views

Harley-Davidson Mobilizes Bikers to Plant 50 Million Trees

Dedicated to the goal of preserving the open road for future generations of riders, Harley-Davidson is mobilizing its riders worldwide to help plant 50 million trees by 2025. The initiative, called Renew the Ride and announced last week, is the latest global mission and call to action for Harley riders.

By Jeanne Goddard

05 November 29 Views

Rarest of Tiny Birds Adapt to Thrive in Surprising New Habitat

With its natural habitat mostly gone, one of North America's rarest songbirds has found a surprising workaround: It's thriving in the industrial pine plantations of the southeastern United States, reports Nat Geo.

By Jeanne Goddard

15 November 32 Views

Ex-NASA Engineer to Plant One Billion Trees a Year Using Drones

A start-up plans to help solve the world's climate problems by using drones to plant forests of seedlings – a billion trees a year.

By Jeanne Goddard

25 April 24 Views

Dyson Award-winner Makes Water Out of Thin Air for Farmers

An Australian designer from Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne is the winner of the 2011 James Dyson award for his Airdrop – a low-cost, low-maintenance tecnology for farming in arid areas. Dyson, an Inventor and entrepreneur, said Edward Linacre's invention shows how simple, natural principles such as the condensation of water can be applied to good effect through skilled design and robust engineering.

By Jeanne Goddard

23 November 36 Views