Boy Buys Smoke Detectors for Neighbors Instead of PS4
An 8-year-old Texas boy had been saving for months to buy a new PlayStation 4, but after seeing the TV news report of a devastating fire where a mother and child were killed, he changed his mind.
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Shelter Dog Wasn't Hyper; He was a Natural Tracker and Now a Police Star
After being abandoned by his owner just over a year ago, a young mutt was finding it hard to fit in. The energetic hound-boxer mix would not stop jumping up on people. It took a trainer from a police K-9 group to spot the dog's real potential.
Vancouver Students Take Their Plastic Eating Bacteria Idea to TED Stage
High School seniors Miranda Wang and Jeanny Yao want to continue pursuing a solution for how to make plastic decompose using natural bacteria already evolving on the planet. The two were finalists for Canada's top student biotechnology award, the 2012 Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge, where their project was judged to have the greatest commercial potential of any project entry, valued at $10 million. Now they are bringing their ideas to the TED stage.
Scientists Find New Penguin, Extinct for 500 Years
Researchers studying a rare and endangered species of penguin have uncovered a previously unknown species that disappeared about 500 years ago.
Higgs Boson Scientists Win Nobel Prize in Physics
Two theoretical physicists who suggested that an invisible ocean of energy suffusing space is responsible for the mass and diversity of the particles in the universe won the Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday morning. The theory, elucidated in 1964 by Peter Higgs, 84, of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, and François Englert, 80, of the University Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium, sent physicists on a generation-long search for the Higgs boson (also referred to as the God particle).
Students and Post-it Notes Help Schools Cut Their Energy Bills
Simple yellow Post-it notes with the message "When not in use, turn off the juice," pointedly left on classroom computers, printers and air-conditioners, have helped New York public schools save $350,000 annually on utility bills. Other ideas have also achieved greater and greater energy savings.
The Greenest Colleges in America
A U.S. Green Building Council partnership released its third annual report listing the greenest colleges nationwide. The online-only guide, available as a free download, includes brief summaries of sustainability initiatives at each of the top 311 school, as well a dozen or so data points on things like renewable power use, energy efficiency and waste disposal.
Recycling Heroes Include Parks, Schools, Stadiums and Corporations
Across the nation, an antigarbage strategy known as "zero waste" is moving from the fringes to the mainstream, taking hold in school cafeterias, national parks, restaurants, stadiums and corporations. At Yellowstone National Park, the clear soda cups and white utensils are not your typical cafe-counter garbage. Made of plant-based plastics, they dissolve magically when heated for more than a few minutes.
Florida Students are Heroes Halfway Around the World
Kids at Piper High School in Floridatossed pies, served spaghetti and walked miles to raise nickels, dimes and quarters -- enough to build 11 schools in Kenya.
Free Online Courses From Stanford, Princeton, Duke, Improve Learning Worldwide
A new online education platform founded by Stanford computer scientists is on a mission to change the world by educating millions of people with free classes from top universities. Coursera offers Math, Science, Business and Humanities courses featuring videos, quizzes and electronic assignments created by 16 top universities. Already, a million students from 190 countries have enrolled.
Education Succeeds Without Standardized Tests
Imagine a world without standardized tests, one in which teachers would teach less and students would study less — yet score near the top on international tests of math, reading and science. This mythical world of teachers' dreams has a name: Finland.
CMA Donates $6 Million for Music Education in Schools
The CMA Foundation has donated another $1.4 million to benefit music education programs for Nashville's public schoola through its Keep the Music Playing campaign, bringing the total to more than $6.1 million.