Good Things in the World

[Alex_Spider]

The 10 coolest urban gardens in the world

Urban farms and gardens are sprouting everywhere. Now that more than half of the global population lives in cities, it makes sense: growing food where most food is eaten.
These are some of the neat urban gardening projects across the globe: some are social movements, others commercial endeavours, all inspiring:

http://about.greeni.us/10-coolest-urban-gardens-world/

Videos and photos in he link.

 

[Alex_Spider]

Gazans produce fish and vegetables in tiny rooftop spaces

Abu Ahmed looks out over a sea of grey, empty Gaza rooftops, and smiles as he looks back at the lush greenery sprouting in tubs and pipes on top of his apartment building.

He is part of a United Nations agency project to introduce cutting-edge urban agriculture to Gaza City, teaching Palestinians to farm without soil in the space available to them in one of the world’s most densely populated places.

Most of his rooftop is given over to an aquaponic system, which produces food by linking fish tanks of tilapia with gravel-filled planters.

The integrated system feeds the water from the fish tanks into the plant beds, where Abu Ahmed’s crops — lettuce, peppers, broccoli, celery and herbs — are fertilised by waste produced by the tilapia.

As the water trickles through the gravel, the plants absorb nutrients from the fish waste, cleaning the water, which then replenishes the tanks.

“The idea really was to help the poorest people in Gaza be able to grow some of their own food, and healthy food, grown without pesticides,” explains Mohammed El Shatali, the project’s deputy manager.

For Abu Ahmed, the project has been a major success.

Not only is he using the integrated aquaponic system, he had also set up his own subsidiary hydroponic system, growing additional crops in plastic pipes that are fed by the same water that runs through the aquaponic system.

“I had a bit of experience with agriculture and farming before, but nothing like this,” he says, examining the leaves of a celery plant.

Thanks to the project, the 51-year-old has been able to feed his 13-member family fresh vegetables and fish throughout the summer.

“The fish taste great, although I’m trying not to eat too many of them because I’m breeding new ones so I won’t have to buy more.”

There have also been other benefits from the system, he says, explaining that it cools the apartments below by providing shade.

“It’s great for the children. Nowadays they don’t see farming, they barely see trees or plants. It’s great for them to see this because it gets them interested in growing and planting things.”

Gaza’s 1.6 million residents live on just 360 square kilometres (140 square miles) of land, and much of that is off limits because Israel maintains a 300-metre (yard) deep exclusion zone along the length of the border fence.

http://www.observerint.com/gazans-produce-fish-vegetables-tiny-rooftop-spaces/

 

[Alex_Spider]

HOW TO: Make Simple Yet Sophisticated Lemon Herb Spaghetti in 10 Minutes

Here is a basic yummy recipe for when you have nothing in the house except for some pasta, a lemon and some random herbs. Super easy and quick to prepare, you can do this Simple Lemon Herb Spaghetti while waiting for the pasta to cook. Just try to use fresh herbs instead of dry ones; it will make all the difference! To make this deliciously simple dish you will basically need some spaghetti, a lemon (with its juice and zest), some garlic and a bunch of parsley and thyme, as well as the usual extra virgin olive oil, marine salt and pepper -- we used red peppercorns to give the dish some vibrancy and because we love its sweet spicy edge. Cook the pasta al dente and then mix everything in a saucepan letting the ingredients soak up the zesty juice. Buon appetito!

1. Gather the ingredients

Spaghetti (or any other pasta)
1 lemon
1 garlic clove
2 chilies
a bunch of thyme
a bunch of parsley
red peppercorns (or black)
extra virgin olive oil

2. Cook the pasta Cook the pasta al dente in a generous amount of boiling, salted water for about 10 minutes. Drain and return to the saucepan.

http://www.inhabitots.com/how-to-make-simple-yet-sophisticated-lemon-herb-spaghetti-in-less-than-10-minutes/

 

[Alex_Spider]

Student finds new way of turning plastic into biofuel

[CAIRO] A method for generating biofuel by breaking down plastics using a low-cost catalyst will be developed further in the United Kingdom next month (16 July).

The process was developed by a sixteen-year-old Egyptian student, Azza Abdel Hamid Faiad, from the Zahran Language School in Alexandria, Egypt.

Faiad won the European Fusion Development Agreement award at the 23rd European Union Contest for Young Scientists — involving 130 competitors from 37 countries — held in Finland last year (23–28 September).

Her prize is a week-long placement at the Joint European Torus (JET) facility — the focal point of the European fusion research programme — at the UK-based Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, UK, where Faiad will present her project and receive help with its development.

Faiad proposes exploiting Egypt's high plastic consumption, which is estimated to be around one million tonnes per year.

"Plastic waste is a real problem in Egypt — and in most developing countries — and this project is simply converting the problem into a solution", said Nourwanda Sorour, a student at Alexandria University, Egypt, and one of Faiad's mentors.

Faiad has succeeded in converting plastic into fuel feedstocks — the bulk raw material for producing biofuel — by identifying a catalyst, calcium bentonite, for breaking down the plastic waste that is low in cost. When the waste is broken down, it produces gaseous products including methane, propane and ethane, which are then converted into ethanol for use as biofuel.

Breaking down plastic and polymers by heating them to higher temperatures is not a new idea, but the type of catalyst used is what gives the idea its strength, Faiad said.

"The project can be safely implemented, as it doesn't emit any toxic gases, as long as its implementation abides by the safety measures applied for similar projects," Sorour said.

Mamdouh Elmelawy, from the Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute, said that the project is greatly needed in most countries to help substitute fossil fuels.

"[The project] is a practical one that can be implemented on a larger scale either by the government in Egypt or by the private sector," he said.

Faiad said: "I will pursue my efforts to get my project patented this year through the Egyptian Patent Office and also to see the idea become a tangible project on the ground".

http://www.scidev.net/global/education/news/student-finds-new-way-of-turning-plastic-into-biofuel.html

Now this is some good news for sure..

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Little Girl Cries Because She Doesn't Want Her Baby Brother to Grow Up

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Sadie, age 5, has just confronted the fact that her adorable baby brother won't stay a baby forever. His little baby smiles will soon become slightly-less-adorable toddler smiles. And eventually, the icy finger of death will beckon her, her brother, and all of us. Probably when we're a hundred.

But that baby has the right idea: He is not worried about any of this. Look at his cute little smiles!

Man if this doesn't put a smile on your face I feel bad for you because this is just so darn cute

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Old Dog, Rejected After Walking 30 Miles Home, Is Now Filthy Rich

An elderly black lab named Lady, who made headlines for walking 30 miles to return to the family that gave her up, will get to live out the rest of her days in comfort at the home of a wealthy Florida heiress. Her new mom sent a private plane to pick her up yesterday.

Lady first landed in a Sedan, Kansas animal shelter after her original owner passed away in 2012, KCTV reported. She quickly grew attached to the first family that adopted her, but they felt she was too rough with their puppy and worried she wasn't friendly toward little dogs. They returned her to the shelter.

She was adopted by a second family in Independence, Kan., earlier this summer, but Lady missed her previous home so much that she escaped and pulled a Homeward Bound, walking 30 miles to reunite with the owners who'd rejected her.

After that, neither of Lady's adopted families would take her back, so the old dog boomeranged back to the shelter for the third time.

That's where Wrigley Gum heiress Helen Rosburg comes in. Well-known as a dog lover, Rosburg once helped out a U.S. Marine who was going to lose his dogs by chartering a private plane to transport them across the country (they were too big for a commercial flight).

Rosburg just hired a private jet for Lady, too. She's personally adopted the dog, who will live at her 10,000 square-foot home on a 120-acre Odessa, Fla., farm, home to 300 rescue animals.

It couldn't have happened to a better dog.

"Super dog. Gentle, calm dog," Sedan animal shelter worker Kelsey Loyd told KCTV, "If I had to pick a dog, this would have been the dog I would take."

http://www.kctv5.com/story/26168134/lab-walks-30-miles-to-previous-owner-but-wont-take-dog-back

What a great story for an awesome dog

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Taylor Swift Visits Young Cancer Patient, Drowns You in Your Own Tears

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Taylor Swift, gardener and cat enthusiast, killed you Sunday when she visited a 7-year-old cancer patient and offered to sing him any song he wanted, or just do some of her favorite things, like playing with Play-Doh or talking about Spider-Man or whatever. Authorities say the cause of your death was drowning in a flood of your own tears.

The incident started when Taylor warmly greeted Jordan Nickerson, a brave young boy who has Williams Syndrome and is now battling leukemia in a Boston hospital. It escalated as Taylor helped Jordan decide what song he wanted to hear, while you considered all the challenges he's gone through at such a young age.

Medical examiners placed your time of death at around 5:05 in this video, when Taylor reached the chorus of "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," and Jordan started singing along at the top of his little lungs.

Police informed your family of your passing while Taylor and Jordan hugged. Afterward, they played a friendly game of air hockey.

Always awesome to see celebs take time out for young children going through such a horrible thing

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Baby's First Medieval Knight Sword Fight

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Do you remember the first time your parents dressed you up as a knight and made you fake sword fight another baby dressed as a knight in the middle of a crowd of people?

Ah, where has the time gone.

Haha that's awesome

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Drop Everything and Watch This Baby Seal Learn How to Surf

[YT]97McCuWAynA[/YT]

As oversaturated as YouTube has become with GoPro videos, it's tough to muster any cynicism for Matt Stanley's footage of a curious baby seal who jumped onto his surfboard off the coast of Northumberland, U.K., and got some free lessons.

"Me and my friend Andrew Flounders were out enjoying some summer waves when this little guy came along and scared the hell out of Andy because we didn't know what it was! It nudged his foot from underneath," Stanley told Insolitevideo.

Stanley said they played with the seal pup for around an hour, and it even tried to follow them back to shore. They let the local wildlife authority know the pup was out there, just in case it needed any help.

"It kept sliding off, but every time you caught a wave it would surf in on the white water," Stanley told the BBC.

What a cool story and vid to have

 

[Tanin]

You post some weird stuff DJ

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Way I figure it, if it makes me smile there is a good chance it will make someone else smile. This thread is all about good things that brighten your day

 

[Alex_Spider]

Meet Stella, the world's first solar-powered family car

Stella, the world's first solar-powered family car, has made its debut appearance in London. Designed by students at Eindhoven University, Stella took first place at the World Solar Challenge race in Australia in 2013, which tasked solar cars from all over the world to travel 3,000km in six days. It seats four passengers and weighs just 380kg thanks to a lightweight carbon fiber exterior. More importantly, it's 100 per cent road legal.

We were there to see the car in action, as well as get a hands on demo with NXP's (one of Stella's main sponsors) brand new Car-2-Car communication technology, which uses 802.11p Wi-Fi signals to warn road users of upcoming obstacles so they know in advance when to change lanes, for example, or apply the brakes.

Stella sits very low to the ground, making it as tricky to get in and out of as a modern supercar. The doors open upwards, but once you're inside, Stella is surprisingly comfortable. The whole of the top of the car is covered in solar panels, and the rear slopes down to help create less air resistance.

Of course, the unusual design is bound to raise a few eyebrows from the general public, but Stella's Juliette van der Lof explained that this was all part of the team's plan to win the World Solar Challenge.

"As we were participating in the Challenge, we had to make decisions about the optimal design to be able to win the race. Therefore, we chose in the end to have the shape it has now, but our previous designs also included something more like a sedan, like a BMW. But in the end, it wasn't that optimal."

Her team mate André Snoeck agreed. "Stella looks different because Stella's a solar car. A solar car has to be very efficient and very lightweight. It's only 380kg, which is almost as heavy as the four people in it. Compare it to a small car, which is already 1,000kg, and one that's the size of Stella and it would normally be 2,500kg."

But the team behind Stella wanted the car to be more than just efficient. "We wanted to prove that our car is sustainable and reliable," said van der Lof, "and we wanted to build the family car of the future."

For instance, as well as solar panels which let Stella run for 700km on a full charge, there's also a battery pack which adds an extra 430km to the car's overall range. This means you can drive Stella at night when there's no solar energy left to charge the car.

On cloudy days you can also charge the battery from the national grid, which takes roughly 7-10 hours, but van der Lof was keen to point out that cloudy conditions are just as good as bright sunshine.

"Most people were laughing at us when we told them that we're from The Netherlands and that we're going to build a solar powered family car," she said. "Everyone was saying, 'You're absolutely crazy, because it's always cloudy and raining in the Netherlands.' So we said, 'Well, it is cloudy, but actually when it's cloudy, we are producing more energy from the light because when it's cloudy the light goes in waves in the clouds and then comes on the roof at different spots, so it's better divided.'"

Fortunately, Stella's engineers have made sure its energy consumption is just as ruthlessly efficient as the rest of the vehicle.

"We took some numbers from the Dutch National Statistics Centre and we discovered that out of 12 months in the year, in 10 months the car produces more energy than it uses," said van der Lof. "We calculated this with twice the average distance people drive on a normal day, which is 70km a day, and still our car is producing more energy than it uses."

The team were also keen to include NXP's Car-2-Car communication technology, which can warn drivers of upcoming accidents and give real-time information about general traffic congestion and road conditions to help road users drive more safely.

"We were looking at technologies which could be interesting for us and also for the future," said van der Lof, "and one of these things was the Car-2-Car communication from NXP. NXP is one of the biggest companies in the region of Eindhoven where we were based. We knew what they were doing so we came to them with our idea, we explained what we were going to do and what we wanted to achieve and they were really enthusiastic about it. That's the way everything started with all the companies we've worked with."

In our assisted test drive, a separate screen showed the position of the car on the map as well as an upcoming road works sign. About 40m away from the obstruction, a warning popped up on the screen telling us how far away it was and that it was on our side of the road. In theory, this would mean drivers would know to switch lanes earlier, thereby creating less congestion as they're kept up to date with what's happening around them.

Of course, it's not just Stella that uses this technology; it's also inside the road works sign itself and communicates with Stella via a new Wi-Fi standard (802.11p), which is faster and more secure than the ordinary Wi-Fi we use for our smartphones.

NXP hopes this kind of technology will become commonplace in all future cars and city infrastructure, but since NXP only make the initial chips, it will be a big challenge getting all the car manufacturers and relevant roadside infrastructure authorities on board before the company's vision can become reality.

Still, Snoeck was confident that NXP's Car-2-Car chips wouldn't be hard to implement once car manufacturers decided to adopt the technology. "The Car-2-Car technology was easy to include as we built the car from scratch," he said. "Compared to building a whole car, putting in NXP's technology was not difficult."

As for Stella, the car will remain a prototype, according to van der Lof, so it can continue to be used to test new technology.

http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/cars/1400627/meet-stella-the-worlds-first-solar-powered-family-car

Very retro design. I like it.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

That's pretty cool, a little on the bulky side but a very good first step. Would be cool for hybrids in the future to implement solar power and eventually go pure solar.

 

[Asgard]

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Remote Drives Cute Baby Crazy, World Seems Simple for a Moment

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While Mariah Carey sings sweetly in the background, an adorable little baby is driven crazy by the presence of a remote control.

A simple pleasure in a complicated nightmare of a world.

Your daily dose of AWWW

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Puppy Saves Three-Year-Old Girl Who Was Lost in Siberia for 11 Days

Here's a true story better than a Disney movie: a little Siberian girl was rescued yesterday by her puppy after being lost in the forest for 11 days. Three-year-old Karina Chikitova survived "on wild berries and river water" while her puppy kept her warm. Eventually, the puppy ran back to her village and led rescuers to her in the woods.

The Siberian Times (via the Toronto Sun) reports that Chikitova "looked surprisingly well" after her rescue, and that she is now in the hospital to "regain strength." She was lost in the Siberian Taiga, which is home to bears and wolves. Her family had given up hope on finding her alive. From the Daily Mail:

"Two days before we found Karina her puppy came back home," said Afanasiy Nikolayev, spokesman for the Sakha Republic Rescue Service. "That was the moment when our hearts sank, because we thought at least with her dog Karina had chances to survive—nights in Yakutia are cold and some areas have already gone into minus temperatures. If she was to hug her puppy, we thought, this would have given her a chance to stay warm during nights and survive."

The hero puppy—whose name hasn't been released yet for us to build a monument to him—was just coming back to lead Chikitova's family to her.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...t-Siberian-wolf-bear-infested-wilderness.html

That is awesome

 

[Alex_Spider]

Puppy Saves Three-Year-Old Girl Who Was Lost in Siberia for 11 Days

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...t-Siberian-wolf-bear-infested-wilderness.html

That is awesome

Wow this is crazy. A 3 year old baby surviving for 11 days in a hostile environment...good thing it had the puppy to save her. And to think in some countries they eat dogs and mistreat them in horrific ways while they re such care loving and intelligent creatures.

 

[Alex_Spider]

Trucker rescues grandmother, baby from burning car on interstate (VIDEO)

A horrific crash on Interstate 10 near Gulfport, Mississippi ended with the dramatic rescue of an injured grandmother and 1-year-old granddaughter from their burning vehicle.

A trucker's dash cam captured the initial accident that happened On I-10 at the Highway 49 interchange on Aug. 11, 2014, despite what the internal clock on the camera said.

According to the person posting the video, his father -- David Fredericksen -- was the trucker who grabbed a fire extinguisher and ran to the burning car after it had been t-boned by another truck, severing the car's fuel line, starting the fire. Initially, no other motorists stepped up to help.

"Luckily my father had a fire extinguisher on hand to fight back the flames and give enough time to pull the driver and her 1 year old granddaughter out of the flaming vehicle. Once the passengers are free from the vehicle the flames rapidly grow in strength consuming the vehicle," the son wrote on YouTube.

The video shows Fredericksen running to the car, using the extinguisher to slow the flames down and open the driver's side door. He removed the female driver, who had a broken leg and then goes back to grab the 1-year-old in a baby carrier in the back seat.

Once the people are free from the vehicle the flames rapidly grow in strength, consuming the vehicle.

"My father said he was surprised he was the first one there while everyone else stayed in their vehicles," his son wrote. "It takes a huge amount of bravery to be the first to lend a hand. My guess is most people were hesitant to help because they figured the occupants could not have survived."

Frederickson summed up his experience in an interview with the bog Jalopnick , "I trusted in God when I went there. It could've blown up and killed me. He's got a plan for me, because after I got back to the truck my hands were shaking. My actions were because of my love for God and love for people. Because it does make a difference. If anyone learns anything from it, I want them to know, if they see these trucks out there, they're not bad people with aggressive drivers. They're good people."

Copyright 2014 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

http://www.abc15.com/news/national/trucker-rescues-grandmother-baby-from-burning-car-on-interstate-video

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

It never ceases to amaze me how selfless and heroic people can be when presented with a situation that requires a fast response to save lives

 

[Alex_Spider]

It never ceases to amaze me how selfless and heroic people can be when presented with a situation that requires a fast response to save lives

People have a great potential for good actually. More so than evil. Especially the middle class average joe.

 

[Alex_Spider]

A Washer That Washes Your Clothes While You Shower!

Four Turkish university students have developed Wash-it, a shower unit that collects and filters used water for washing clothes or showering. Ahmet Burak Aktas, Adem Onalan, Salih Berk Ilhan and Burak Soylemez first started Wash-it as a university assignment, but they recently brought their project to a whole new level, winning the iF Concept Design Award 2012: Hansgrohe Special Award for their water-saving design.

Wash it uses a closed plumbing system with two water pumps, three filters (carbon, organic and chemical), a UV cleaning phase, a heater and a water storage unit. While the user is having a shower, Wash-it gathers grey water from the bottom of the shower, passes it through the filters and UV unit, and sends the water to the storage unit. This stored water can then be used for further showering or washing clothes.

The team was inspired by the issue of excessive water use in the bathroom. They looked for a solution that “would fit to users’ life easily without limiting anything about showering, which is a relaxing, calm and pure activity.” From this came the idea of joining a shower and a washing machine.

Following the win, the students started the prototyping phase and are now working on various solutions with the help of their university tutors.

 

[Alex_Spider]

A Solar-Powered Hydroponic Food Belt Could Green the Entire Arabian Peninsula

Barcelona-based studio Forward Thinking Architecture has envisioned a way to transform the inhospitable Arabian Peninsula into a global agricultural hub by establishing a link between the desert, renewable energy, and water-saving hydroponic agriculture. Their OAXIS project would blanket over 1,447,795 square miles of sandy terrain with a huge modular hydroponic system that would produce solar energy and use an underground transportation system to deliver crops to adjacent cities.

OAXIS is designed to incorporate a prefabricated modular structures with recycled steel. Several passive strategies would control the building’s environment while roof-mounted photovoltaic panels would supply enough energy for the facilities, the artificial LED lighting and the underground conveyor belt system. Excess energy would be fed into the city electric grid.

Related: 6 Great Green Designs that Put South Africa on the Map

Recycled water coming from the hydroponic farming technology will be used for irrigation of the exterior vegetation, allowing plants and biodiversity to expand around the facilities. The crops-fresh vegetables, herbs and fruits-would be transported via the underground conveyor belts system.

There are several projects envisioning the use of solar energy and hydroponics in the region, but OAXIS is the first one to combine the two in order to create a self-sufficient prototype that could tackle food shortage, reduce the need for imports and promote renewable energy. It aims to transform the barren desert environment into a thriving crop-growing area that relies on renewables to establish an efficient network across the entire Arabian Peninsula.

 

[Alex_Spider]

This 99-Year Old Makes a New Dress Every Day for a Child in Need

Ninety-nine year old Lillian Weber is on a mission to make 1,000 dresses for impoverished children in Africa. The impressive senior citizen has been whipping up one dress a day, sewing the garments by hand in her Iowa home. Weber has already sewn 840 dresses for non-profit Little Dresses for Africa, and hopes to reach her goal to make 1,000 little girls happy.

Weber began sewing her dresses in 2011, when she and a group of friends over 80 years old began supporting Little Dresses for Africa. Each morning, Weber begins a new dress, sewing all morning until taking a well-deserved afternoon break. After lunch, she finishes the piece, adding personal touches. Each dress is made with pride, Weber adds detailed accents to make each little girl who receives it feel special. All of her dress making has gotten Weber a nomination for local station WQAD-TV’s Pay it Forward award.

Nearing her 100th birthday, Weber plans to continue her daily dresses well into her 100s. Thanks to people like Weber, Little Dresses for Africa has collected more than 2.5 million dresses that have been distributed to orphanages in 47 countries across Africa, as well as the United States, Haiti, Thailand, Mexico and Honduras.

The organization not only brings new clothing to children in the most need, but also hope. Each customized dress gives these little girls a sense of pride, knowing that something special was made especially for them. Even if you are not the best seamstress, you can make your own dress for Little Dresses for Africa from a pillowcase, or donate on their website.

http://www.ecouterre.com/this-99-year-old-makes-a-new-dress-every-day-for-a-child-in-need/

Such a sweet old lady.

 

[Godzilla2000]

For me this is a good thing in this world.

 

[popoyez]

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