CThings is the work of a community of people who contribute news stories about the amazing things people are doing to change the world. From poverty to peace, from space to the environment, from obscure villages to world capitals, the CThings community aggregates stories of real innovation, breakthrough, and the triumph of the human spirit. Contribute. Comment. Connect. Change your whole world view. C the day.
 

Architect creates sustainable floating city

Posted July 22, 2008 12:20 pm

The sound that shouldn't be-violinist defies physics(so far)

Posted July 22, 2008 12:20 pm

MIT Students Develop Solar Dish Hot Enough to Melt Steel

Posted July 21, 2008 01:23 pm

All Wet? Astronomers Discover Most Earth-like Planet Ever

Posted July 21, 2008 01:23 pm

We're going back, and this time we're going to stay - NASA

Posted July 21, 2008 01:21 pm

Early Mars Was All Wet

Posted July 19, 2008 11:17 am

Scientist Confirm: Graphene is Strongest Material Ever Known

Posted July 19, 2008 11:16 am

The tribe that lives without numbers

Posted July 19, 2008 11:16 am

New Way To Weigh Giant Black Holes

Posted July 19, 2008 11:16 am

Florida Approves Largest Solar Power Plant in U.S.

Posted July 19, 2008 11:16 am

Women To Give Birth At 100 Within Three Decades

Posted July 19, 2008 11:16 am

East Coast Getting Tidal Energy Projects

Posted July 19, 2008 11:16 am

Gore Sets Alternative Energy Challenge

Posted July 19, 2008 11:15 am

Scientist: Our Human Speech is Traced Back to Talking Fish

Posted July 19, 2008 11:15 am

Gore's Challenge: 100% Carbon Neutral by 2018

Posted July 18, 2008 08:11 pm

Alzheimer's Drug Reverses Cognitive Decline Over 12 Month

Posted July 18, 2008 08:11 pm

Dance Club Stays Alive With Power Generating Floor

Posted July 18, 2008 08:10 pm

The First U.S. Town Powered Completely By Wind

Posted July 16, 2008 10:32 am

XERITOWN: New Sustainable Urban Complex for Dubailand

Posted July 16, 2008 10:32 am

The Greenest Countries on Earth

Posted July 16, 2008 10:31 am

Warren Buffett’s 7 Secrets for Living a Happy and Simple Lif

Posted July 16, 2008 10:09 am

Major Discovery: Pathologists Have Found the Weakness of HIV

Posted July 16, 2008 10:05 am

Ottawa Building North America’s First Gasification Facility

Posted July 16, 2008 03:10 am

Voyager 2 unravels mysteries at solar system's edge

Posted July 16, 2008 03:10 am

An Air Car You Could See in 2009: ZPM’s 106 MPG Hybrid

Posted July 16, 2008 03:10 am

The Skyrocketing Interest in Vertical Farms for Urban Areas

Posted July 16, 2008 03:09 am

Pennsylvania Gets $650 Million Renewable Energy Fund

Posted July 11, 2008 08:55 pm

Viva Las Vegas’ Solar Thermal Power Factory – A US First

Posted July 11, 2008 08:54 pm

Major Breakthrough: Dyes Could Double Solar Panel Efficiency

Posted July 11, 2008 08:54 pm

New, Inexpensive MIT Solar Panels Could Hit Markets by 2011

Posted July 11, 2008 08:54 pm

Homes by Toyota

Posted July 7, 2008 02:33 am

Physics of the Impossible

Posted July 7, 2008 02:33 am

2-Hour Charge Gets 150 Miles In Electric Car

Posted July 7, 2008 02:32 am

Greenest Island Runs Completely on Renewable Energy . . .

Posted July 7, 2008 02:32 am

Experts Think China’s Wind Energy Could Grow 1667% by 2020

Posted July 7, 2008 02:32 am

One-Cell Organisms that Make Oil, Cure Cancer, Build Cities

Posted July 7, 2008 02:31 am

Complete Radio Created from a Single Carbon Nanotube

Posted July 7, 2008 02:31 am

New Cow Fat Motor Oil Biodegrades in Days

Posted July 2, 2008 11:49 pm

France plans revolution in space

Posted July 2, 2008 11:49 pm

Tumor Cells Can Be Reversed and Converted to Normal Cells

Posted July 2, 2008 11:49 pm

5 Next-Gen Antibiotics That Could Save Your Life

Posted July 2, 2008 11:25 am

Study: Happiness is Rising Around The World

Posted July 2, 2008 11:25 am

Scientist Find Brain Core That May Reveal Secrets of Thought

Posted July 2, 2008 11:24 am

Robot Teaches Itself to Use Tools

Posted July 2, 2008 11:24 am

Solar Energy to Change the Face of India

Posted July 2, 2008 11:24 am

Sarcasm Seen as Evolutionary Survival Skill

Posted July 2, 2008 11:24 am

Yoga Class Held Through Border Fence

Posted June 25, 2008 09:23 pm

Green Energy Blooms in the Desert

Posted June 25, 2008 09:23 pm

Full speed ahead for nanotechnology?

Posted June 25, 2008 09:22 pm

Gas Prices Getting You Down?

Here's an innovative way to deal with the towering price of gas.  A new online service is selling ad space on YOUR CAR.   If you drive at least 1,000 miles a month, FreeGasHelp.com will give you a monthly gas card reward of $30 just for slapping an ad on  your hub cap or a magnet on your car door.  Or go for the full car wrap and earn $200 a month!  You can earn additional incentives if your car is bright yellow, newer than the year 2000, is a hybrid or a pizza delivery vehicle, or if you're active military.  The program won't help the planet or lower the price of gas, but it may ease your pocketbook until you're able to afford that new hybrid or start riding your bike to work.

Urban Adventure

Fans of the Amazing Race and Fear Factor will love this new urban adventure charity event, CityChase 2008. CityChase requires participants to exhibit teamwork, resourcefulness, determination and the ability to make decisions on the fly as they search for challenges scattered in unknown locations throughout different competing cities: Philadelphia, Atlanta, San Diego, San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, Chicago, and New York City. Like TV's Amazing Race, the challenges are designed to test mind, body and spirit. To conquer this urban event, two-person teams will run, walk and use public transit to navigate their way throughout the city, while calling family and friends for help, accessing the Internet and even employing assistance of total strangers. CityChase is now in 15 countries across the globe, and winners from around the world will ultimately compete in the World Championship in Morocco.

World Changing Event

On May 10, People from all over the world tuned in to watch a live broadcast from Cairo, Kigali, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, and Rio de Janeiro. It was called Pangea Day, a 4-hour program of short films, live music, and visionary speakers, broadcast in 7 languages to millions of people via the internet, television, and mobile phones. The event taps the power of film to strengthen tolerance and compassion while uniting million of people to build a better future. In a world where people are often divided by borders, difference, and conflict, it's easy to lose sight of what we all have in common. Pangea Day seeks to overcome that -- to help people see themselves in others -- through the power of film. Movies alone can't change the world, but the people who watch them can. So Pangea Day organizers are now facilitating community-building activities around the world by connecting inspired viewers with numerous organizations that are already doing groundbreaking work. Don't miss the incredible 1-hour highlights film on the Pangea website, and get ready to experience the entire range of human emotion. You can also watch the entire 4-hour event online. We are excited to bring this visionary global event to CThings readers and invite you to help spread the word.

The Future of Radio

To get a look at the the future of web radio, check out the innovative new Musicovery. Just tell your Musicovery page what "mood" of music you'd like to listen to, click on as many genres as you want, and your personal radio begins. You can see the songs that are playing, add them to your favorites, buy them online, and visually explore similar music, all commercial-free.

National Volunteer Week

April 27 - May 3 is National Volunteer Week 2008, and there's no better place to start than VolunteerMatch. Nonprofits can post volunteer opportunities there, and volunteers simply enter their ZIP code to receive up-to-date listings of local volunteer activities in their neighborhood. You can filter opportunities based on your areas of interest (arts, culture, the environment, sports, etc.), and there are even opportunities to volunteer "virtually" by working from home. Here are some examples:
  • Be a mentor with Big Brothers Big Sisters in Albuquerque, NM.
  • Pick up some groceries for a senior or disabled neighbor in St. Paul, Minn.
  • Bike through the rolling hills of Kentucky for MS in Louisville, KY
  • Restore indigenous oyster habitats in Charleston, SC
  • Help with marketing initiatives for the visually impaired in New York City, NY
  • Deepen your appreciation for life as an ecospiritual intern in Madison, Wis.
  • Experience the process of mural/public art development in San Antonio, Texas.
  • Become a Camp Yosemite Ranger in Indianapolis, Ind.
Special thanks to our friends at VolunteerMatch for giving us the heads up on this important week.

Happy Earth Day!

Each year, the April 22 Earth Day marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. Here are some things you can do today to make a difference:
  1. Keep America Beautiful finds solutions in communities across the country for preventing litter, reducing waste, and beautifying communities.
  2. Green Dimes has a new FREE service to help eliminate up to 90% of postal junk mail and catalogs.
  3. Join the Arbor Day Foundation for $10 and you'll get 10 free trees sent to you (or a friend) that are ready for planting. They're also guaranteed to grow or be replaced free of charge.
  4. Whole Foods Market has a cool Whole Earth Generation site on YouTube. It's a user-generated collection of videos by kids under 18 talking about what they're doing for the environment.
  5. A 2006 report by the University of Chicago found that adopting a vegan diet does more to reduce global warming than switching to a hybrid car. If you're not ready to go 100% vegan, how about giving up meat one day a week?
  6. Here's a quick tip with a huge impact: start using your own re-usable bottle of water when you're working out - plastic bottles take 1,000 years to decompose! (Update: Sanjiv from GreenDimes says check out Sigg eco-friendly water bottles)
  7. Pay your bills online. It saves paper, helps prevent deforestation, lowers administrative costs for businesses you work with, and there will be one less car driving to the post office.
  8. Talk to your kids about Earth Day, and do something together to help them contribute.

Best School Ever

What started as a "pirate supply store" by best-selling author Dave Eggers, has become an extraordinary new vision for creativity in education. Check out Eggers' inspirational TED Prize wish video for an overview of how it happened and how to get involved. His new website, Once Upon a School is a step by step guide designed to help YOU lend your innovation and creativity to schools in your neighborhood. You can browse the ideas on the website and find one to take on, or create your own project and get the help you need to make it come to life.


    Copyright 2005-2006, CThings. CThings is a California corporation.