Month: September 2006

Funtastic Friday

- Adam Clare

Here at ThingsAreGood.com we can’t cover all good things, for example you’ve probably noticed that we don’t post stories about individuals often. We post stories that effect groups of people for the better. Now we are changing that.

From now on every Friday is going to be posts about cute, fun, neat, or just endearing good stories. Essentially all the stuff we put to the side to bring real news will now be covered on Friday. It’s the end of the week and the start of a good weekend every weekend.

To get Funtastic Fridays rolling today we have planes and volleyballs and garbage. The posts will be appearing all throughout the day.

Share and Save

- Adam Clare

trafficWe’ve covered car sharing programs before on ThingsAreGood and I don’t think this will be the last time we mention them.

The BBC is running a good article on car sharing in the UK. Richard Ghail writes about how carpooling is a great way to meet people, save money and the environment all in one go.

He credits the congestion charge in London reinforces of environmental protection. What’s more, he points out that the economy benefits from less congestion on the road.

Researches Battle Tropical Diseases

- Adam Clare

A group of scientists have agreed to work together to fight tropical disease by making drugs that the larger pharmaceuticals aren’t researching. The researchers met in Nairobi to solidify their relationship to improve health in Africa.

“By working together in regional, needs-driven research platforms we are not only on the way to addressing the lack of capacity but also helping in the trials for new drugs,” said Davy Koech, director of the Kenya Medical Research Institute.”

Doctors Perform Weightless Surgery

- Adam Clare

doctors French scientists rigged a plane for a special operation that would defy gravity. The plane performed swooping maneuvers that simulate low-gravity so the doctors can gain a better understanding how surgery can be done in outer space. Their tools used magnets to stay in place while the patient was under a special tent.

This is the first time that this has been done. The reason for this test is more than just a feasibility study since there could be spin-off benefits for health care. It looks like the next test will use a remote controlled robot to perform surgery.

Any volunteers?

Canada’s Forests are Worth $93B Each Year

- Adam Clare

An economist, Mark Anielski, has looked at the benefits of keeping Canadian forests. The conclusion is that each year Canada’s forests do $93 billion in carbon regulation and tourism. Anielski says that we need to take this into consideration when we talk of chopping down trees and our overall approach to the boreal forest.

“Boreal forests regulate the climate by capturing and storing an estimated 67 billion tonnes of carbon in Canada alone – a job worth $1.8 billion, based on the price of carbon emissions from the global insurance industry.”

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