Victory Over Violence
Source: The Guardian
A program in an ethnically mixed borough in England trains teenagers to teach younger children nonviolent methods of resolving racial confict.
Current Events
How MRI Works
Source: How Stuff Works
If you’re afraid of small, confined spaces, spending time inside an MRI scanner might terrify you. Still, this incredible invention has changed the face of medicine forever. Learn how MRI scanners “see” inside patients, why doctors use them, what it took to develop them, and much more.
Our Mission Is to Report These Horrors of War
Source: The Guardian
In 2012, veteran war correspondent Marie Colvin died while reporting on conflict in Syria. Read this speech in which she argues that journalists must take risks to uncover the truth.
Housing the Victims of Natural Disaster
Source: inhabitat
It’s very difficult to build affordable homes that can withstand earthquakes. Read this article on the Pinwheel house, a revolutionary design from MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning. The home is designed to withstand even the most powerful of quakes and eventually may cost only $1,000 to build.
Blogging the Slow-Motion Revolution: An Interview with China’s Huang Qi
Source: The New York Review of Books NYR Blog
In this interview, learn about the challenges faced by the man who started China’s first human-rights website.
Women Have Been Part of U.S. Combat for Years, Although Not on Front Lines
Source: The Washington Post
On January 23, 2012, the ban on women in combat positions in the U.S. military was lifted, eliminating all unnecessary gender-based barriers to service. Though many rejoice about this change, others are concerned about the impact it will have. Read the article and watch the video in which Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta announced the end of a ban.
Women’s Athletics a Battle for Respect
Source: CNN
Though women have been breaking gender barriers for decades, the playing fields still aren’t level. Read about Lisa Leslie’s fight to gain support for the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and other women’s professional sports.
Climate Change Is Inevitable — It’s Time to Adapt
Source: Wired
Scientists assert that climate change is inevitable. The good news, however, is that humans can adapt to it. Read this article to learn one writer’s opinion about how we can do that.
Teen Refugee: Prince Charming Is Dead
Source: CNN
A 14-year-old refugee from Syria to Lebanon, Cayanne speaks candidly about what it felt like to have her childhood stolen by war. Read her story, and watch the video of her interview.
Library of Congress Digs into 170 Billion Tweets
Source: CNN
The largest library in the world, the Library of Congress includes in its collections millions of books, recordings, photographs, and manuscripts. Here, you can find some of the earliest stories written in America. But the Library isn’t just preserving the nation’s oldest stories. Now it is collecting billions of 140-character tweets!