Turtles Saved From Sudden Death Thanks To New Train Lanes

This Week in Social Entrepreneurship: Weh Yeoh tells us who sets the international development agenda (hint: it's you!)

Come out for the NY+Acumen Happy Hour and Jeopardy Night Wednesday night, October 16th. It will be an exciting evening at Galway Pub where all questions (errr…answers, rather) in the game will be based on a social entrepreneurship related case study. And, as always, there will be time for drinks and conversation.

On Tuesday, October 15th join Be Social Change and the Centre for Social Innovation for NY Social Good. This is a new event series featuring for- and non- profit ventures developing innovative approaches to tackling the toughest problems facing our generation.

Make a Wave is a start-up readiness program aiming to provide 250 women in UK foundational skills to think about social enterprise. They are searching for women based in UK, over 18, and committed to attending a business skills bootcamp, among other credentials. If you are interested, read more about this program and how to apply here.

Learn how, as a student, you can get involved with social enterprises during this live Q&A on Tuesday, October 8th with the Guardian Social Enterprise Network. Learn not only how you can get involved as a student, but also how you can benefit from social enterprise and even how you can start your very own!

Who sets the agenda when talking about international development? We, as ordinary citizens, have the power to collectively shift the government’s agenda. Check out this Huffington Post article written by Weh Yeoh, who is currently running a campaign on StartSomeGood to Bring Speech Therapy to Cambodia. 

Shawn D. Ross

I am a Northwest Native living in Washington State. A graduate of Washington State University and University of Phoenix with degrees in Architecture and Education I write about social, cultural, and personal improvement on the StartSomeGood Blog and SDRinspire. I am also a filmmaker and owner of Giraffe and Penguin Productions, a single daddy of two beautiful children, avid reader, writer, and hat wearer (Not in that picture but believe me, I wear ‘em). I am currently at work on my first feature length documentary. Follow me @shawndross and visit my websites: sdrinspire.tumblr.com and giraffeandpenguinproductions.tumblr.com.

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What good do you want to create? Visit our site to learn about how to start your own campaign.

Do you have a social entrepreneurship news story or an event you’d like to see on the StartSomeGood Blog? Email Nicole (Nicole @ StartSomeGood.com)

In the San Joaquin Valley, a legacy of shortsighted land-use planning has intensified the water crisis for poor residents.

[Image: Laura Bliss/CityLab]

Bicyclean, a senior thesis project by Rachel Field ‘12, helps recycle e-waste in developing nations by preventing exposure to toxic materials. The project recently won silver at the Acer Incredible Green Contest. Read how Rachel is designing a cleaner future.

Walmart heirs' net worth exceeds that of population of a city the size of Phoenix #1yrago

It’s grown 6,700% since 1983, to $144.7B in 2013 – greater than the net worth of 1,782,020 average Americans.

Read the rest

Meet the 13-year-old who just built a cheap Braille printer out of Legos 

Whatever you were doing in eighth grade, it probably wasn’t as awesome as what Shubham Banerjee has been up to.

The California 13-year-old wanted to know how blind people read, so he searched online and was shocked to find Braille printers cost up to $2,000.

“I know that there is a simpler way to do this.”

Breathtaking Images of Underwater Life Captured by Freediving Photographers Alex Voyer and Alex Roubaud

Making Light With Electricity

According to WHO, indoor air pollution and related diseases kill more than 3 million people a year in developing nations. Much of this is due to open cooking fires, but a significant portion is caused by the of burning fuels in order to make light. 

As much as we take it for granted, lots of people on this planet don’t have access to consistent electricity. Just think about that for a second. It might be more than a century old, that electric lighting in your house, but you’re very lucky to have it.

Children exposed to the smoke from burning fuels might as well be smoking 2 packs of cigarettes per day, in terms of the chemicals and smoke they’re exposed to. It’s a serious health concern. This is why I was doubly amazed by this video from Smarter Every Day (@smartereveryday).

A company called Gravitylight has invented a lamp that runs on gravity! Through an ingenious application of old science to a new problem, they’ve been able to harness a truly renewable power source to make people’s lives better. 

Hey Gravitylight, here’s my message for you:

Well I’M ready for the holidays. 

Silicon Carbide (SiC) is a key building block for next-generation devices. It takes features from diamonds, one of the toughest materials in the world, and combines them with features of silicon, our ubiquitous semiconductor technology in electronics to make a very new kind of material for power electronics. SiC can more efficiently handle higher voltage and three times the amount of energy compared to silicon chips, allowing us to run everything from locomotives to planes and wind farms faster and more efficiently.