Bridges Across an Impossible Divide

Marc Gopin of George Mason University explores what makes peacemakers tick in Bridges Across an Impossible Divide. The book emanates from the “Unusual Pairs” film project, a series of videos that focuses on Israeli and Palestinian partners in the quest for peace. The narrative unfolds in the words of the peacemakers themselves as they search … Read more

Get to Know Your Neighbors

A new book that tells a story set in war-torn Iraq sends a straightforward message applicable to everyday Americans: Get to know your neighbors. Greg Barrett, who worked in The Charlotte Observer’s Rock Hill bureau in the early 1990s, recently spoke at Covenant Presbyterian Church, where he told the story of his book “The Gospel … Read more

Ranking the Colleges Producing the Most Peace Corps Volunteers

For the past decade, the Peace Corps has released an annual ranking of the top large, medium and small schools that graduate students who then serve overseas for a little more than two years. The organization, an independent U.S. government agency that has been around for more than 50 years, has more than 8,000 volunteers … Read more

Formlabs Form 1 3D Desktop Printer

Most 3D printers use a technique called extrusion, through which the printer melts plastic and lays it down in layers to create a 3D object. But the Form 1 features stereolithography, which uses a laser to cure liquid resin into microscopic layers, resulting in much more precise creations. For $3,300, the Form 1 package includes … Read more

A Showcase Sustainable House

The house itself has been designed to be airtight and well insulated to cut energy costs and produce net zero carbon emissions. It has also been designed with its eventual sustainable deconstruction in mind. An ‘off-site modular construction method’ will be used to build the house, which will see parts being built offsite and then … Read more

Cornell Students Build Sustainable House in Nicaragua

Over winter break, Cornell students began building an affordable and environmentally sustainable model house in Nicaragua. The students, who are part of Cornell University Sustainable Design — an organization that promotes sustainability through design — traveled to Nagarote, Nicaragua to build the house. The house will serve not only as a home for a family, … Read more

Growing Soybeans and a Supreme Court Case

When a farmer grows Monsanto’s genetically modified soybean seeds, has he simply “used” the seed to create a crop to sell, or has he “made” untold replicas of Monsanto’s invention that remain subject to the company’s restrictions? The question is now headed to the United States Supreme Court. “The current intellectual property environment of transgenic … Read more