Harvard's Ronald Heifetz urges heads-of-state to think less like surgeons, more like psychiatrists. (Lessons In Leadership: It's Not About You.

Team ASUNM, a collaborative effort between Arizona State University and University of New Mexico, has come together to address the inefficiencies of urban sprawl and to create a model for sustainable desert living, dubbed SHADE (Solar Home Adapting for Desert Equilibrium), which is an entry in the Solar Decathlon 2013 competition that takes place on October 3-13, 2013 in Irvine, California.

Using external vertical screens and a solar canopy for shade, the SHADE home experiences a stable, consistent temperature with the use of a radiant cooling system used alongside an air cooling unit. Team ASUNM is exploring the residential application of thermal storage to chill water at night to create ice that cools a glycol solution during the day.

Earth911.com (blog)
Study: Recyclers Actually Consume More
Earth911.com (blog)
That seems to be the indication from a study published recently in the Journal of Consumer Psychology.

Aquaponics uses fish to create soil-less farms that can fit into cities much easier.

Urban farming today is no longer a hobby practiced by a few dedicated enthusiasts growing food for themselves. It has become a truly innovative field in which pioneering ventures are creating real, robust, and scalable solutions for growing food for large numbers of people directly at the point of consumption. This is great news not only for urban designers, architects, and building engineers, but also for residents and communities that want to increase food security and become more resilient to climate change.

Visit the article link for more information and details on the practice of aquaponics, natural resource efficiency and the potential for large-scale urban cultivation...

In a study published in the latest issue of Science, a team of researchers led by MIT neuroscientist and Nobel Laureate Susumu Tonegawa demonstrate their ability to isolate and activate engrams in a mouse's memory-rich hippocampus. The researchers go on to implant false memories in the mouse's mind, causing it to recall experiences that have never actually occurred. Here's how they did it.