Anonymous benefactor leaves car on paralysed mother’s front lawn I love stories about anonymous good deeds.

New Patlz Students Find $40K in a Couch They faced an ethical dilemma and didn’t take the easy way out. The positive lesson is that kids will try to do the right thing and try to figure out what “the right thing” means. The life lesson is: don’t save your money in a couch.

Daily TED Talk

The hidden light of Afghanistan  Beautiful photography from Monika Bulaj, walking in Afghanistan for 20 years:

“Behind the destruction, I found a soul of places. I met humble people. I heard their prayer and ate their bread. Then I have been walking East for 20 years -- from Eastern Europe to Central Asia -- through the Caucasus Mountains, Middle East, North Africa, Russia. And I ever met more humble people. And I shared their bread and their prayer. This is why I went to Afghanistan.”

World’s oldest sperm discovered And it’s huge! Relatively speaking.

Pharmacist’s Intuition Saves Customer’s LIfe A good reminder to sometimes follow your gut even if it might turn out to be nothing. Because it might also be something important.

After Tweet, Saudis Flock to Visit Paralyzed Man in Hospital This is wonderful, I agree. My only criticisms are: 1) did the patient’s family start visiting again, and 2) are other patients now being visited more? I worry that these huge expressions of doing right replace everyday behaviors. That, by being part of a movement, people feel off the hook for daily good behavior.

Daily TED Talk

A life lesson from a volunteer firefighter (5min) Often our egos mask reality. A great story of doing good, well and funnily told.

Cuddling Babies: Hospital Volunteers Show the Power of Human Touch It’s no news to me that cuddling babies is healthy. There was a (dreadful) experiment a century ago that showed babies who aren’t touched will die. More positively, my wife’s mother was the first healing touch therapist to be employed full time by a hospital, in its premature births ward.

The little light that helped one man raise over $1.5 million A solar-charged, collapsible lamp for poor nations and also for campers and others “off the grid.”

Mom Jumps Out Of Burning Building To Save Her Son... 'He Mattered Way More Than I Did' She jumped out of a second story apartment, and may never walk again. Is she a hero? She doesn’t use that word.

Bubblegum That Cleans Your Teeth--For Kids Where There Are No Dentists I’ve never heard of Xylitol, a sweetener that’s beneficial for dental health, but it was discovered over a hundred years ago. It also decreases middle ear infection in children.

Daily TED Talk

A happy song about global warming, from Jill Sobule. (5 min) “Manhattan in January,” cute and funny.