Women are the focus of only about 15 per cent of Wikipedia profile entries and comprise only about 10 to 15 per cent contributors. Various global initiatives have been launched to redress the imbalance, and the University of Sydney joined in this month with a Women in Wikipedia: 2018 Edit-a-thon, where about 50 students, staff members and volunteers created and updated entries on women, particularly Australian women writers, scientists and scholars. https://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/sydney-uni-tackles-wikipedia-gender-bias/news-story/e40cecc8bfcb79953a7c1f6544dedbc2

This terminal has four plastic buttons adorned with faces ranging from a smiling dark green to an angry bright red. HappyOrNot is distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Push My Button, its sole reseller in the two countries. You may have noticed the terminals at overseas airports, in your doctor's surgery or when shopping. Very interestingly this idea comes from Finland which is ranked #1 on the World Happiness Report published by the UN this month! towww.happy-or-not.com/en/

Homeless people are being paid to pick up trash in the city of Fort Worth, one of several cities across the United States that?have created programs to simultaneously employ the homeless and clean up the streets. www.newsweek.com/homeless-paid-clean-streets-texas-786311

Hawaii's capital Honolulu has introduced spot fines, ranging up to $US99, for pedestrians using their mobile phones while crossing the street. The Distracted Walking Law is one of the first of its type in the world and comes in response to an increasing pedestrian accident rate in the United States, Britain and Australia. The ban comes as cities around the world grapple with how to protect phone-obsessed ?smartphone zombies? from injuring themselves. https://www.npr.org/2017/10/25/560089121/distracted-walking-law-bans-texting-while-crossing-streets-in-honolulu

A new patented form of graphene, called Graphair, is an effective filter that supercharges water purification; making it simpler and faster. Researchers from the University of Sydney, UTS, QUT and Victoria University tested and analysed Graphair and its water purification qualities.They found that without Graphair, a membrane?s filtration rate halved in 72 hours, as contaminants clogged it. When the Graphair was added, the membrane didn?t clog, plus it filtered more contaminants and water. Graphair is made out of soybean oil, most often found in vegetable oil. So now there is a better, cheaper, water filter using a common cooking ingredient. This could mean proper, effective water filtration is in reach of developing world communities. https://blog.csiro.au/super-material-filters-sydney-harbour-water/

Dr. George Land and Beth Jarman developed a highly specialized test to measure creative potential of people within NASA. The test was very successful, but left questions such as: ?Where does creativity come from? Are we born with it or is it learned?? They then tested 1,600 children aged between 4-5 years and discovered that 98% of those kids fell into the genius category of imagination. By age 15, however, the genius percentage had dropped to only 12%. For adults, it had declined to about 2%. It seems the school system and our education may be the most likely culprit. https://ideapod.com/born-creative-geniuses-education-system-dumbs-us-according-nasa-scientists