The brains of happy people are tuned to notice and enjoy the positives in life that may pass others by. Their happy dispositions and set them up for a ‘cycle of positivity.’ The positive outlook on life was not a reflection of naivety or ignorance of the world’s threats and dangers, but an enhanced response to positive events and the opportunities around them.

Halfway through the ten-year Millennium Village Project in rural Africa, the results are exciting: agriculture production is up significantly, free basic health care is in place, malaria is coming under control, many more children are in school, and farmers are organizing cooperatives to diversify their crops and raise incomes.

In a simple experiment, researchers at the University of Chicago sought to find out whether a rat would release a fellow rat from an unpleasantly restrictive cage if it could. The answer was yes.

The free rat, often hearing distress calls from its compatriot, learned to open the cage and did so with greater efficiency over time. It would release the other animal even if there wasn’t the payoff of a reunion with it. Astonishingly, if given access to a small hoard of chocolate chips, the free rat would usually save at least one treat for the captive – which is a lot to expect of a rat.

Launched in 2008, IndieGoGo.com enables its users to share their causes and solicit donations from complete strangers. The more than 40,000 campaigns its helped launch have ranged in scope, but the health stories typically center on the same theme. The patients face crippling conditions and can’t afford the care they need.

“I think health care issues and personal health campaigns make sense, because our health care system can be very expensive sometimes,” IndieGoGo founder Slava Rubin told The New York Times. “Sometimes people just need to try a different direction to get funded what they need to get funded.”

McKinsey & Company’s Social Innovation Video Contest highlights innovators who are confronting the world’s greatest challenges and gives participants the chance to publicize their organization and encourage involvement.

After receiving nearly 150 videos from 30 different countries, the contest has narrowed down its top entries to just 11.

Of course, when the range of innovations include issues such as sanitation and water distribution, to education and green energy — the real challenge might be choosing just one winner.

Eight leading economists, including five Nobelists, were asked to prioritize 30 different proposed solutions to ten of the world’s biggest problems. The proposed solutions were developed by more than 50 specialist scholars over the past two years and were presented as reports to the panel over the past week.

The Earth pulses with a special kind of resonant wave. The Schumann Resonance has long been dubbed ‘the Earth’s heartbeat,’ and it has only been spotted from below. Recently, though, satellites have found signs of this electromagnetic heartbeat leaking up into space.

When it comes to the tragedies that defined this year — from Jared Loughner’s shooting rampage to the tornadoes that ravaged Joplin — the stories of ordinary citizens who decidedly risked their own lives for others were often just as compelling as the news itself. Beyond such life-risking tales, there were heroic animal stories that defied reason and others in the public eye who quietly inspired others. Read 11 such stories of heroic inspiration that show the invaluable power of selflessness.

Ok, those Germans are just showing off now. Not only has the nation announced plans to shut down all of its nuclear power plants and started the construction of 2,800 miles of transmission lines for its new renewable energy initiative, but now the village of Wildpoldsried is producing 321% more energy than it needs! The small agricultural village in the state of Bavaria is generating an impressive $5.7 million in annual revenue from renewable energy.

In recent years, a handful of recent discoveries have provided glimmers of hope for both effective and affordable health care. Here, a list of seven recent discoveries that could revolutionize medicine.