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A 3-D printer is being credited with helping save an Ohio baby's life, after doctors "printed" a tube to support a weak airway that caused him to stop breathing. The innovative procedure has allowed Kaiba Gionfriddo, of Youngstown, Ohio, to stay off a ventilator for more than a year.

The splint that changed Kaiba's life was implanted in February of 2012, when he was three months old.

As a journalist who tries to cover the business side of the humanitarian endeavor, I find the lingo to be both a bit vague and ever-changing. The basic idea here is not too revolutionary – that you can accomplish a social good (reduce poverty, get kids vaccinated, etc) using a market-based strategy. So I find … Continue reading →

Brian Hock was standing Wednesday evening in what used to be his home but is now 2,000 square feet of nothing. Still resting in a bag of dog food was the cup he uses to scoop kibble, emblazoned with the slogan "Fear not: God's love shines bright."

Hock was at work Monday when the tornado smashed his house in the Heather Wood subdivision of Moore, Okla.

When it comes to weaning, humans are weird.

Our closest relatives, chimpanzees and gorillas, breast-feed their offspring for several years. Some baby orangutans nurse until they are 7 years old.

But modern humans wean much earlier. In preindustrial societies, babies stop nursing after about two years. Which raises the question: How did we get that way?

May 30, 2012 was a beautiful, sunny day. It was also the day when residents and students in North Seattle were told to stay indoors as police searched for the gunman who had opened fire inside a busy café.

When it was all over, five people had been shot dead and the gunman had taken his own life. 

Afraid of heights? This story might make you a bit queasy. 

A mysterious photographer is once again scaling some of Seattle's tallest buildings to capture photos from knee-weakening heights. 

A Reddit user named “shuttersubversive” posted a new round of photos on the website this week.

What was billed as an informational meeting for teachers turned into a session of sharing and healing.

"A lot of people in this district will need grief counseling, including myself," said Susan Pierce, the superintendent of public schools in Moore, Okla.

She teared up when greeted with a standing ovation on Wednesday from the hundreds of teachers who filled Southern Hills Baptist Church in Oklahoma City.

Spokane’s Fairchild Air Force Base has lost out on a bid to be the first to house the Air Force's newest refueling tanker aircraft. 

While Spokane and Washington state leaders have spent the last few years touting Fairchild Air Force Base as the leading contender to take the first new Boeing KC 46A tanker planes, the Pentagon Wednesday decided that McConnell Air Force base in Wichita, Kansas is its choice. McConnell will receive the first batch of 36 planes in 2016. 

Children disabled by polio begging in Abuja Mike Urban On the whole, there’s been a lot of good news lately about the global campaign to eradicate polio — a significant reduction in reported cases so far this year, new money pledged to the effort and a recent announcement by the Taliban in Afghanistan that it … Continue reading →

The Obama administration acknowledged for the first time Wednesday that four American citizens have been killed in drone strikes since 2009 in Pakistan and Yemen. The disclosure to Congress comes on the eve of a major national security speech by President Barack Obama.

While there has been a substantial increase in the past decade for global health funding overall, with the growth of private donors like the Gates Foundation as well as the creation of multi-lateral funding mechanisms like the Global Fund to Fight AID, TB and Malaria, many experts are concerned that the shrinking clout and influence of WHO -- as goofy as it can be -- risks undermining the primary vehicle needed to globally set global health policy. Continue reading →

A man has been killed in what reports described as a machete attack in London, and police have shot two suspects in what British Prime Minister David Cameron says is likely a terrorist incident.

The Associated Press says the incident occurred Wednesday when the suspects attacked the man near a London military barracks.

I can’t decide if this good, bad or ugly. So I merely pass it on – the UN’s new iPhone or Android app that allows users to pretend to be a refugee fleeing violence, persecution or disaster. Take that Angry Birds! Source: Mylifeasarefugee Built for iOS and Android, ‘MY LIFE AS A REFUGEE’ lets players … Continue reading →

This story opens by saying ‘most everyone agrees that inequality’ matters. I’m not sure that’s true. In the U.S., we’ve come to accept inequality as a natural consequence of things and any politician who uses the e-word gets branded a socialist … or worse. As a consequence, we are becoming one of the most unequal … Continue reading →

The terms ‘social enterprise’ and ‘social entrepreneur’ get bandied about a lot but few — even many of those who use the terms — have a clear notion of what they’re talking about. There is definitely a lack of consensus as to meaning, which the authors of this article in Stanford Social Innovation Review believe … Continue reading →

The delightful Nancy Shute, a longtime friend and colleague, explores how one misguided doctor — assisted by the media — led to Britain’s current measles outbreak. Sometimes, words can do as much damage as sticks and stones. Source: Npr Great Britain is in the midst of a measles epidemic, one that public health officials say … Continue reading →

Mortar lands in Goma during UN Secretary General’s Congo visit (AP) — A mortar landed in a neighborhood of Goma, a major city in eastern Congo, which last year was briefly overrun by a rebel group. The explosion comes as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived there. Bird Flu Costs in China Set at $6.5 Billion … Continue reading →

The kerfuffle Tuesday and today on Twitter about the "news" that the creator of the GIF gets annoyed if he hears someone use a hard "G" when pronouncing the name of his file format triggered our aging memory banks.

Hadn't we heard a while back that GIF creator Steve Wilhite and many other tech types insist it's supposed to be pronounced with a soft "J," like Jif peanut butter?

Yes we had.

Chuck used to sell marijuana in California. But the legalization of medical marijuana in the state meant he was suddenly competing against hundreds of marijuana dispensaries. So he moved to New York, where marijuana is still 100 percent illegal. Since making the move, he says, he's quadrupled his income. (For the record: His name isn't really Chuck.)

He spends pretty much every day dealing what he calls "farm-to-table" marijuana.

The homes of the future will come with remarkably low heating bills. At least that's the hope of a Portland-based nonprofit group showcasing 13 super-energy efficient homes in four Northwest states. The question is: can you afford to buy one of these houses?

The model homes are scattered among many of the big cities in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana. The houses don't look unusual from the outside. But all have been designed to use at least 30 percent less energy.