Artist Anthony Gormley wants to get members of the public to occupy the empty fourth plinth in the north-west corner of Trafalgar Square - around the clock, seven days a week, for 100 consecutive days, starting in July.

Only one volunteer will be allowed at a time and, every hour, somebody new will switch places with the previous occupant. People can take anything with them, as long as they can carry it without help. And they can do whatever they like.

“It will be an experiment,” says Gormley, who turns 59 this year. “I imagine that there will be extroverts who will see this as an opportunity to do the biggest party trick ever. But I have no expectations. I would be absolutely happy if somebody got up there with an umbrella and just stood still for an hour. The idea is that this will be a portrait of Britain made out of 2,400 hours of 2,400 people’s lives.”

Gormley’s proposal beat competition from four big names in British contemporary art, including Tracey Emin and Anish Kapoor. One and Other, the name of his installation piece, is participatory and democratic and “perfectly in tune with our reality-television age, which worships ordinary people for nothing other than being in the limelight” as one reporter put it.

Volunteers, who were invited to apply via the website www.oneandother.co.uk this week, will be screened, so as to include ethnic minorities and representatives from every corner of Britain.

Poetry has a powerful effect on our psyche but most of us don’t find the time to sit with beautifully woven words. Not only does poetry stir our own creativity but it relaxes and soothes that savage beast within.

Take a moment to read a poet’s words. Notice the effect it has on you. Bathe in it this Friday:

Daffodils - a poem by by William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling leaves in glee;
A poet could not be but gay,
In such a jocund company!
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Vince and Jeanie Hubach spent many fond childhood summers at the Jersey shore beaches. So fond, in fact, that they wanted to share its beauty and majesty with children who never even touched their foot on a beach. Together, they founded a nonprofit that makes it possible for local city kids to visit the beach, for free.

“Without children of our own, we wanted to do something for these kids, but in our own way,” Vince says. In 2004, they bought a two-acre beachfront property in Ocean City, New Jersey. It came with a restaurant, which they ran as a breakfast and lunch spot, putting profits toward getting their nonprofit on its feet.

Vince remembers the first group of 40 kids: “They were running into the ocean, screaming and having the time of their lives. We knew at that moment that no matter what it took, we were going to build this thing.” It would be called Angels on the Atlantic.

He also recalls one poignant moment, where he overheard one boy say to another, “I don’t think we’re gonna hear any gunshots today.”

Vince and Jeanie Hubach

The Dalai Lama feels positive about the Obama administration and about his own eventual return to his native Tibet, after 50 years in exile.

The beloved Buddhist spiritual leader who heads Tibet’s government said while President Barack Obama’s policy toward Tibet and China is essentially the same as the Bush administration’s, he feels hopeful that Obama’s open style will spur positive change eventually.

The Dalai Lama also said China’s aspiration to be a greater superpower could lead it to ease control over Tibet.

When asked if he felt confident that he would one day return to Tibet, he answered “Oh, yes.”

Here are a few other inspirational quotes from the Buddhist leader:

All major religious traditions carry basically the same message, that is love, compassion and forgiveness the important thing is they should be part of our daily lives.
Dalai Lama

Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.
Dalai Lama

Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.
Dalai Lama

We can live without religion and meditation, but we cannot survive without human affection.
Dalai Lama

I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe.
Dalai Lama

If you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do not harm them.
Dalai Lama

If you have a particular faith or religion, that is good. But you can survive without it.
Dalai Lama

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.
Dalai Lama

In the practice of tolerance, one’s enemy is the best teacher.
Dalai Lama

It is necessary to help others, not only in our prayers, but in our daily lives. If we find we cannot help others, the least we can do is to desist from harming them.
Dalai Lama

It is very important to generate a good attitude, a good heart, as much as possible. From this, happiness in both the short term and the long term for both yourself and others will come.
Dalai Lama

Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.
Dalai Lama

My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.
Dalai Lama

Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the days. An old day passes, a new day arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful: a meaningful friend - or a meaningful day.
Dalai Lama

Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.
Dalai Lama

Sleep is the best meditation.
Dalai Lama

Sometimes one creates a dynamic impression by saying something, and sometimes one creates as significant an impression by remaining silent.
Dalai Lama

There is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophies. My brain and my heart are my temples; my philosophy is kindness.
Dalai Lama

The star-studded Great Turtle Race came to a close last week with spirits high. It was a landmark event for science and conservation. Everyone breathlessly watched the journey of 11 leatherback turtles from Canada to the Caribbean.

Organized by Conservation International and National Geographic with field partner the Canadian Sea Turtle Network, this two-week online event has captured the attention of thousands around the world.

In addition, many celebrities drew more attention to this event. Some of the “turtle sponsors” included:  Pearl Jam, R.E.M., The Red Hot Chili Peppers, U.S. Olympic swimmers, professional surfers and marine conservationists.

The first place trophy was claimed on Monday by Pearl Jam’s turtle, Backspacer, who was cheered across the finish line by her coach, breaststroker Eric Shanteau.

“I’d like to take all the credit,” said Shanteau, “but really, I just showed her the door; she had to go through it.”

If you’re feeling old, perhaps this piece will give you a little historical perspective!

When Edo Berger received a message early last Thursday morning when a satellite detected a 10-second blast of energy known as a gamma ray burst coming from outer space.

This exploding star (above) was up to 100 times larger than our own sun.

Telescopes worldwide focused on the explosion, soon picking up infrared radiation, which is produced after gamma rays in this kind of event. Berger was ready to view the visible light, which should have followed.

It never arrived.

“We were kind of blown away. We immediately knew what that meant,” Berger said.

What it meant was that he was looking at the oldest thing ever spotted -  an enormous star exploding 13 billion years ago.

“At that point, the age of the universe was only 600 million years,” he said. In other words, Berger said, he was looking “95 percent of the way back to the beginning of time.”

The star which exploded was 30 to 100 times larger than our own sun, and when it died, it gave off “about million times the amount of energy the sun will release in its entire lifetime,” Berger told CNN by phone from Harvard University, where he is an assistant professor of astronomy.

Its death throes produced so much energy that “momentarily, we can essentially see it anywhere in the universe,” Berger said.

“We learn that already massive stars were around 600 million years after the universe formed,” Berger said. “We suspected that, but now we have proof. Now that we know these objects are so bright, in the next few years we should be able to pinpoint exactly at what stage in the evolution of the universe stars and galaxies formed.”

The gamma radiation from GRB 090423, which took 13 billion years to reach earth, was detected by a NASA satellite called Swift. The infrared radiation was detected by the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii.

So go ahead. Make a wish on an extremely powerful star. While it has dissipated in space, it’s memorialized here today. Take a good look at the photo above and send your desires to the oldest star ever!

Source: CNN

If you’re feeling old, perhaps this piece will give you a little historical perspective!

When Edo Berger received a message early last Thursday morning when a satellite detected a 10-second blast of energy known as a gamma ray burst coming from outer space.

This exploding star (above) was up to 100 times larger than our own sun.

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Telescopes worldwide focused on the explosion, soon picking up infrared radiation, which is produced after gamma rays in this kind of event. Berger was ready to view the visible light, which should have followed.

It never arrived.

“We were kind of blown away. We immediately knew what that meant,” Berger said.

What it meant was that he was looking at the oldest thing ever spotted -  an enormous star exploding 13 billion years ago.

“At that point, the age of the universe was only 600 million years,” he said. In other words, Berger said, he was looking “95 percent of the way back to the beginning of time.”

The star which exploded was 30 to 100 times larger than our own sun, and when it died, it gave off “about million times the amount of energy the sun will release in its entire lifetime,” Berger told CNN by phone from Harvard University, where he is an assistant professor of astronomy.

Its death throes produced so much energy that “momentarily, we can essentially see it anywhere in the universe,” Berger said.

“We learn that already massive stars were around 600 million years after the universe formed,” Berger said. “We suspected that, but now we have proof. Now that we know these objects are so bright, in the next few years we should be able to pinpoint exactly at what stage in the evolution of the universe stars and galaxies formed.”

The gamma radiation from GRB 090423, which took 13 billion years to reach earth, was detected by a NASA satellite called Swift. The infrared radiation was detected by the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii.

As the Swine Flu epidemic increases, we must give pause to the people who have been affected as well as the animals who we continually mistreat around this planet of ours.

That’s why hearing about George Nolan’s story is such positive news. George Nolan used to an avid deer hunter. Not anymore. Not since he met Baby.

Baby was found last spring by the Nolan family in the Michigan woods near their house. He had been abandoned by her mother. The Nolans run a wildlife rescue center and took her in without a thought. Now a connection has to forged that is both kind and touching.

Take a moment to check out this video: