the buzz log

Lots of other pressing news piled up this week in the Buzz. Take a moment to cross out some must-reads and catch up on the afterlife, an A-list donation to save gay marriage, and how a 12-year-old took one small step toward saving the world.

Figure Out the Afterlife: Check.
Time magazine ventures to ask how researchers at the aptly named Human Consciousness Project will study "out-of-body" experiences. The study, even more aptly named project AWARE (AWAreness during REscuscitation), will have scientists interviewing approximately 1,500 heart-attack survivors about their experiences during the time they were dead.

Donated $100K to Gay Marriage: Check
Brad Pitt—LEGO figure, blogger, and humanitarian. After he and Angelina Jolie gave $2 million to an Ethiopian health center, the actor kicked over $100,000 to the campaign against Proposition 8, which seeks to overturn same-sex marriages in California. The cash chunk prompted the New York Observer to recall Pitt's conditions for his own wedded bliss.

Solve Energy Crisis Before Puberty: Check.
Buzz readers felt a little bit proud and inadequate at the same time after finding out how 12-year-old William Yuan refined a superduper solar cell. The Oregonian boy genius received a Davidson Fellow Award worth 25 grand for his research, entitled "A Highly-efficient, 3-Dimensional Nanotube Solar Cell for Visible and UV Light." (In case anyone's worried he might be bullied for his brains, Yuan has a youth black belt in tae kwon do.) Feel inspired, or green with envy? Either might motivate you to to try Treehugger's DIY tips on homemade solar panels from eBay damaged goods.

Also buzzing this week ...
 • By sending junior out of the kitchen, could you be encouraging fussy eating habits? The New York Times points out six parental food mistakes.
 • Shades of Hoovervilles: The Associated Press reports the rise of homeless encampments, or "tent cities," across the U.S.
 • "Babar the Elephant" ... imperialist propaganda? A New Yorker report on a Babar books exhibit gives a sweet family history of Babar's creators, and addresses pesky leftists who see the stories of the four-legged mammal as an "allegory of French colonization."