Now just in time for the holidays, Khunu has rolled out an impressive collection of women’s outerwear, or as the company describes it, adventurewear. The sweaters are well tailored, and women will love them for their slimming effect—the quality of yak wool allows such sweaters to keep their shape. Currently the line is available for order on the internet: and within the United States, shipping by USPS Priority Mail is free.

Nir Beit-av designed a full scale solar oven that at first glance, looks like a satellite dish that can send messages to other solar systems. But the Solar Ibex is also relatively light: it weights only 8 kilograms, and its folding size is equal to that of a medium sized backpack. It could revolutionize cooking in the places where fuel comes at a premium.

Haitians have endured a most excruciating year. Recovery from the January earthquake has progressed far too slowly, funds promised for the relief effort have been slow to arrive–and funds deposited have often been squandered. Reconstruction has been painful–much of it has been done by hand. But cell phones are offering hope.

Aaron Pattillo and Julian Wilson founded Khunu, a men’s knitwear company with offices in China and Colorado, last year. During a trip to Tibet in December 2008, the pair, frozen at 16,000 feet above sea level, learned about the virtues of yak wool from their Tibetan guides. The chance meeting has evolved into a company, combining sustainability, economic reward, and quite bluntly, rather cool (er, very warm) clothing.

Today, April 24, marks the 95th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. It’s a personal issue for me, as my grandmother was one of millions who lost her home and most of her family at the hands of a disintegrating Ottoman Empire that was desperate to find a scapegoat for the regime’s problems.

Sitting through tonight’s show, I realized that by improving the lives of millions across the globe, we will be ending much human misery, the consequences of which cannot be quantified.

How We Live, the searing portrait of how some of Armenia’s poorest are living on society’s margins, is open one more evening, Sunday, April 18, from 6:00 to 9:00 pm. Sara Anjargolian’s photos portray the searing, cruel struggles that several Armenian families confront daily.  The exhibit’s curator is Narineh Mirzaeian, a Los Angeles-based designer and [...]

Last week the World Bank voted to loan Eskom, a South African energy producer, US$3.75 billion to build a new coal power plant. Politicians in the UK and my beloved USA went ballistic. They howled that it was a tragedy for the World Bank to sabotage the work that has been done at ameliorating climate change.