Mind Soup

What is Tamanna? Tamanna is an NGO in Lebanon that grants wishes of children with critical illnesses to give them joy, strength and hope. Fulfilling a child's wish provides an escape from a difficult reality, restoring time for laughter. It allows the child to live a magical experience and to share unforgettable moments with his family. Any child between 3 and 18 years with a critical illness may be eligible for a wish. Tamanna currently grants an average of three wishes a week. Some granted wishes A boy's wish to be a fire fighter for the day A gitl's wish to be a princess. A boy's wish to own a play station portable The above photos are just a glimpse of what wishes Tamanna has granted. From having a wedding for a young couple at the Children Cancer Center of Lebanon, to introducing the children to celebrities (such as President Suleiman, PM Hariri, basketball teams) and unforgettable trips to Rome, Istanbul, Paris and Disney land to owning laptops a...

Twestival  (or Twitter Festival) uses social media for social good by connecting communities offline on a single day to highlight a great cause and have a fun event. Twestival is the largest global grassroots social media fundraising initiative to date. Since 2009, volunteers have raised close to $1.2 million for 137 nonprofits. All local events are organized 100% by volunteers and 100% of all ticket sales and donations go direct to projects. In Beirut, Twestival is being organized by a great group of enthusiastic volunteers: @ naeema @ sanatawileh @ migheille @ lucyhanna and @ sdarine who have already raised USD 14,000 for their cause. Twestival Beirut is supporting Faire Face , to spread breast cancer awareness and psychological help for women with cancer, along with giving free mammography for women. How you can help: Vote for Twestival Beirut's logo so they can win USD 1,000 for the cause. Donate for the cause online Like their facebook page , follow them on...

Researchers have discovered an antibody which, when injected into mice, will bond with prostate cancer tissue and "initiate direct cell death" in it. If results carry over to humans, this discovery would almost be a cure to prostate cancer. I say that it would almost be a cure for that particular type of cancer, because in initial trials with mice "F77 bonded with tissue where prostate cancer was the primary cancer in almost all cases (97 percent) and in tissue cores where the cancer had metastasized around 85 percent of the time." This means that while the antibody even attacked advanced stage cancer cells, it did not attack them all. Still, this is fantastic news and I hope that further research lives up to the initial optimism. [ PhysOrg ]

Almost all of the following images were captured using a scanning electronic microscope. Incredible details of 1 to 5nm (nanometer) in size can be detected 1. Red Blood Cells They look like little cinnamon candies here, but they're actually the most common type of blood cell in the human body - red blood cells (RBCs). These biconcave-shaped cells have the tall task of carrying oxygen to our entire body; in women there are about 4 to 5 million RBCs per micro liter (cubic millimeter) of blood and about 5 to 6 million in men. People who live at higher altitudes have even more RBCs because of the low oxygen levels in their environment. 2. Split End of Human Hair Regular trimmings to your hair and good conditioner should help to prevent this unsightly picture of a split end of a human hair. 3. Purkinje Neurons Of the 100 billion neurons in your brain. Purkinje (pronounced purr-kin-jee) neurons are some of the largest. Among other things, these cells are the masters of mot...

"I'd say five years is pretty wishful thinking," ... "Two years seems likely if you're going to believe statistics. I want to last until they find a cure, which means I'd better get a fire under it" -- Patrick Swayze Patrick Swayze , the balletically athletic actor who rose to stardom in the films “Dirty Dancing” and “Ghost” and whose 20-month battle with advanced pancreatic cancer drew wide attention, died Monday. He was 57. His publicist, Annett Wolf, told The Associated Press in Los Angeles that Mr. Swayze died with family at his side. Mr. Swayze’s cancer was diagnosed in January 2008. Six months after that, he had already outlived his prognosis and was filmed at an airport, smiling at photographers and calling himself, only half-facetiously, “a miracle dude.” He even went through with plans to star in “The Beast,” a new drama series for A&E, and filmed a complete season while undergoing treatment. Mr. Swayze insisted on continuing with the se...