Children Read To Shelter Cats In The Heart-melting “Book Buddies” Program

Children and animals at the Animal Rescue League of Berks County in Pennsylvania.



The animal shelter encourages children to come in and spend quality time with their cats up for adoption.

The program is called Book Buddies.

Not only does it help the cats get much needed interaction, but it helps children learn.

The kids can come in and read to the animals. The soothing reading calms the cats.

Not only that, but the feline attention the kids get is also very welcome.

Children in grades 1st through 8th can go into the shelter and read to the cats.

“The program will help children improve their reading skills while also helping the shelter animals. Cats find the rhythmic sound of a voice very comforting and soothing,” the shelter wrote.

The idea is mutually beneficial.

AND it’s downright adorable. That is a definite win.

SaveOneLife : Electronic Devices to Detect Land Mines by Lemur Studio Design

SaveOneLife is a set of electronic device that has potential to save thousands of lives each year. It’s a project that born out of land mines problem, it detects land mines to people who are usually exposed to these explosive devices when they work, such as farmers, military troops, eradicator of illicit crops.

There are 2 devices within each set, one device has been designed to the physiology of the foot so that it can be installed as an overlay on any type of footwear while the other one is worn on the user’s wrist. The first device is provided with a planar coil printed on a conductive material that acts as a metal detector, the microprocessor and a radio transmitter sends signal to the receiver (second device) to alert the user. When something suspicious is found within a range of 2 meters, SaveOneLife sends warning signal to the user and the bracelet device will display the affected area and locate antipersonnel mine to prevent the detonation of it.

Designer : Lemur Studio Design

The main goal of this project is to save as many lives as possible, because a mine doesn’t only attack one person, it usually affects other nearby people. It’s important to be able to perform this project and confirm its viability to contribute to the solution of this problem, there are many organizations around the world that fight the same topic every single day. The intention is purely to help this task a bit more bearable for people who are constantly in danger because they live and fight not only the army but also farmers.

SaveOneLife : Electronic Devices to Detect Land Mines by Lemur Studio Design is originally posted on Tuvie

Ramat Hasharon House by Pitsou Kedem Architects

Pitsou Kedem Architects have designed a house for a family in Ramat Hasharon, Israel.

Project description

A private residence, built between two, central courtyards. A frontal courtyard excavated to a depth of three meters and the second courtyard at the level of the building’s ground floor. This topographical interface creates a unique cross section to the building’s mass with each part of the building, even the section constructed as a basement, being open to its own courtyard.

The central space of the kitchen, the dining room and the living room is open in two directions – to the west and to the east. This provides a feeling that the space is constantly enveloped by natural light and the greenery of the trees in the courtyard.

The structure’s central space, set in the center of the plot, is accessed via a long bridge that crosses the sunken courtyard and leads to the front door. From the bridge, we can see the children’s living rooms which open into the basement.

The house’s central space rises to a height of six meters and is 17 meters long. There are no pillars in the space and the entire front is transparent with glass windows that slide apart with the aid of an electric motor. Thus, the entire interior of the home opens into the courtyard and the border between inside and outside is cancelled. The swimming pool seems as if it extends into the structure and, when looking into the house from the courtyard, the house in reflected in the pool which strengthens our impression of the building’s mass. The master bedroom is set on the second floor and opens onto the double space and the courtyard allowing for a view of the entire plot.

The structures two supporting side walls have been emphasized, one was poured from exposed, architectural concrete and on the other a large library reaches to its full height.

Architect: Pitsou Kedem Architects

Photography: Amit Geron