humanitarian work

Health workers from Doctors Without Borders give emergency treatment to a newborn baby in Sierra Leone in 2014.

Why U.S.-Trained Surgeons Often Aren't Ready For Humanitarian Work Abroad

2:46pm August 15, 2017

by Susan Brink

A study compares surgeries performed by Doctors Without Borders volunteers in the developing world with those taught to U.S. surgical residents — and finds "a dramatic mismatch."

Patrick Meier (center, in cap) flies a drone in Nepal after the earthquake in 2015. Meier and his team were able to to capture detailed images of damage around the capital, Kathmandu. He believes using this technology will make crisis mapping even more ef

World News

When Disaster Strikes, He Creates A 'Crisis Map' That Helps Save Lives

9:21am October 02, 2016

by Hannah Bloch

"You can't protect what you can't map," says Patrick Meier. He pioneered the field of crisis mapping during the 2010 Haiti earthquake, and now focuses on the use of robotics for humanitarian purposes.

Queue Listen Now

Sir Harold W. Kroto, a winner of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, gave a lecture on nanoarchitecture in May 2007, in Brussels. "Find something to do where only your best effort will satisfy you," he advised students.

Listen: Sir Harry Kroto Was More Than A Nobel Prize Winner

5:17am May 15, 2016

by Joe Palca

He shared chemistry's top prize in 1996 for finding buckyballs, and had Lou Gehrig's disease when he died. Making art was his first love. "Remember your humanity," he said, "and forget the rest."

"I never imagined I would be in this position, doing this kind of work," says Raed Al Saleh, 33, of his job as the head of the Syrian Civil Defense. "But these are the circumstances."

Health & Safety

This Syrian Dad Has One Of The World's Most Dangerous Jobs

6:28pm April 29, 2016

by Dalia Mortada

Five years ago, Raed Al Saleh was a businessman. Now he heads the 3,000-strong Syrian Civil Defense, rescuing civilians from the rubble after airstrikes.