Here's What's Awesome: Bribe-Fighting Currency, Energy-Building Soccer Balls

This week we thought it would be fun for Here's What's Awesome to go big, just like all the football fans in Miami. So we put together an outline for a six hour pre-blog show, complete with in-depth features on each link and narration by Tom Selleck. Then we looked to have big-time ads in between links, as well as a halftime show with a world-class act. Unfortunately for all of us, these plans fell through; the pre-blog show didn't air, the ad space didn't sell, and the only act interested in performing at our halftime show was Color Me Badd. So this week's roundup of awesome links will largely be the same as usual - although we will be eating more nachos this week. So that's kind of big.

Making something out of nothing
Boing Boing points us to an interesting story in India, which has a long history of petty corruption among government officials. A group there called 5th Pillar has given citizens with little money to spare on bribes a new tool to fight back - zero rupee notes that shock the officials into giving up their requests for money. The evidence is anecdotal, of course, but there's a lot of optimism that this will stem the bribery tide: having the backing of a well-known organization gives citizens the confidence to stand up against the bribes, and it discourages the bribe-seekers, who know that any daylight that gets shined on their activities could mean losing a job or even jail time. So when nothing else works... try nothing. [Boing Boing]

Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight!
Need a little light? How bout a game of soccer? The s0ccket energy-generating soccer ball needs but 15 minutes of sports action to generate about three hours of LED light. And sorry, but I did not check on whether headbutting the ball will create any juice, so no Zinedine Zidane jokes, please. [LikeCool]

That's why they call it "thin" air
February is, unfortunately, the breaking point for a lot of new year's resolutions. But if you don't find yourself hitting the gym as much as you'd hoped, don't panic - maybe all you have to do is head for higher altitude. A new study out of Munich suggests altitude can help individuals lose weight. The study brought twenty overweight men up about 8,700 feet and found that they ate less, even with no restrictions. Why? The study found their levels of leptin, a hormone that makes the body feel sated or full, went way up along with the altitude, and that led to increased weight loss. So perhaps those infamous "fat camps" will trade in their weekly weigh-ins and diets for treks through the Himalayas. Maybe. [Neatorama]

Now it's your turn: share an awesome link by posting in the comments. No bribes necessary - though we wouldn't say no to a zero rupee note or two.

Photo courtesy clappstar via Flickr/Creative Commons