Tonight a photo-exhibit opens at the University of New Hampshire Museum. The show features works by eight photographers who followed the war in Darfur, Sudan. The opening will be followed by an open house with speakers addressing Darfur today and the upcoming Sudanese elections. The exhibit is up through March 6.

Photojournalists' Exhibit on Darfur Opens at UNH Museum Feb. 8

(Photo by hdptcar via Flickr/CreativeCommons)

On a lighter note, a shout-out to the city of New Orleans, still hobbled and reeling after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Today, New Orleans is in a perfect storm of jubilation. Mitch Landrieu won the mayoral election with a large majority, and floods of tourists are streaming into the French Quarter to celebrate Mardi Gras next week and the added sweetness of the New Orleans' Saints victory in the Super Bowl for the first time in 43 years. Congratulations to the “Who Dat” nation.

(Photo by wallyg via Flickr/CreativeCommons)

From the early stages of modern medicine to its possible future... Researchers looking for cures to breast cancer or malaria believe they could be hidden in the packed sediment of the ocean floor. Scientists are now using robots to sort through millions of marine chemicals found in the ocean’s depths in hopes of discovering a cure for all kinds of worldly diseases. Quest Reporter Amy Standen reported this story.

Listen to the story on KQED.

(Photo by SteelCityHobbies via Flickr/CreativeCommons)

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

The Super Bowl may be in Miami, but fans are flocking to New Orleans to take part in the festivities planned there. Locals report Super Bowl mania will out-do tourism from Mardi Gras later this month. One local told CNN, “Everybody, anywhere you go -- even in doctors' offices -- everybody's wearing black and gold and high-fiving people…you know whether we win or lose, the city has something to hold onto now. We have something we can hang our hat on.” Well, amidst the football hysteria, the big easy is scrambling to keep one of its cherished slogans, “Who Dat” The NFL has demanded that t-shirt venders cease selling attire sporting “Who Dat” and the Saint’s fleur-de-lis logo. Louisiana Senator David Vitter reportedly took offense to the claim and told the NFL, “Please either drop your present ridiculous position or sue me." We’ll have to see how that plays out.

Mardi Gras has nothing on Saints mania

NFL to stores: Stop selling ‘Who Dat’ T-shirts

(Photo by JustUptown via Flickr/CreativeCommons)

Financial decisions are typically made by the head of the household. But for non-English speaking immigrant families, the job of translating finances often falls to their children. Reporter Mayra Jimenez was barely a teenager when she began helping her anxious parents with their checking and savings. She describes the experience in this story for Youth Radio.

Listen to the story on Public Radio Exchange.

(Photo by Daniel Y. Go via Flickr/CreativeCommons)