This week Awesome Stories brings you nuclear hope, healthy food for all, virtue and happiness.

A New View on Nuclear 

I’ve slowly changed my view on nuclear energy, moving past my fears and prejudices to find the truth of comparative energy sources. It helped to have a friend who is an informed advocate for responsible nuclear. There are many variations on nuclear, but molten salt reactors offer the best performance with no risk of hazardous meltdown. Unless we have a huge advancement in energy storage or batteries, renewable energy sources like wind and solar can not provide the energy needed to power the world. Nuclear uses fewer and cleaner resources to build. Solar panels use a lot of rare metals, water and chemicals to produce. Molten salt reactors have no meltdown risk, no water cooling or containment chambers, lower costs and no waste materials that can be turned into weapons. Molten salt reactors were proven in the early 60’s, but dropped by the military because they didn’t provide nuclear by-products that could be used for weapons.

The Virtue of Service

Nipun Mehta, the founder of ServiceSpace.org, makes a stirring and compelling case for virtue as a noble and useful trait to focus on in today’s rapidly changing world. He suggests that now more than ever, when technology, fame and other bright shiny objects are calling, we need to be rooted in virtue. He suggests small steps, service and surrender as the ways to build virtue. Read this article called Let’s Make Virtue Virall to learn more about the reasons and ways to develop virtue.

The Science of Happiness

This article offers 5 science-based strategies for achieving greater happiness. Most of us have heard of the first tip which is to count our good or blessings. The second one is a little unusual, in suggesting that we subtract something we like to help us appreciate it more. The third tip is to find meaning and purpose, which I believe might be the most important factor and explore in this post called The Meaning of Happiness. For more on how to achieve happiness, check out the Greater Good article above. Science also suggests that we build on our strengths and connect with others as other strategies for happiness.

Feeding the Hungry

Former hedge fund trader Sam Polk found a new purpose to help people become healthier. Seeing how many people are living in “food deserts” with limited access to fresh produce and healthy foods, Sam created a venture called Groceryships. GroceryShips offers food scholarships to low-income families, providing the food, education and support to eat healthier. Sam has even bigger plans with Everytable, to “create a nationwide chain of restaurants, dishing out healthy food, furiously fast, and challengingly cheap.” With an interesting twist, the meals are priced according to location and financial means. Low-income neighborhood locations offer the meals for $4.00, while in upscale neighborhoods, the meals sell for $8 to help support the low-income locations. He might just be able to pull off his vision for 10,000 locations with the help of his friends and investors. Go Sam!

What matters most to you? Find your passions and purpose, then feed them!