Michael Jackson’s Magic Touched Kento Mori

The amazing story of Kento Mori is not only inspirational but also attests to the lingering magic of Michael Jackson, the music icon of the century.

In a very special way, Kento’s twisted fate brought him worldwide recognition from the death of the King of Pop. He dreamed of working with Michael Jackson all his life, instead, he ended up dancing as the King of Pop for Madonna’s world tour!

Kento was born on March 3, 1985 in Aichi, Japan. Michael Jackson had a huge following – adored, loved and cherished by Japanese fans. As early as his childhood years, Kento had been obsessed with Michael Jackson. He loved everything about Michael and dreamed of dancing with him. With a supporting family and a loving grandfather (his hero), Kento pursued his dream. Even after making it as a professional dancer in his twenties, Kento said in an interview that the goal of his life was to work with Michael Jackson.

Kento’s own meteor rise in the dancing field was phenomenal. At the age of 21, he danced his way to the top. Three years later, he signed a two-year contract with Madonna, the Queen of Pop, to dance with her in a world tour in 2008. She told Kento that he danced like Michael Jackson.

When Michael Jackson announced his final world concert tour of his life, Kento wanted so badly to audition for his “This is It” concert. Interestingly enough, Michael Jackson selected Kento to join his concert tour but Madonna refused to let him go.

Heartbroken over his broken dream of working with the King and his beloved grandfather’s death, Kento reached the lowest point in his life. When Michael suddenly died on June 25, 2009, Kento was devastated. Fate dealt him a cruel blow when he lost both men he loved - his idol and his hero.

In his darkest hours, Kento got a shocking phone call from Madonna. She wanted him to dance like Michael Jackson in a special tribute to the King on her Sticky & Sweet Tour concert!

On July 4, 2009, Kento had a fated opportunity to be Michael in front of millions of viewers. Dressed in one of Jackson's trademark outfits, including a fedora and shortened black pants, he WAS Michael Jackson in the spotlight, dancing to a roar of the crowd with a medley of Jackson hits.



Michael Jackson’s inspiration and magic touched Kento and catapulted him to the limelight as a dancer. His dancing career took off and he has worked with other celebrities, such as, Chaka Khan and Chris Brown.

In the spirit of Michael Jackson, he taught many children to dance to the beat of Jackson’s songs.

Kento was blessed to be a dancer wanted by both the King and the Queen of Pops. Kento’s autobiography, "Dream & Love", tells this incredible story.

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ECO-pioneer man builds floating island

A true artist with creativity and inspiration, British expatriate Richart "Rishi" Sowa has successfully built artificial floating islands. His latest one is to be launched into the ocean this year.

Rishi describes himself as a musician, artist, and carpenter. But he's more than that - a visionary with a global purpose. The environmentalist Rishi puts his belief in cleaning our planet into practice by constructing islands made out of recycled materials which float entirely on plastic bottles.

The first island was located in a lagoon near Puerto Aventuras in Mexico. In his first attempt, Rishi failed to get the appropriate permits from the Mexican government and the locals ran him out.

His second attempt, off Playa Del Carmen, again in Mexico, was more successful with the backing of the local people. Some 250,000 bottles were used to keep the 66 feet (20 m) by 54 feet (16 m) island structure afloat. Rishi tied together bundles of nets filled with empty discarded plastic bottles to give support to the island structure of plywood and bamboo, on which he piled sand and planted mangroves. Rishi planted mangroves for shading on the island but also for their roots to serve as a locking system to bind the bundles of plastic bottles beneath the island. The amazing island hosted a livable two-story palapa structure, a solar oven, fruit trees and three beaches. Unfortunately, the island was destroyed by Hurricane Emily in 2005. See the video below:



Rishi's third floating island, "Joysxee", is the largest and the most ambitious - with the goal to "sail" in the ocean. Rishi's vision is to provide a livable island blueprint that can float around the world to show others how to turn trash into treasure.

Gaining fame and recognition for his forward-thinking, people from all over the world come to Rishi’s dock for a tour, which is now his primary source of income.

Your next trip to the Yucatan Peninsula should include a stop at Isla Mujeres to see the island for yourself before it "sails" away!

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Innovative Solar-powered Houses

After the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster, people of many nations are fed up with nuclear energy and are turning to renewable energy sources for their homes. Solar houses are no longer a thing of fiction.

Every year, Europe Solar Decathlon Design Competition, a counterpart to the U.S.-based Solar Decathlon, challenges collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses. The best designed solar-powered house is evaluated for its cost-effectiveness, energy-efficiency, and aesthetic beauty while providing functions related to comfort of modern living and absence of harmful impact of fossil fuels dependence.

One of the most stunning designs of 2010 solar homes is the FABLAB house built by the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia from Spain. This unique curvature-shaped wooden abode stands on three legs and has space underneath for a shaded patio. With a spacious interior, FABLAB contains a bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a livingroom, while using smart energy and temperature-monitoring systems as well as a rainwater collection system on its roof.

The Japanese government is also promoting renewable energy sources for homes in the near future. By 2014, a group of companies recently announced the eco project - Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town - a development of 1000 homes based on smart energy integration and smart grid system.

Located 50km west of Tokyo, the entire town will act as a single energy system - using Panasonic's "entire solutions" technology to reduce energy, produce solar electricity and use battery storage at each home. Every household will manage and balance the energy needed for the occupants. Communication systems and electrical transportation will be integrated as well as other shared community resources - all linked to a central square displaying the town's real time energy status.

The eco town is aiming to reduce CO2 by 70% from the 1990 baseline.

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How much do you know about moonrise?

Everyone knows that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.

How about the moon?

The sun and the moon remain relatively stationary in relation to the earth's rotation from west to east, so both of them seem to rise from the eastern horizon and set in the western horizon.

Why does the moon appear in different colors?

The natural color of the moon is grey as seen in space, however, it appears in different colors during the course of its path across the sky.

Viewed during the day on Earth, the moon looks faint and white in the blue sky. At night, the moon appears bright and yellow.

At moonrise near the horizon, the particles in the atmosphere scatter certain wavelengths of light, mainly the blue end of the spectrum. The moon passes through much more atmosphere than when the moon is directly overhead, thus you see the moon appearing orange or red. As the moon gradually climbs directly overhead, its color changes to yellow. In addition, high volume of dust, smoke, or pollution in the atmosphere could cause the zenith moon to appear orange.

Moreover, the moon appears in certain colors during certain times of the year. The earth's atmosphere goes through seasonal changes due to human activities and the earth's changing tilt toward the sun. Subsequently, the moon rises and sets at different angles and appears in different colors. Sometimes, the moon remains close to the horizon, never rising above your head!

As many farmers harvest their crops in autumn, adding dust particles to the atmosphere, and the moon being in a lower position in the sky during the bumper season, the full moon appears very large and orange, known as the "harvest moon."

The color of the moon could even be blue. They are rare occurrences known as Tyndall Effect, probably due to particles in the air because of many volcanic events around the globe or massive forest fires.

The term "blue moon" commonly refers to a month wherein there are two full moons.

The moon's surface is illuminated by direct sunlight as it revolves around the earth. The luminosity of the moon depends on the phases of the moon. There are 8 phases of the moon seen in one month. The moon is at its brightest during its "full moon" phase.

Why the moon appears larger at the horizon?

Like the sun, the moon appears larger at moonrise and moonset at the horizon. To this day, there's no satisfactory answer for the "moon illusion'.

To solve the mystery is an inspiration itself!

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