Given that Americans consume over 100 million donuts each year, they don’t really need an excuse to devour the gooey fried treat. However, if you are among the minority that does, you are in luck, because Friday, June 2, is National Donut Day. Celebrated annually on the first Friday of the month, the holiday’s origin can be traced back to Salvation Army workers who volunteered to help injured US troops during World War I (WWI)....

Thailand’s free-roaming monkeys are a huge tourist draw. The primates, mostly macaques, are known to boldly visit with tourists who lure them with food. One of these monkeys, in particular, has recently become a worldwide sensation for both its gargantuan size and unique social status among his peers....

Though plastic shopping bags are incredibly cheap and useful, their disposal causes widespread pollution. That's because the non-biodegradable polyethylene takes centuries to decompose and is also detrimental to wildlife who often mistake the colorful debris for food. Now, we may have an unlikely ally to help clean up our trash – a small wax worm bred primarily for use as premium fish bait....

Japan’s newly unveiled Train Suite Shiki-shima that travels at a leisurely pace of 110 kph (68 mph) is a bit of an anomaly in a country known for magnetic levitation bullet trains that can traverse at speeds of up to 603 kph (375 mph). However, the purpose of the luxury sleeper train, which accommodates just 34 guests, is not to get passengers to their destination rapidly but to allow them to the enjoy the country’s beautiful landscapes while being thoroughly spoiled....

Memorial Day, which will be celebrated on Monday, May 29 this year, is one of the most important holidays in the American calendar. Observed annually on the last Monday of the month, it honors the men and women who have died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. Though the tradition is believed to have been started by local communities in the late 1800’s, the first official Memorial Day celebration is credited to Waterloo, New York. On May 5, 1866, the town’s residents organized a community-wide event to pay respects to perished soldiers by decorating their graves with flowers and flags....

With technology permeating almost every aspect of our lives, the demand for computer programmers can only increase. To train the workforce of the future, companies around the world are frantically developing computing languages to introduce children as young as seven to the mysterious world of programming both in and out of school....

As you are firming up your summer plans, you may want to pencil in the total solar eclipse on August 21. Dubbed the ‘Great American Eclipse,' it is not just the first total solar eclipse visible from the contiguous United States since February 26, 1979, but also the first that can be seen across the country, from the Pacific to the Atlantic, in almost a century. The last time the celestial phenomenon was experienced coast-to-coast was on June 8, 1918!...

Supermarket shelves are filled with plant-based milk alternatives, including soy, almond, and coconut milk, that cater to the lactose intolerant or those concerned about livestock welfare and environmental sustainability. While the milk-free options work well with cereal or in coffee, they fail miserably when it comes to making derivatives like cheese or yogurt. However, these shortcomings may soon be a thing of the past thanks to California-based start-up Perfect Day, which has figured out how to create lactose-free dairy milk in a laboratory!...

In our increasingly fast-paced, technology-driven world, most adults do not get the recommended 8-10 hours of sleep every night. Things are even worse for those with young children. A recent study revealed that 86% of parents in the United Kingdom complain of fatigue and about 26% get less than 5 hours of sleep every night. To provide exhausted patrons a little relief from their hectic schedules, David Lloyd Clubs, a chain of gyms and fitness centers in Europe, has introduced a napercise class!...

Tim Caro, Professor of Wildlife Biology at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), has made it his mission to understand the evolution of coloration in mammals. The researcher spent twenty years investigating why zebras sport black and white stripes (to ward off flies) and even wrote a book, Zebra Stripes, about his epic discovery. Now, Caro has solved the age-old mystery of why giant pandas also sport the dual coloration....

Every Mother’s Day, Americans show their appreciation for the special woman in their lives by showering her with lavish gifts. This Sunday (May 14) is going to be no exception. A National Retail Foundation (NRF) study of 7,400 people revealed that consumers plan to spend an average of $186 for the holiday, totaling to an astounding $23.6 billion. This is the highest amount since the survey began 14 years ago, and easily topples 2016’s record spend of $21.4 billion....

On April 26, NASA astronauts Peggy Whitson and Jack Fischer starred in the first 4K ultra-high-definition live stream broadcast from the International Space Station (ISS). The highly anticipated event that occurred at 10:30 AM PDT (1:30 PM EDT) was part of a special show at the 2017 National Association of Broadcasters in Las Vegas to demonstrate the advanced technology and promote space science and filmmaking. Though the broadcast lasted just a few minutes, the astronauts impressed the ground audience with some fun experiments that looked stunning, thanks to the high resolution imaging....

Ever since Malaysian ecologist-architect Ken Yeang introduced the concept in the 1990’s, living walls and rooftops have become an increasingly common sight in both residential and commercial buildings. In addition to looking good, planted exteriors also help cut energy costs, and in the case of rooftop farms provide urban dwellers with homegrown produce. Now, Stefano Boeri wants to take green architecture to the next level with “Forest Cities” to combat China’s air pollution woes....

On April 29, officials at the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) received a tip from the local police chief that some villagers in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province were holding a Bornean orangutan captive. When the rescue team arrived at the Tanggirang village they discovered that instead of the signature orange-reddish brown hair, the great ape had white hair, a paler skin color, and blue eyes. The mammal was also very sensitive to light....

While smartphones continue to get increasingly sophisticated and resilient, the same cannot be said about the display screen. The Gorilla Glass cover used for most high-end cell phones tends to shatter easily, leaving owners with little choice but to pay for an expensive replacement screen or buy a new device altogether. However, this issue may soon be a thing of the past thanks to a new self-healing, Wolverine-inspired material which automatically repairs itself within 24 hours....

On Sunday, April 23, almost 50,000 athletes took to the streets to compete in the 37th London Marathon. While few were able to get even close to Daniel Wanjiru’s 2:05:48 winning time, none were as slow as Tom Harrison, who literally crawled to the finish line, six days later, on April 30....

If you are a comic book fan or just love free things, you are in luck — Saturday, May 6 is Free Comic Book Day. As the name indicates, it is the day when retailers across the globe will give out free comic books to anyone that walks into the store....

About 130 years ago, Harry Govier Seeley, a paleontologist trained in Cambridge, classified dinosaurs into two distinct groups, or clades, based on the shape of their pelvic bones. The “reptile-hipped” saurischians included carnivorous theropods like the Tyrannosaurus Rex (T-Rex), while the “bird-hipped” ornithischians comprised herbivores such as the Stegosaurus and Triceratops. As more dinosaur fossils were discovered, a third group, dubbed sauropodomorphs, was established. In 1887, Seeley concluded that the long-necked herbivorous sauropods, like the Brontosaurus, were related to theropods and classified them as saurischians....

Flying cars have been in the works since 1946, when aeronautical engineer Ted Hall created two prototypes of the ConvAirCar. Unfortunately, a crash landing due to low fuel caused the hybrid vehicle’s manufacturer, Convair, to lose interest and shut down the venture within a year. While there have been numerous attempts since, none have gone beyond the experimental stage. That is about to change thanks to a slew of new and established companies that are determined to make this 70-year-old quest a reality....

All canine owners know that feeding their pets regular ice cream can result in serious health issues. Many dogs are lactose intolerant and consumption of dairy upsets their digestive systems. Moreover, just like in humans, eating large amounts of sugar causes dogs to become hyper and unfocused, and can also result in dental cavities, diabetes, and obesity. Now, thanks to Mauricio Montoya, some lucky dogs in Mexico City are finally able to enjoy the frozen treat without their owners worrying about any harmful side effects....

Forty-seven years ago, on April 22, 1970, twenty million Americans took to the streets to voice their concern about the deteriorating environment and urge the government to take action before it was too late. The grassroots movement, which is now celebrated by over 2 billion people in 192 countries, led to the enactment of numerous environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act of 1970 and the Endangered Species Act of 1973....

It is a well-known fact that plastic bottles, which take hundreds of years to decompose, are harmful to our environment. However, efforts by environmentalists to encourage consumers to switch to alternatives, like water fountains or reusable bottles, have not been very effective. The U.S. alone utilizes over 50 million plastic bottles annually, 80% of which end up in landfills....

Space travel is expensive, especially since every launch requires a new rocket. The biggest and most costly part is the booster that powers the spacecraft beyond the Earth’s orbit. Once the job, which takes a few minutes, is completed, it separates from the rest of the rocket and drops back into the ocean while the second stage engine takes over and delivers the payload to its destination....

New York City’s impressive skyline that includes iconic structures like the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building, may get even more interesting with the addition of the “Big Bend.” The tall and slender U-shaped residential tower is the brainchild of Oiio Studio, an architectural firm with offices in Manhattan and Athens....