Overweight Aquarium Turtle Is Placed On A Diet!The fact that humans have a tendency to overindulge is no secret. However, it is very rare to hear about animals doing the same. But that certainly appears to be the case with nine-year-old Ernie, a loggerhead sea turtle that resides at the Manchester Sea Life aquarium....
Read news articleDutch Designer Aspires To Replace Street Lights With Glow-in-The-Dark TreesDutch artist and innovator Daan Roosegaarde is on a quest. He wants to replace the millions of street lights that dot our streets with bioluminescent trees. And while that may sound like something straight out of a science-fiction movie, it is not as far-fetched as you think....
Read news articleGrumpy Cat's Purr . . . fect 2nd Birthday!While walking around with a sorrowful look may not work for everyone, it sure has for Tardar Sauce AKA Grumpy Cat. For how else can you explain the fact that in 2012, she was named both Most Influential Cat by MSNBC and Most Important Meme, by social media news site Mashable. It is therefore not surprising that this popular feline's second birthday, which fell on Friday, April 4th 2014, is being celebrated with such fanfare....
Read news articleAnd The World's Favorite Number Is . . .Everyone always talks about the dreaded number 13 and the lengths millions of people go through, to avoid it. However, nobody has ever bothered to ask if there was a common number that thousands loved enough, to call it their favorite. But now, thanks to London-based author Alex Bellos, it appears that such a number does indeed exist and it is . . . drum roll please . . . the one and only, number seven!...
Read news articleVideo Of The Week - Baby Prince George's First Royal Engagement!On April 7th, Prince George Alexander Louis, the nine-month-old son of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (Kate Middleton and Prince William), set off on his first foreign tour to New Zealand and Australia. The bundle of cuteness showed perfect royal demeanor when he emerged from the airplane after the long flight from London to Wellington with a bright smile and what appeared to be, his first royal wave!...
Read news articleInteractive Art Installation Allows Public To 'Paint' Vancouver SkiesVisitors to the 30th anniversary of the Technology, Entertainment & Design (TED) Conference in Vancouver, Canada, encountered an unusual sight - A giant public art display, suspended between the 24-story Fairmont Waterfront Hotel tower and the West Building of the Vancouver Convention Centre, where the conference was being held. Called 'Skies Painted With Unnumbered Sparks' it was a delicately flowing 'jelly-fish' like piece of art that sported subtle colors, almost blending in, with the city's beautiful blue skies - at least during the day!...
Read news articleScientists Ponder Over Mystery Of Early Blossoming 'Space Cherry Tree'In November 2008, 265 pits collected from various cherry trees from 14 locations across Japan, were sent to the International Space Station. The endeavor was part of an educational and cultural project to demonstrate to kids, how seeds can continue to live and grow, even after a jaunt to space. The seeds that circled the globe 4,100 times during their four-month mission, were brought back to earth in March 2009. While some were kept for lab tests most, were returned to their original locations....
Read news articleMessage In A Bottle Gets Delivered After 101 Years!If you are ever stranded on an island, here is one thing you may not want to do - send a distress message inside a bottle. That's because chances are it will not be delivered until long after you are gone. At least that's what happened to the one Richard Platz sent to his wife, on May 17th, 1913....
Read news articleGet Ready For The First Total Lunar Eclipse Of 2014Stargazers all over the world are getting ready to experience the first of four total lunar eclipses that are scheduled to occur before the end of 2015. The 'tetrad' lunar eclipses are a rare phenomenon - one encountered only seven times, this century. What makes it even more special is that all four eclipses will be visible to the residents of the United States....
Read news articleEver Wonder Why Zebras Have Stripes?Why do zebras have stripes? This question has been stumping both animal experts and zebra fans all over the world for centuries. But now it appears that some researchers in California may have finally solved the age-old mystery!...
Read news articleIt's Official! 6th Grade Fargo Students Are Smarter At Investing Than College StudentsA group of sixth-grade math students from Oak Grove Lutheran School are making headlines for achieving something quite extraordinary - Generating better portfolio investment returns than students from some of the country's most prestigious universities....
Read news articleThink Fairies Are Real? So Does This ProfessorAlways wanted to meet Tinker Bell? Then you may want to head over to Rossendale Valley in Lancashire, England, where you will encounter not one, but numerous versions of the fairy that first made her appearance in J.M. Barrie's 1904 play, Peter Pan. At least that is what one university professor is asserting and he even has pictures to prove it!...
Read news articleVideo of the Week - Feathers Fly High On International Pillow Fight Day!If you have ever been in a pillow fight with friends, you know how much fun it is. Now imagine one with hundreds of people, most of whom you don't even know! That's exactly what happens annually, on International Pillow Fight Day!...
Read news articleBaby Volcanic Island Niijima Swallows Up Its Neighbor!When the eruption of a volcano on November 21st, 2013, resulted in a brand new island about a thousand kilometers south of Japan's capital Tokyo, experts were a little hesitant to declare that a permanent new landmass had been born. That's because these kind of volcanic islands have a tendency to disappear almost as rapidly, as they appear....
Read news articleVisitors To Stockholm Museum Can Unwrap Ancient Egyptian Mummy, One Layer At A TimeAlways wondered what an Egyptian mummy might look like underneath all of its wrappings? Then you may want to head to Stockholm's Medelhavsmuseet, where a new exhibit allows visitors to peel off all the layers right down to the skeleton - with a swipe of a finger!...
Read news articleExperts Believe There Is No Relation Between Recent String Of Earthquakes Along 'Ring Of Fire'Over the last few weeks, earthquake activity seems to have increased dramatically. First there was the 5.2 magnitude shaker in Los Angeles on March 21st. Then came the more intense, 8.2 magnitude quake near Chile on April 1st, followed by one that measured 5.8 in magnitude the day after, in Panama. While they may all appear to be isolated incidents, the shakers do have one thing in common - They all occurred in locations along the dreaded 'Ring of Fire', the world's most active earthquake and volcano belt....
Read news articleThe Virtually Indestructible Water BearWant to be a superhero? Then you may want to pick up some skills from the segmented microscopic Tardigrades (slow steppers). Popularly known as water bears or moss piglets because of their slow gait, these tiny creatures can survive anything - From boiling to sub-zero temperatures, radiation, and even the vacuum of outer space. It is no wonder that this virtually indestructible animal has had the scientific community buzzing with excitement, for years....
Read news articleWill The Mystery Of The Missing Malaysian Flight MH370 Ever Be Solved?When the 239 passengers and 12 crew members boarded Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur at 12.41 am on March 8th, they probably had one thought in mind - To go to their respective homes or hotels and catch up on some well deserved rest when the flight landed in Beijing, at 6.30 am....
Read news articleFrance's Iconic Eiffel Tower Celebrates 125 YearsWhen Gustave Eiffel designed the Eiffel Tower for the 1889 Exposition Universelle held to celebrate the 100th year anniversary of the French Revolution, he had never envisioned it to last more than 20 years. But the tower, which turned 125 on Monday, March 31st, has not only outlived all expectations, but also, become the most enduring symbol of France, one that is visited by almost 7 million visitors a year....
Read news articleSurprise! Giant Pandas Love Sweets Too!Though giant pandas may appear perfectly happy chewing bamboo, scientists recently discovered that just like the rest of us, they would rather have something a tad sweeter. This 'surprising' fact was disclosed to the world on March 26th, in the online scientific journal PLOS One by Danielle R. Reed, a behavioral geneticist at Philadelphia's Monell Chemical Senses Center....
Read news articleVideo Of The Week - The Epic Man Vs. Machine Ping Pong ShowdownFirst, it was the Rubik's Cube solving Lego robot and now, one that not only plays ping pong, but also, has the audacity to challenge one of the world's best players - Germany's Timo Boll. Meet the incredibly fast Kuka robot, which is built for manufacturing, but certainly seems to have a knack for ping pong....
Read news articleWatch Out! It's Almost April 1st!Tomorrow is April 1st or as it is better known, Fools' Day! This is the day when pranksters come out in full force to have some light-hearted fun at the expense of some unsuspecting souls. Though the origin of this age-old tradition is not known for sure, some trace it back to 1582, the year when the Julian calendar (which began the New Year in April), was replaced with today's Gregorian calendar. Others believe it was to mark the change of seasons. No matter what started it all, April Fools' sure is a fun tradition....
Read news articleNeed To Filter Your Water? Use Tree Bark!The fact that trees are vital to our well-being is no secret. They provide us with food, wood and most importantly, oxygen. Now there is one more thing you can add to this already lengthy list - filtering out harmful bacteria from water....
Read news articleClasscraft Makes Learning Fun By 'Gamifying' The ClassroomOnline gaming has made the world much more exciting almost everywhere except in the classroom. While we now have access to computers and even tablets that feature all kinds of educational games, teachers still use old-fashioned incentives to encourage students. Sure you can get some extra credit by spending copious amounts of time doing challenging problems, but it's not fun and more importantly, cannot be achieved by students that find the subject challenging....
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