You don’t have to be a fan of math to get excited about Pi (“π”) Day. While the event, which is also Albert Einstein’s birthday (139 th this year ), may start with some calculations, it is more than likely to conclude with a slice or two of delicious pie. The holiday, which celebrates the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, is held every March 14, because the infinite number is widely recognized as 3.14....

Always wanted to be part of an important space mission? Now, thanks to NASA’s recently launched “Hot Ticket” program, you can get your “moment in the sun” — literally, by simply submitting your name. The space agency will put all the names received on a microchip which will accompany the Parker Solar Probe on its mission to observe our fiery star’s atmosphere from up close – something that has never been attempted before....

In mid-January, while exploring the white sands of the beach-side dunes just north of Western Australia’s Wedge Island, Tonya Illman came across an “interesting” bottle. Little did she know that inside the glass container lay an invaluable treasure — a 131-year-old note, the oldest message in a bottle discovered to date!...

It might sound like 1.5 million penguins are a hard thing to miss. However, that is indeed the case with this super-colony of Adélie penguins ( Pygoscelis Adeliae ) who have managed to remain undetected for decades in the Danger Islands of Antarctica. The remote, difficult to access, landmass, which lies off the continent’s northern tip, is always surrounded by thick ice. It was, therefore, believed to be uninhabitable and largely ignored by scientists....

Though it may not feel like it to the US East Coast residents getting pummeled by snow, sleet, and rain from the back-to-back nor’easter storms, spring is almost here. In anticipation of the season’s official start on March 19, Americans will “spring forward” on Sunday, March 11, by moving their clocks an hour ahead. While the start of Daylight Saving Time (DST) means losing sixty minutes of precious sleep or play, it does allow for longer days during the spring and summer months....

Experts believe that the optimal time to teach kids language skills is when they are infants. Most times the task is easily accomplished with parents reading or talking to their babies. However, in some cases that is not possible due to busy work schedules or when kids are born deaf. In the latter case, parents either have to quickly become adept at sign language or risk the child facing potential learning delays in the future. Now, an adorable blue-eyed robot, a human avatar, and some high-tech neuroscience may be able to assist parents and guardians with this crucial developmental task....

On January 8, 2018, as Amazon Inc.’s stock soared to an all-time high of $1250 a share, its founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, who owns 17% of the company, dethroned Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates to become the world’s richest person. Since then, the company’s stock has risen an additional 20 percent, increasing the entrepreneur’s net worth from $105 billion to $125 billion! To put it in perspective, that is more than the GDP of over 125 of the world’s 195 nations....

Stereo, or 3D, vision is what enables humans to gauge the depth and distance of surrounding objects. The right and left eye capture slightly different images and send them to the brain, which merges them and then calculates the proximity of everything in the vicinity. The ability, which requires an intricate network of neurons and lots of processing power, can also be found in a select group of animals like cats, horses, owls and sheep, as well as one insect — the praying mantis....

American singer and songwriter Pharrell Williams is known for his upbeat nature and colorful style. It should, therefore, come as no surprise that the “Happy” artist has decided to pay tribute to Holi, the Hindu festival of colors with the release of the Hu Holi “Powder dye” collection. Created in collaboration with Adidas, it includes five sneakers, four apparel styles, and a towel — all of which sport a beautiful mix of colors. While the stunning footwear and clothing, which range in price from $80 to $250, will be released worldwide on March 16, they will be available in India on March 2 to coincide with the celebration of Holi....

After mesmerizing sports fans worldwide for 16 days, the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics drew to a close on February 25 with a spectacular light show, featuring 300 Intel drones and K-Pop music. While Team USA, which had the fourth highest medal count with 23 in total, saw virtuosic performances from all its 241 athletes, it was female competitors like 17-year-old snowboarder Chloe Kim that shone the brightest. For the first time in 20 years, American women, who won five of the nine gold medals and thirteen overall, secured more medals than their male counterparts....

Deep funding cuts to public school programs is forcing districts around the US to reduce or even eliminate arts education. The Philadelphia school system is no exception. Its once robust music program has been struggling because a large number of the instruments are damaged, with no funds to repair them. Now, thanks to “Symphony for a Broken Orchestra,” an initiative spearheaded by Temple Contemporary, some of the wounded cellos, violins, and trumpets are getting a new lease on life....

With over 3,500 exoplanets confirmed as of January 2018 and more being observed on a regular basis, the discoveries have become almost routine. However, all the planets found thus far have been within the Milky Way, the galaxy that contains our solar system. Now, scientists from the University of Oklahoma believe they may have found evidence of trillions of planets beyond our galaxy....

In mid-January, Cape Town officials announced that the world-class South African city of four million residents would run out of water on April 12. The date, nicknamed “Day Zero,” has since been postponed multiple times, thanks to the intense conservation efforts by locals, a sharp reduction in agricultural water usage, and a 10 billion-liter donation from the private reservoirs of the Groenland Farmers Association. The city now has enough water to sustain the current level of usage until July 9, giving residents hope that the rainy season, which begins in June, will be more normal than has been the case lately....

Though animals are continually evolving to adapt to their environment, it is hard to observe the process real time in the wild. Now, some international scientists have stumbled upon a unique group of West African dwarf crocodiles that may be in the midst of mutating into a new species....

February 14, 2018, began like any other school day for the over 3,000 kids that attend Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Classmates exchanged Valentine’s Day cards and carnations, grumbled through the mandatory fire evacuation drill, and eagerly waited for the last bell to ring at 2:40 pm. Little did they know that at 2:19 pm, their school would become the scene of one of the deadliest mass shootings in modern US history — one that would claim the lives of 14 students and three educators....

On February 13, 17-year-old Chloe Kim made history at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, when she became the youngest woman to medal in the halfpipe. What made the win even more special for the first-generation Korean American snowboarder was the presence of her 75-year-old grandmother who resides in Seoul and had never seen her compete live....

A 14-year-old with a vocabulary comprising four or five rudimentary words may not sound impressive. However, it sure is when the speaker happens to be an orca, or killer, whale! The amazing discovery along with the recording of the vocalization was unveiled in a January 31 study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B....

The joyous and colorful 2018 Chinese New Year celebrations will commence on Friday, February 16. Also known as Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, the fifteen-day event, which will end with the Lantern Festival on March 2, is the longest and most anticipated of all of China’s festivals. Associated with customs meant to ensure auspicious beginnings, it is also observed in Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Vietnam....

If you were among the millions of people that watched NBC’s replay of the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea on Friday, February 9, you might have seen an airborne snowboarder, a bird flapping its wings, and the iconic Olympic Rings, light up the skies. While they may have appeared to be digital fireworks, the mesmerizing show was the result of thousands of tiny drones preprogrammed to follow complicated flight paths to form the shape-shifting images....

The American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) is known to be a crafty and fierce predator that devours anything it can snare. However, given that the reptile lacks salt glands, scientists had always believed that its diet was restricted to the fish and crustaceans that dwell in its freshwater habitat. Now, a new study suggests that the opportunistic beasts also gobble down saltwater inhabitants like crabs, sea turtles, stingrays, and even sharks....

While we often hear of humans losing their jobs, a robot being fired for incompetence is almost unheard of. However, that is exactly what a Scottish grocery store was forced to do after its newly-employed humanoid robot proved woefully inept at performing the assigned tasks....

Last year, the over 110 million football fans who tuned in to watch the Super Bowl witnessed the New England Patriots make history — once again! After trailing 28-3 against the Atlanta Falcons in the third quarter, the Patriots made a nail-biting comeback ending the game with a 34-28 win in overtime. This was not only the first game in the fifty-one-year history of the Super Bowl to go to overtime but also the first to feature a comeback of more than ten points. On Sunday February 4, the New England team, along with their star quarterback Tom Brady, hope to continue their winning streak, and shatter more records, as they face off against the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 52!...

Since 2012, Canada’s WestJet Airlines has been delighting unsuspecting customers with well-deserved Christmas cheer. The gifts, usually restricted to the passengers of two or three late night flights, have ranged from iPods to fulfilling even the most exorbitant gift requests....

On January 31, millions of stargazers around the globe will witness what promises to be a spectacular total lunar eclipse. While the celestial event is always special, what makes Wednesday’s particularly noteworthy is that it coincides with both a blue moon and a supermoon. Hence the moniker “super blue blood moon.” According to NASA, the lunar trifecta is the first of its kind in 35 years and will not occur again until 2037....