Punxsutawney Phil And Staten Island Chuck Predict An Early Spring!It's February 2, the day when legendary groundhog Punxsutawney Phil and the relatively new Staten Island Chuck AKA Charles D. Hogg predict if Americans will have to suffer through an extended winter or enjoy an early spring. This year was no exception....
Read news articleVideo Of The Week - Super Bowl 50 Celebrations Begin In San FranciscoWith Super Bowl 50 less than the week away, the countdown to the big game between the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers has begun. To entertain the over million visitors that are expected to come to the San Francisco Bay Area this week, the hosts have not just planned special events, but also created a 'Super Bowl City.'...
Read news articleJapanese Bookstore Sells Only One Book At A TimeThose accustomed to browsing through thousands of books in mega bookstores, may find Japan's Morioka Shoten a little strange. That's because this tiny bookstore that is located in Ginza, Tokyo stocks only a single book at a time....
Read news articleWinter Activities That Go Beyond Skiing And SnowboardingFor most people normal winter sports like ice skating, skiing, or snowboarding provides enough excitement. However, for a select few adventurous souls those are not sufficient. They prefer to take advantage of the abundant snow and ice with 'sports' that range from heart-stopping to downright hilarious....
Read news articleIngenious Plant-Powered Lamps Bring Light To Remote Village In PeruAccess to electricity has always been sketchy for the 173 residents of Nuevo Saposoa, a remote village in Peru. S.America. However, things went from bad to worse in March 2015 after a flood damaged the few power cables in the area. The villagers were forced to turn to kerosene lamps, which are not only expensive but also dangerous because of the toxic fumes they emit....
Read news articleThe Quest To Find A Solution To Clean Space Junk ContinuesWhen humans began Space exploration about 55 years ago, they had no intention of leaving behind equipment that had served its purpose. It could after all, easily fall to Earth and harm innocent people. But that fear subsided in 1964 when American research satellite Vanguard 1 continued to rotate in orbit even after it had lost all contact with ground scientists. Since then researchers have become increasingly comfortable about leaving trash behind....
Read news articleHow Researchers Trained Australian Monitor Lizards To Avoid Toxic ToadsAustralia is home to some of the world's deadliest animals. However, few are as dangerous as the cane toad. Native to Central and South America, the innocent looking amphibian is an invasive species that was imported to Australia in 1935 to control the native grey-backed cane beetles that were harming sugarcane crops. With very few natural predators, their population began to grow rapidly. Experts estimate that there are currently over 200 million specimens spread across Northern Australia and the numbers are only growing....
Read news articleVideo Of The Week - Giant Panda Tian Tian Shows How To Enjoy A BlizzardThis past weekend's massive blizzard that brought epic amounts of snow to Washington D.C. and cities across the US East coast had most people and animals scrambling for the safety of their homes. However, one of National Zoo's most beloved residents, Tian Tian was not amongst them....
Read news articleSpain's Bizarre Food FestivalsWhile Spain's tomato-throwing festival, La Tomatina, that is celebrated in Bunol every summer is world-renowned, the country's other food-centric celebrations are not as well known. The Els Enfarinats and the Jarramplas festivals that are held in December and January respectively, also involve food fights, except the produce being tossed, is not as gentle as tomatoes....
Read news articleGuess What? There Are Twelve Kinds Of Rainbows!Remember ROY.G. BIV (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet), the mnemonic that helped you to memorize the order and colors of the rainbow? Well, you can forget it because as it turns out, not all rainbows are equal. They can vary drastically depending on the conditions under which they occur. A team led by atmospheric scientist Jean Ricard of the National Centre for Meteorological Research in Toulouse, France, has identified twelve rainbow 'flavors', each with its own distinct characteristics....
Read news articleCaltech Scientists Find Evidence Of A Massive Ninth Planet In Our Solar SystemWhen Pluto was demoted to dwarf status in 2006 we were left with a mere eight planets in our solar system. Now Planetary Astronomy Professor Mike Brown, the researcher responsible for 'killing' Pluto may have redeemed himself with the discovery of a massive ninth planet - One he believes is worthy of being added to the elite group of eight....
Read news articleChina's Spectacular Harbin Ice And Snow Festival Expected To Attract Over A Million VisitorsBeing famous for having one of the most bitter winters in China and most likely the world does not sound like a good way to market a city. However, it works for Harbin. That's because for the residents of the capital of China's Heilongjiang Province it means a chance to stage a spectacular winter festival....
Read news articleThe Water Crisis in Flint, MichiganThanks to strict regulations imposed by the US Environmental and Protection Agency, clean tap water is something Americans take for granted. But such is not the case for the residents of Flint, Michigan. Their water supply is so tainted that President Obama declared a federal state of emergency in Flint releasing up to $5 million USD to help the city combat what is probably one of the biggest public health crisis of recent times....
Read news articleMastered The 114 Elements Of The Periodic Table? Here Are Four More!On December 30, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry announced that elements 113, 115, 117 and 118 are now approved to join the prestigious periodic table. Their addition completes the group of man-made elements that make up the table's 7th row, and brings the total number that will need to be memorized by students to 118!...
Read news articleVideo Of The Week - Giant Panda Cub Bei Bei Makes His Public DebutOn January 16, hundreds of panda lovers lined up outside the gates of the National Zoo in Washington D.C. to be the first to get a glimpse at Bei Bei. While the giant panda cub that was born on August 22, 2015 has been visible on the zoo's video camera, this was his first public appearance....
Read news articleNew Taiwanese Church Resembles Cinderella's Glass-SlipperIn an attempt to attract more female visitors to the area, officials of the Budai Township in Chiayi County, Taiwan have come up with an unusual idea - A church in the shape of a glass slipper. Though the design closely resembles Cinderella's shoe, it was inspired by a local, albeit sad folklore....
Read news articleInnovative Ideas To Curb Food Waste Range From Sharing To Dumpster DiningFood waste is a growing problem both in the United States and across the globe. In North America alone anywhere from 30-40% of perfectly edible food ends up in the trash each year. To put it in perspective that is almost 20 pounds of food per person, per month! While the fact that most ends up in our landfills is bad enough, what's worse is that over 48 million Americans, including 15.3 million kids, live in households that do not have sufficient food! Now, concerned citizens are trying to raise awareness of the issue with some innovative ideas....
Read news articleRussian Zoo Tiger Becomes Best Pals With Goat That Was Served For DinnerTime and again we hear about alliances between animals that would ordinarily be prey and predator. But in most cases they are a result of a strategic decision made by zoo keepers trying to help one or both animals. However, that was not the intention of the workers at Russia's Safari Park when they allowed a goat into their resident Siberian tiger Amur's enclosure in November 2015. They were just serving him dinner! Hence, you can only imagine how surprised they were to find the goat alive and well the following day....
Read news articleCelebrating The Life And Legacy Of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.Every year on the third Monday of January, Americans celebrate the life and legacy of the extraordinary Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK). It is thanks to the vision and courage of this tireless clergyman turned civil rights activist that America is today a nation where everyone has equal rights, regardless of race, color, creed, or national origin....
Read news articleFacebook's Mark Zuckerberg Plans To Build His Very Own 'Jarvis'It is the beginning of a new year. This means that most of us have a lengthy list of goals laid out for the next 365 days. Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerberg is no exception. While his past resolutions have been mundane challenges like reading two books a month, meeting a new person every day of the year and mastering Mandarin, this year the Internet mogul has a loftier goal. He wants to build his own version of Tony Stark's (AKA Iron Man's) digital assistant and closest friend, Jarvis (Just A Rather Very Intelligent System)....
Read news articleVideo Of The Week - WestJet's Christmas 'Miracles' ContinueWestJet Airlines began the tradition of delighting unsuspecting passengers with well-deserved Christmas cheer in 2012, when they surprised weary travelers with free iPods. In 2013, the Canadian Airline granted the Christmas wishes of passengers on two late-night flights. The following year, the company upped the ante with Christmas deliveries to an impoverished community in the Dominican Republic. For 2015, the Airline's management went a step further by challenging each of its 12,000 employees to perform at least one Christmas 'miracle' within a stipulated 24-hour period....
Read news articleMethane Gas Leak In Southern California Forces Thousands To Evacuate Their HomesThe 2015 holiday season brought little cheer to the thousands of Southern California residents affected by a methane leak from an underground gas storage facility. Since late November, over 2,800 families from the Porter Ranch Community in Los Angeles have been forced to flee their homes to escape the adverse effects of the odorless gas. What's worse is that they have no idea when they will be able to return....
Read news articleMeet The New Glow-In-The-Dark 'Ninja' LanternsharkA few years ago, Douglas Long and his colleagues from the California Academy of Sciences were helping D. Ross Robertson identify some chimaeras caught off the Pacific coast of Central America in 2010. Among the images were those of a mysterious pitch black shark. Intrigued, the marine ichthyologist asked the Smithsonian Institute researcher to lend him the preserved specimens so that his team could study the fish in detail....
Read news articleIngenious 'Row-bot' Devours Microbes From Polluted Water To Fuel ItselfAccess to clean water is something many of us take for granted. However, for millions of people living in developing nations, it is a scarce commodity. According to the World Health Organization 3.4 million people, mostly children, die annually from water-related diseases. But that could change soon thanks to 'Row-bot', a tiny autonomous robot that powers itself by eating harmful water microbes....
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