San Francisco's public trash cans have long outlived their lifespan and need to be replaced. However, the current design is inadequate for the city's burgeoning population and the increasingly larger number of tourists. The garbage receptacles also get rummaged through by scavengers, who leave behind a mess. To alleviate the issues, in 2018, San Francisco Public Works officials set out in search of a perfect trash can. The quest proved harder than they had thought....

Batesian mimicry — where a harmless species mimics a harmful one to escape predators — is widespread in animals. But most recorded examples of the phenomena are visual. For instance, the harmless scarlet kingsnakes have evolved to resemble a venomous species, while the flower-loving hoverflies have adopted the persona of stinging wasps. Now, for the first time, researchers have uncovered a mammal that has developed acoustic Batesian mimicry to scare away predators....

The powerful eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai underwater volcano rocked the island nation of Tonga on January 15, 2022. The spectacular 13-mile-wide explosion is the largest recorded in the 21st century thus far. It expelled ash and gas plumes as high as 19 miles and triggered tsunami warnings across the Pacific....

The US House of Representatives passed the Inflation Reduction Act on August 12, 2022. The comprehensive legislation, approved by the Senate on August 8, 2022, will be signed into law by President Joe Biden later this week. It is designed to lower health care and energy costs, combat climate change, and increase taxes on large corporations. Major provisions of the bill include:...

On June 28, 2022, Carson Pickett made history as the first athlete with a limb difference to play on the US women's national soccer team (USWNT). The 28-year-old, who filled in for defender Emily Fox, was in the game for the entire 90 minutes. She was instrumental in her team's 2-0 victory in the friendly game against Colombia. Pickett has also represented the US on the under-17 and under-23 national teams....

The James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) was launched into space on December 25, 2021, with high expectations. Scientists hoped the $10 billion space observatory would allow them to explore the origins of the Universe, its galaxies, and perhaps even the formation of the first stars. The initial photos, released by NASA on July 12, 2022, indicate that Webb is living up to its promise....

July is National Ice Cream Month. This means it is your civic duty to consume a scoop or two of the delicious treat daily. The fun tradition was started by former US president Ronald Reagan, who issued Proclamation 5219 in honor of the "nutritious and wholesome food" in 1984. The decree urges Americans to mark the month, or at least July 17 — designated National Ice Cream Day — with "appropriate ceremonies and activities."...

Canadian pop star Justin Bieber recently revealed that he had been diagnosed with a rare neurological condition known as Ramsay Hunt syndrome. The June 11, 2022, announcement came after the 28-year-old musician postponed three shows on his 2022 Justice World Tour. Bieber subsequently delayed all his upcoming US performances to recover....

On Sunday, June 19, 2022, Americans will observe both Father's Day and Juneteenth, the nation's youngest federal holiday. Officially recognized in 2021, it commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. On this day in 1865, America's last enslaved people — a group in Texas — were notified that slavery had been made illegal and that they were free....

Tardigrades are perhaps the most resilient creatures on Earth. Popularly called water bears, or moss piglets, they can thrive in the most extreme of conditions — from the peaks of mountains to the bottom of oceans, to even the vacuum of space. Now, researchers have finally found the one thing capable of killing the otherwise indestructible microscopic organisms — snail slime....

Rafael Nadal has once again proved he is the "King of Clay." On June 5, 2022, the tennis phenom defeated Casper Rudd in three decisive sets to win a record-extending 14th French Open title. The 36-year-old is the oldest men's singles French Open champion and the first male tennis player to win 22 Grand Slam championships — the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic each hold 20 Grand Slam titles....

Americans are mourning the loss of innocent lives in yet another school shooting. On Tuesday, May 24, 2022, a gunman took the lives of nineteen children and two teachers, and wounded seventeen others, at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. The tragic incident is the second deadliest school shooting in US history, behind the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, when twenty first-graders and six staff members were killed. It marks the seventh-deadliest shooting in the country since the Columbine High School massacre in 1999....

Those looking for an excuse to indulge in some delicious donuts will be thrilled to know that June 3, 2022, is National Donut Day. This makes it your civic duty to eat at least one — or even a dozen — of the sugary treats. The yummy holiday, observed annually on the first Friday of June, is credited to the Salvation Army....

Electric vehicle (EV) sales have sharply escalated over the past three years. However, their overall global market share remains extremely low. It ranges from about 16 percent in China to just 4.5 percent in the US. One of the biggest hurdles to widespread EV car adoption is the fear of running out of charge while on the road. Israeli startup Electreon hopes to eliminate "range anxiety" by transforming highways into Electric Road Systems (ERS) that wirelessly charge vehicles as they drive....

Most of the athletes that participated in the 126th Boston Marathon on April 18, 2022, probably took some time to recuperate before embarking on another exhausting run. But not Jacky Hunt-Broersma. The Arizona-based ultra-runner completed another marathon the next day — and the day after. In fact, Jacky ran the grueling 26.2-mile distance for 104 consecutive days, from January 17 to April 30, 2022. Even more impressive, the 46-year-old did it with a prosthetic leg....

On May 12, 2022, an international team of astronomers led by scientists at the Harvard—Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics revealed the first image of a supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. Researchers have known about the black hole, called Sagittarius A*, or Sgr A* (pronounced sadge-ay-star), since the 1970s. However, until now, its existence had only been deduced from its effect on surrounding stars and dust. The stunning picture is the first direct visual evidence of our galaxy's black hole....

Laura Young had a feeling that the 52-pound marble sculpture she bought from a Goodwill Store in Austin, Texas, in 2018, was worth more than the $34.99 she paid. However, the vintage store owner never thought it would be a priceless, 2000-year-old Roman relic dating back to the first century AD....

The partial solar eclipse on April 30, 2022, was only seen by a lucky few. However, the total lunar eclipse on the night of May 15, 2022, will be visible to about 2.7 billion people on Earth's night side. This includes the residents of North America, Africa, South America, and Central and Western Europe....

American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift may consider 13 her lucky number. However, millions of people worldwide do not share the sentiment.​ The fear of the number increases to a new level when the date coincides with a Friday — as is the case this week. No one knows how Friday the 13th got its fearsome reputation. But experts have some theories....

American wild turkeys have made a remarkable comeback. The birds' population, which had fallen to about 200,000 specimens in the early 1900s, has risen to over 7 million today. But the wildlife conservation success story has a downside. The aggressive birds have become a neighborhood menace, destroying gardens and chasing after residents. The latest to make headlines is an aggressive tom that has been attacking cyclists, runners, and walkers on the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail in Washington, DC, for the past five months....

May marks the start of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month in the United States. The month-long observation celebrates the achievements and contributions of AAPI communities in America. The broad term includes 50 ethnic groups that speak over 100 languages and have roots in more than 40 countries. They include those with connections to China, India, Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Korea....

Every Mother's Day, Americans show their appreciation for the remarkable women in their lives by showering them with extravagant gifts. 2022 will be no exception. A recent survey by the National Retail Federation (NRF) indicates that the approximately 84 percent of adults celebrating the holiday on May 8 will collectively spend $31.7 billion. This is up $3.6 billion from the record $28.1 billion spent in 2021 and the highest in the survey's 19-year history....

Ants are truly fascinating creatures. The industrious insects can lift up to 50 times their own body weight, morph into rafts to protect themselves from floods, predict earthquakes, and even repair their damaged homes. Now, researchers have found that the amazing insects may even be able to help detect cancer in humans....

Stargazers will enjoy two spectacular celestial events on April 30, 2022 — the conjunction of Jupiter and Venus and this year's first solar eclipse. The former will be visible worldwide. But the opportunity to observe the moon "bite" a chunk of the Sun in person, will only be available to a lucky few in parts of South America, Antarctica, and some Southern Ocean areas. The rest of us will have to watch the natural phenomenon online....