The Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s charismatic giant panda Bei Bei, who has won over millions of hearts with his playful behavior and bold personality, turned three on August 22, 2018. To celebrate the occasion, the Zoo’s youngest panda bear was treated to a special enrichment painting session, gifted a new toy, and, best of all, given a massive ice cake, complete with the number 3, to feast on all by himself!...

Florida residents are no strangers to harmful algal blooms (HABs), or “red tides.” The natural phenomena, which occurs along the state’s Gulf Coast annually, is the result of excessive growth of microalgae Karenia Brevis. The single-celled organisms, which are only visible through a microscope, are dangerous because they release brevetoxin – a nerve toxin, that attacks the nervous systems of animals with often fatal results....

Just a few decades ago, humans were the only species believed to be smart enough to grasp the concept of zero — the idea that nothing can be counted as something. While a select group of animals, including dolphins, primates, and a few birds, have since been added to the list, experts have always maintained that only “intelligent” species are capable of processing the difficult concept. Now, researchers from Melbourne’s RMIT University and France’s Université de Toulouse assert that honeybees, which like all insects are considered to be at the low end of the cognitive spectrum, also understand the abstract mathematical notion of nothing....

While whales are known to grieve the loss of their loved ones, the recent story of an orca mom clinging to her dead calf for over two weeks demonstrates unprecedented evidence of the strength of the species’ familial bonds. The heart-wrenching saga began on July 24, 2018, after a female calf born to J35, aka Tahlequah — a member of the endangered Southern Residents Killer Whales (SRKW) pod — died 30 minutes after birth. Instead of letting the carcass sink into the ocean, the grieving mother began carrying the lifeless body by balancing it on her forehead or nudging it along the water surface with her nose....

Iron Man fans rejoice! The flight suit that transforms Tony Stark into a superhero is now a reality! Called Daedalus Mark 1, after the mythical Greek craftsman most famous for the feather wings he, and his son Icarus, used to escape from the kingdom of Crete, it is the brainchild of British inventor Richard Browning....

The most noticeable difference between the modern human face and that of the hunter-gatherers, who lived on Earth over 200,000 years ago, is the forehead. While we now have flat, smooth foreheads with visible eyebrows, our ancestors sported a pronounced brow ridge. Experts have always believed that the thick rim, and the evolution to the beautiful tufts of facial hair, served a physiological function. Now, a team of scientists from UK’s University of York and Portugal’s Universidade do Algarve suggest the distinct facial features help with our social relationships....

Researchers have always maintained that Triassic dinosaurs were small, chicken-sized critters, and that it was not until the Jurassic period — about 180-million years ago — that massive herbivorous sauropods, like the Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus, emerged. However, the discovery of a new dinosaur species in Argentina suggests that the animals achieved gigantism during the late Triassic period, about 30 million years earlier than previously believed....

Every now and again, Mother Nature reveals a delightful surprise in the form of something unusual and remarkable. One such extraordinary occurrence is the recent discovery of an extremely rare hybrid between a melon-headed whale and a rough-toothed dolphin. The mammal was first sighted in August 2017 by a group of researchers on a two-week expedition to document marine life off the coast of Kauai, Hawaii....

The hundreds of thousands of people who suffer from motion sickness have a long list of activities they dread — and often avoid altogether. This includes long-distance airplane travel, road-trips, carnival rides, and, in the more severe cases, even certain movies and video games. However, if the French company Boarding Ring has its way, motion sickness sufferers will soon have nothing to worry about, provided they are willing to wear the goofy-looking Boarding Glasses!...

Though wildfires are a common occurrence during California’s hot, dry summers, the state’s biggest fires don’t usually strike until August. However, this year, the season started early, in February, with the Pleasant Fire that took about six weeks to contain and scorched over 2,000 acres. Since then, there have been over 20 blazes across the state. However, none have been as terrifying as the Carr Fire that is currently wreaking havoc in Northern California’s Shasta County....

With an estimated 100,000 marine animals being choked, suffocated, or injured by plastic every year, the danger posed by the trillions of pieces of polymer floating in our oceans is well-known. However, given that most of the microplastics measure less than 0.5mm in diameter, collecting them is a challenging task. Now, some Dutch environmentalists have devised a way to not only capture plastic waste before it reaches the open seas and disintegrates, but to also use it to create a public park and wildlife sanctuary....

Stargazers, get ready to witness the longest total lunar eclipse of the 21st Century. On July 27, our moon will transform into a red orb for 1 hour, 42 minutes, and 57 seconds! The entire event, from the moment Earth’s shadow starts to fall upon the moon’s edge to the time when the bright full moon emerges, will take almost 4 hours. In comparison, this century’s shortest total lunar eclipse, which occurred on April 4, 2015, lasted a mere 4 minutes and 48 seconds, with a total duration of 1 hour and 40 minutes....

When it comes to brain power, bottlenose dolphins are second only to humans. The highly social animals are known to teach one another to tail walk, to help fellow dolphins in distress, and to even carefully prepare their food instead of instantly devouring it like most animals. Now, a new study indicates that male bottlenose dolphins maintain unique whistles, or ‘names,’ to enable them to recognize friends and rivals within their social group....

If the recently released Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom has you yearning to see the ancient creatures in real life, you are out of luck. That’s because to resurrect the animals, researchers would need a complete set of dinosaur DNA, which is impossible to obtain. However, if Nikita and Sergey Zimov have their way, a prehistoric Ice Age ecosystem may soon become a reality. Their motive is not to attract tourists but to stop the thawing of the Arctic permafrost....

Most animals only perform tricks when bribed with treats. However, Kim, the world’s first spider to learn a skill, needs no incentives to do what she loves — jumping from different heights and distances — upon the bidding of a team of scientists from the University of Manchester....

Depending on where you live, today — Thursday, June 21 — is the first day of summer or winter. Also known as the June solstice, it is the day when the North Pole is most inclined towards the sun, allowing residents of the Northern Hemisphere to enjoy the longest day of the year. Conversely, those living in the Southern Hemisphere will experience the shortest day of 2018....

Guatemala’s Volcán de Fuego — Spanish for fire volcano — came alive on Sunday, June 3, billowing gas, fire and ash more than 15,000 feet in the air. The volcano’s most violent eruption since 1974 caused widespread chaos and destruction. The initial death toll of 110 increased to over 300 on June 17 after officials, citing dangerous conditions, abandoned the search for the 200 residents who have been missing since the deadly incident. In contrast, Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano, which has destroyed over 700 structures since it began erupting on May 3, has yet to result in any casualties. Experts say the reason Volcán de Fuego is deadlier than Kilauea has to do with the formation of the two volcanoes....

Few people can resist the lure of a delicious ice cream scoop or two, especially on a hot day. The only thing that spoils the fun is that the treat is hard to savor slowly, like one would a piece of candy, without ending up with a sticky, melted mess. Now, researchers from Colombia's Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana may have found an unlikely ally to help solve this age-old problem — cellulose fiber extracted from banana plant waste....

After successfully banning plastic bags, officials around the world are turning their attention to something we are all guilty of using for only a few minutes and disposing of without a second thought – plastic straws. According to ecostraw.org, over 500 million straws, enough to fill 127 school buses, are used just in the US, each day! Too small to recycle, they choke sea creatures, clog coral reefs, and eventually disintegrate into tiny microbeads which enter our food chain through fish. This means that every single straw ever produced in the world still exists in some form today. Now, thanks to social media campaigns such as #TheLastStraw and #TheFinal Straw, the urgency to ban plastic straws is finally gained momentum....

In 2015, the Internet became divided over a dress that some thought was blue and black, while others believed it was white and gold. Now millions of listeners are arguing over a single word uttered in a three-second audio clip. Some hear it as a deep male voice saying “Yanny,” while others maintain it’s a higher-pitched sound saying “Laurel.” Posted on Reddit by 18-year-old student Roland Camry, the meme became an overnight sensation after YouTuber and social media influencer Cloe Feldman shared it to her Instagram and Twitter on May 15, 2018, inquiring: “What do you hear — “Yanny” or “Laurel?”...

One would think that an elephant bird egg, the largest laid by any vertebrate ever — including dinosaurs and ancient reptiles — would be hard to miss for 80 years. Yet, that is precisely what Paige Langle at New York’s Buffalo Museum of Science discovered recently while inputting the institution’s extensive collections, many of which only exist on cards and ledgers, into the museum’s computer system....

With climate change and overfishing wreaking havoc on our oceans, it is becoming increasingly important for researchers to closely monitor our marine life. However, observing sea creatures up close is almost impossible since human presence scares the animals. Now, thanks to The Soft Robotic Fish, aka SoFi, researchers may not only be able to keep a close eye on the elusive creatures, but also uncover undersea secrets that have been eluding us for centuries....

Though it is not uncommon for the Kilauea volcano on the southern shore of Hawaii’s Big Island to erupt, the recent explosion is the worst encountered in decades. The sea of lava, which has been flowing unabated since May 3, has encompassed 104 acres (the equivalent of 100 football fields), destroyed 35 structures — including 26 homes — and forced almost 2,000 people to evacuate. Unfortunately, even experts have no idea when the volcanic activity will subside....

In mid-March, following an extended period of heavy rainfall, residents of the Mai Mahiu settlement in Kenya woke up to a big surprise – a massive crack in the Earth that appeared to have opened up almost overnight. Running several miles long and measuring 50 feet deep and 65 feet wide in some places, the terrifying fissure damaged several homes and caused a portion of the busy Mai Mahiu Narok-Nairobi highway to collapse. What caused it? Depends on who you ask....