Let's Go Bananas! It's The Year Of The Fire Monkey!

On Monday, February 8, millions of people across the world will celebrate the Chinese New Year. Also known as Spring Festival, it marks the beginning of the year 4714 and is the longest and most important Asian celebration. The revered tradition whose date is determined by the lunar calendar signifies the end of the dreary winter season and the beginning of spring....

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Researchers Believe That The Real-Life King Kong Perished Because Of Its Inability To Adapt

King Kong fans will be pleased to hear that the massive skyscraper climbing ape is not just a figment of filmmakers' imagination. There were actual giant apes or Gigantopithecus that roamed the planet not too long ago. However, since the only fossil evidence found is the lower jawbone and a handful of teeth, researchers have been unable to glean much insight into the giant ape's lifestyle or what caused it to become extinct....

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Get Ready To Celebrate Super Bowl Sunday AKA Super Eating Sunday

Ask any American what he/she is doing on Sunday, February 7 and the answer is likely to be either hosting or attending a Super Bowl party. For those that need a refresher, Super Bowl is the grand finale of the American football season. Played between the AFC (Denver Broncos) and NFC (Carolina Panthers) champions for the coveted title of the National Football League Champion, it is the most watched annual television program in the United States....

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US Presidential Race Kicks Off With The Iowa Caucus

On Monday, February 1, the residents of Iowa became the first in the nation to vote for the candidate they believe most suited to be the nominee for the upcoming Presidential elections. The record 186,000 Republican voters were almost evenly split in their choice. Ted Cruz won by a slight margin garnering 27.6% of the votes with Donald Trump and Marco Rubio coming in at 24.3% and 23.1%, respectively. Ben Carson was a distant fourth with 9.3% and Rick Santorum and Jim Gilmore received no votes!...

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Winter Activities That Go Beyond Skiing And Snowboarding

For 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....

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Ingenious Plant-Powered Lamps Bring Light To Remote Village In Peru

Access 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....

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The Quest To Find A Solution To Clean Space Junk Continues

When 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....

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How Researchers Trained Australian Monitor Lizards To Avoid Toxic Toads

Australia 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....

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Spain's Bizarre Food Festivals

While 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....

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Guess 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....

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The Water Crisis in Flint, Michigan

Thanks 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....

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Mastered 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!...

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New Taiwanese Church Resembles Cinderella's Glass-Slipper

In 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....

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Innovative Ideas To Curb Food Waste Range From Sharing To Dumpster Dining

Food 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....

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Russian Zoo Tiger Becomes Best Pals With Goat That Was Served For Dinner

Time 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....

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