At sundown on December 2, 2018 Jewish families worldwide will mark the first day of Hanukkah by lighting a candle on a special menorah. The eight-day celebration, which will end on December 10, is observed annually on the 25th day of Kislev, the ninth month of the Hebrew calendar, which falls anywhere from late November to late December in the Gregorian calendar....

Most dog owners are convinced that their four-legged friends know exactly what they mean when they use certain words like sit, stay, or treat. However, researchers have always wondered whether canines really understand human speech or if they rely on other clues to deduce the meaning. For example, does the word “fetch” conjure up an image of a stick or ball in the dog’s mind, or does the pooch retrieve the object based on cues such as the owner’s tone or gesture? A new study by scientists at Atlanta’s Emory University seems to indicate that “man’s best friend” is not faking it – he/she does indeed know what the owner is saying....

The residents of Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin are no strangers to wild turkeys. However, “Smoke,” a lone bird who has been a fixture in the town since spring this year, is like none other they have encountered before. The renegade turkey pursues moving vehicles, “controls” traffic flow by parking himself in the middle of the road, and even chases after children as they descend from school buses. He is also known to boldly approach residents and gobble at them, as though sharing some pertinent information....

Comic book enthusiasts and movie lovers alike are mourning the loss of legendary writer, editor, and publisher Stan Lee who died at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California on November 12, 2018. The 95-year-old, responsible for creating iconic superheroes like Spider-Man, Iron Man, the X-Men, The Avengers, and The Fantastic Four, leaves behind a “marvel-ous” legacy that will live on forever....

Thanksgiving, celebrated annually on the fourth Thursday of November, is one of the most popular holidays on the American calendar. Though traditionally a religious and cultural celebration, it is now observed by all. The origin of the fun tradition, which will be observed on November 22, 2018, can be traced back to a harvest feast in 1621. It was organized by Governor William Bradford to celebrate the Pilgrims’ first successful corn harvest....

Over the last couple of decades, astronomers have identified thousands of planets outside our solar system. However, they have been unable to find confirmation of a moon revolving around any of the distant worlds, mainly because the generally smaller satellites are harder to spot. Now, some researchers from Columbia University believe they have found evidence of an alien moon orbiting a gaseous exoplanet, which lies almost 8,000 light years away....

US gymnast Simone Biles, who has dominated the sport since the 2013 World Championships, is often described as “the greatest gymnast of all time” and “superhuman.” The 21-year-old phenom proved herself worthy of both labels at the recently held World Championships in Doha, Qatar when she won a medal in every discipline, including four golds, while battling a painful kidney stone....

The Black Sea MAP (Maritime Archaeological Project) was established to survey the floor of the Black Sea to determine the impact of sea-level changes on early human settlements at the end of the last ice age. The search for answers has led to an unexpected bonus for historians – ancient shipwrecks which provide invaluable information about civilizations of the past. Since the project began three years ago, over 67 old vessels, most from the 14th to 19th centuries, have been found. On October 23, 2018, the team of international sailors and researchers led by University of Southampton Professor Jon Adams announced their most exciting find yet: an intact shipwreck that dates back over 2,400 years!...

While the start of a new school year is always exciting, this year was even more so for some elementary school students in Auckland, New Zealand. They became the world’s first kids to be “taught” by a digital teacher. Before you start imagining a human-like robot walking around the classroom, Will is just an avatar that pops up on the student’s desktop, tablet, or smartphone screen, when summoned....

Veterans Day, celebrated annually on November 11, is a federal holiday to honor the brave men and women of the United States Armed Forces. This includes everyone who has served in the US Army, Navy, Marine Corps, National Guard, Air Force, and the Coast Guard. The holiday often gets confused with Memorial Day, which is observed on the last Monday of May....

The Central American countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador – often referred to as the Northern Triangle – have been stricken by violence and poverty since the 1980s, thanks to a slew of civil wars. Over the past few years, the situation has only worsened, forcing thousands of residents, many of them unaccompanied minors, to flee to the U.S in search of a better life. In the past, most have made the long, often treacherous, journey in small numbers to avoid getting noticed by officials and kidnappers....

Every year, around October or November, Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains worldwide celebrate Diwali. Also referred to as Deepavali or the Festival of Lights, the five-day event, whose exact date is determined by the Hindu lunar calendar, dates back over 2,500 years. Hence, it should come as no surprise that Diwali, which will be commemorated from November 5 to November 9 this year, is India’s biggest and most significant holiday....

This year’s Halloween experience was elevated by several spooky surprises from nature. First, there was news of the “Death Comet’s” November 11 Earth flyby . Then, on October 23, 2018, scientists aboard the E/V Nautilus stumbled upon a white octopus with translucent “wings’ that looked more like a ghost from outer space, than the eight-legged mollusks we are accustomed to seeing....

With the Halloween festivities over, most people will spend the next few days taking down the spine-chilling decorations and tossing the pumpkin Jack-o’-Lanterns, or scary monsters, that they spent hours creating. While the millions of gourds that end up in landfills every November is alarming, even more so is the massive amount of food waste generated since most people fail to take advantage of the fruit’s edible flesh and seeds....

From creating crazy mnemonics to constructing elaborate mind maps, all of us have at some point experimented with techniques to help us recall relevant information during tests and exams. Now, a group of researchers at the RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia have devised a new trick to help boost our memories – a gap-ridden, and oddly slanted, typeface that they ironically called Sans Forgetica!...

Those of you having a hard time waking up in the increasingly dark mornings will be pleased to hear that Daylight Saving Time (DST) ends on Sunday, November 4. This means that most North Americans will “add’’ an hour to their day by moving their clocks back. In addition to allowing people to enjoy an extra 60 minutes on Sunday, the simple act will help provide more daylight hours and make getting up for school a little more palatable....

Three years ago, in 2015, the Town of Carefree, Arizona was seeking a pumpkin carver to help their newly-planned fall festival become an instant success. Luckily for them, world-famous American sculptor and artist Ray Villafane fell in love with the Carefree Desert Gardens, and the annual Enchanted Pumpkin Garden was born. Now in its fourth year, the free event, which took place from October 19 to 28 2018, includes numerous fun Halloween activities for both kids and adults. However, it is the pumpkin carvings that remain the star attraction....

Always wished the Earth had a second moon? Then you will be pleased to hear that the Chengdu Aerospace Science and Technology Microelectronics System Research Institute has plans to launch multiple mini moons, the first one of which will appear in the skies as early as 2020....

Many people, including successful entrepreneurs like Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, wear the same clothing daily because they want to focus their decision-making energy on more important things. However, Julia Mooney’s, “One outfit, 100 days” challenge, has a more altruistic motive. The art teacher at the William W. Allen Middle School in Moorestown, New Jersey is wearing the same dress for the first 100 days of school to create awareness of the environmental costs of fast fashion....

It’s creepy, spooky, and scheduled to rendezvous with Earth shortly after Halloween, on November 11, 2018. Before you get your hopes up, we are not talking about an alien, but asteroid 2015 TB145, a skull-shaped space rock nicknamed ”Death Comet.” This is the second appearance of the eerie-looking asteroid that was first observed by the University of Hawaii's Pan-STARRS-1 (Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System) telescope on October 10, 2015....

Paul Allen, one of the world’s most brilliant minds, died on Monday, October 15, 2018. According to the statement released by his representatives, the 65-year-old succumbed to complications related to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer that originates in the lymphatic system. Though best known as the co-founder of Microsoft, the company that revolutionized the personal computing industry, Allen’s legacy extends beyond technology to science, sports, and even music....

James Bond movies are famous for their fast-paced, unexpected plot twists, smart gadgets, and jaw-dropping locations. Hence, it is only fitting for a museum dedicated to the fictional British Secret Service Agent – code number 007 – to be situated in a stunning, hard-to-reach location. Open to the public since July 12, 2018, the 007 Elements museum sits at an altitude of 9,482 feet (3,000 meters) on the summit of the Gaislachkogl Mountain in Solden, Austria and is only accessible by cable car. Avid fans of the spy movies may recognize the venue from the action-packed snow chase sequence in the 2015 film Spectre....

While the discovery of a new species is always newsworthy, that of a fish spectacular enough to be named Tosanoides Aphrodite, after the Greek goddess of love and beauty, is even more so! Hudson Pinheiro and Luiz Rocha were exploring the deep-sea coral reefs, nearly 400-feet underwater, around Brazil’s Saint Paul’s Rocks archipelago, when they spotted the dazzling pink and yellow fish. The California Academy Of Sciences researchers were so mesmerized by the colorful ocean-dweller that it was only later, when viewing the video footage, that they noticed the 10-foot sixgill shark that had been hovering above....

A rocket malfunction that forces astronauts to evacuate after its launched may sound like a plot straight out of a Hollywood movie. However, that is precisely what happened to Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin and American astronaut Nick Hague on October 11, 2018. Fortunately, the “movie” had a happy ending with both scientists returning to Earth safely....