The residents of Utqiagvik, (pronounced oot-kee-AAG-vuhk) Alaska, enjoyed the last sunset of the year on November 19th. America's northernmost city will next see a sun emerge above the horizon on January 23, 2023. For those wondering, that means 64 continuous days, or 1,536 hours, of no daylight!...

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are all about finding the best deals on holiday gifts for friends and family members. But GivingTuesday, which will be observed on November 29, 2022, has a more altruistic purpose. "The Global Day of Giving" encourages people to do good by helping those in need....

The Champs-Élysées is an iconic Paris landmark. It connects the Arc de Triomphe and the Place de la Concorde. The 1.2-mile (1.9km) tree-lined avenue was once a popular place for locals to walk and picnic. However, it is now a tourist hotspot, filled with expensive cafes and designer shops....

Norway is a global leader in sustainability. The Nordic country's approximately 5.4 million residents do everything possible to reduce their environmental impact. Hence, it should come as no surprise that it was the venue of choice for the world's first energy-positive hotel....

Rumeysa Gelgi has held the record for the "world's tallest living woman" since 2021. The 25-year-old, who stands just over seven feet tall, frequently travels to share her story. But never on an airplane! She is too tall to fit in a standard airplane seat! Gelgi also suffers from a spinal condition and cannot sit for long periods of time. But thanks to Turkish Airlines, she has finally experienced the magic of soaring high above the clouds....

Many ocean-dwelling birds make huge detours to avoid severe storms. But not the streaked shearwaters! A new study led by Professor Ken Yoda of Japan's Nagoya University asserts that the brave seabirds often fly right into the eye of the storm to survive....

If Chinese automobile company Xpeng AeroHT has its way, we may soon be commuting on flying cars. The electric car manufacturer recently unveiled two radical flying vehicle models....

On December 24, 2021, NASA's InSight lander recorded a magnitude four quake on Mars. At first, scientists had no idea what had caused the tremor. However, that changed in February 2022 when the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spotted a new crater on the Red Planet's surface. Researchers connected the dots from both missions and realized that a meteoroid had struck Mars....

November 11, 2022, is Veterans Day. The federal holiday honors 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 Coast Guard....

Travis Gienger did not have much hope for a pumpkin he planted in April 2022. The 42-year-old horticulture teacher from Anoka, Minnesota, had accidentally dropped a bucket of dirt on the plant when it was just five days old! But the mishap did not seem to impact the gourd. "Maverick" — nicknamed after the main character in Top Gun — grew to an astounding 2,560 pounds....

On October 25th, 2022, Rishi Sunak replaced Lizz Truss as Britain's Prime Minister (PM). The country's third leader in less than two months is a man of many firsts. He is the first non-white and first Indian-origin PM. At 42, Sunak is also the youngest British leader in over 200 years. With an estimated family net worth of £730 million ($840 million), Sunak is the richest-ever British PM....

Every fall, families across the Northern Hemisphere rush to pumpkin patches in search of the perfect gourds. Some use them to carve out scary jack-o'-lanterns. Others place the fruits outside their homes as decor. But the fascination with pumpkins ends after Halloween, and most end up in the trash....

Every winter, Alaskan fishers head out to the Bering Sea to harvest snow crabs. However, on October 10, 2022, officials announced that the 2022/2023 snow crab season had been canceled due to a sharp decline in their population. Ocean surveys indicate that the number of snow crabs has shrunk from an estimated 11.9 billion in 2018 to about 1.9 billion in 2022....

The Sun is getting excited about Halloween as well! On October 26, 2022, NASA's Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO) caught the fiery star sporting a cheerful "smile." However, don't be fooled by the friendly "jack-o'-lantern" look. It could trigger a mild solar storm on Earth on October 29, 2022....

Few countries celebrate Halloween as enthusiastically as the United States (US). Children and adults spend months — and millions of dollars — looking for the perfect costume. Many families decorate homes and front yards with spooky skeletons and jack-o-lanterns. How did all these fun customs begin? Read on....

Electric cars are a great way to reduce our carbon footprint. But French car maker Citroën believes more can be done to make vehicles sustainable. On September 29, 2022, the company unveiled Oli, a concept electric car that can be "reused or recycled throughout ownership."...

In 1905, water from the Colorado River broke through an irrigation canal and flooded a dry lake bed called the Salton Sink in Southern California. The flooding continued for two years, creating a pristine 400-square-mile lake. The Salton Sea, as it was called, became an instant vacation hotspot. Its sandy beaches and warm water drew millions of visitors every year. Filled with fish from the Colorado River, it also drew migratory birds looking for food in the desert....

Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) is among the most admired painters of his era. His most well-known work, Girl with a Pearl Earring, has even been nicknamed the "Dutch Mona Lisa." But Vermeer completed surprisingly few pieces — no more than 60 in total — during his lifetime, only 36 of which are still around. A recent discovery by the National Gallery of Art (NGA) in Washington, DC, has reduced the already paltry number even further....

October is pumpkin season in America. For most people, this means eating delicious pumpkin-filled treats or visiting pumpkin patches to pick out the perfect fruit for Halloween. But for pumpkin farmers, it is a chance to showcase their giant produce at pumpkin weigh-offs. Though various such contests are held countrywide, the "Super Bowl" of pumpkin weigh-offs takes place in Half Moon Bay, CA....

Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common motor disability in children. The condition, which affects about 1 in 345 children, can make daily activities like walking, eating, or even lifting a cup difficult. A team of researchers from the University of California, Riverside (UCR) hopes to alleviate the daily struggles with robotic clothing that will allow kids with cerebral palsy to better control their arm movements....

Researchers from the University of Bath in the United Kingdom have uncovered the fossil of a new mosasaur species that ruled the seas during the Cretaceous period. The ferocious marine lizard was an apex predator that thrived in the waters of Morocco at the same time T. rex was on land. The scientist named the creature Thalassotitan atrox (T. atrox) from the Greek words "Thalassa" and "titan," meaning "sea giant." The species name atrox translates to "cruel" or "merciless."...

On October 5, 2022, NASA astronaut Nicole Aunapu Mann became the first Native American woman to launch into space. Mann is also the first woman to command a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS). The 45-year-old is a member of the Wailacki of the Round Valley Indian Tribes....

A gentle giant in Farmington Hills, Michigan, has set a Guinness World Record as the world's tallest living domestic cat. Fenrir Powers measured an impressive 18.83 inches on January 29, 2021. The two-year-old Savannah cat's achievement was revealed in the Guinness World Records 2023 edition, released on September 13, 2022....

Plastic may not be the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of footwear. But a significant portion of modern shoes, including soles and uppers, are made using plastic materials. The billions of pairs of discarded shoes, flip flops, and sandals that end up in landfills every year take hundreds of years to decompose and pose a substantial environmental challenge. California-based Blueview hopes to alleviate the problem with what they claim is the world's first fully compostable shoe....