The World's Deepest Pool Is Scarily . . . Deep!If you like to showcase your superior diving skills you may want to check out Italy's Y-40 Deep Joy. As the name indicates, the depth of this newly opened pool extends down 40 meters (131-feet) - the height of a 12-story building or nine double-decker buses stacked atop each other!...
Read news articleMIT's Robotic Cheetah Gets Ready To Take On The World (And Usain Bolt)At first sight, MIT's recently unveiled "Cheetah", may look like an assortment of gears, batteries and motors, but watch it in action and you will soon be reminded of its spotted namesake that also happens to be nature's fastest land predator. Though the robot cannot attain speeds of 60 mph like the real cheetah, the researchers believe they can bring it to race at least 30 mph making it the world's fastest quadruped robot and also, the fastest human (if it were one), since it would easily outrun Usain Bolt's maximum speed of 28 mph!...
Read news articleHow The Removal Of A 'Nuisance' Predator Wreaked Havoc On Yellowstone National Park's EcosystemIn the 1800's the Rocky Mountain West area of the USA that now includes Yellowstone National Park, was teeming with gray wolves. However they were considered nuisance predators who killed livestock and therefore, actively hunted down. By the time the National Park was established in 1827, the number of gray wolves had diminished substantially, a trend that continued thanks to a government predator control program that ensured that by 1926, there were none left....
Read news articleAlways Craving Chips And Cookies? Blame It On Your Gut Bacteria!Always craving junk food? Now you can blame it on the millions of bacteria that live in your gut - At least that's what some researchers from UC San Francisco, Arizona State University and University of New Mexico, have concluded after reviewing the latest scientific literature about microbes. According to Athena Aktipis, one of the authors of the study, which was published in the journal Bio Essays in mid-August, these microscopic organisms are extremely bossy and have the power to influence not just our food cravings but also moods and overall well-being....
Read news articleFour-Year-Old Norwegian Toddler Sleepwalks Three Miles To Nearby TownWhen toddlers have bad dreams, they usually run to snuggle up with their parents. Not Thea Helena Robertsen! This four-year-old Norwegian toddler decided to deal with her nightmare by sleepwalking, not just to the kitchen or the neighbor's home, but an astounding 5km (3-miles) - all the way to the next town!...
Read news articleYay! Simultaneous Solar Flares Create Beautiful Auroras But No DisruptionsLast week, scientists waited in anticipation for two massive solar flares that were scheduled to hit the earth's magnetic field on September 11th and 12th, respectively. While the outbursts were not expected to be as powerful as the ones experienced in 2012, it was the back-to-back occurrence that had experts concerned about the damage they could cause to our satellites, electric grids and GPS systems....
Read news articleBite-Size Kilobots Demonstrate The Power Of TeamworkInsects like ants and termites are amongst the world's best collaborators. Unlike most humans they have figured out that by working together, they can accomplish much more than they can individually. That is what some researchers are hoping to attain with Kilobots - bite size robots capable of ant-like teamwork and intelligence....
Read news articleHawaii's Kilauea Volcano Lava Inches Toward HomesMention Hawaii and the first thing that comes to mind are the pristine beaches. What is not as well known is that Hawaii's Big Island is also home to some of the world's most active volcanoes, including the spectacular Kilauea! While the dynamic volcano has been erupting almost nonstop since 1983, some years, the amount of magma coughed up is larger than others....
Read news articleMassive Underground 'Ocean' Probably The Source Of Our Surface SeasScientists have long suspected that there is water trapped deep inside the Earth's interior. However, they had never been able to verify it. Hence geologists had no choice but to adopt the theory that the water in our oceans was deposited by icy comets hitting the forming planet. Now thanks to evidence uncovered by Associate Professor Steven Jacobsen of Northwestern University and seismologist Brandon Schmandt from the University of New Mexico, there is finally proof that our oceans may have emerged from a massive reserve that lies 400 miles beneath the Earth's crust....
Read news articleItalian Adventurer Alex Bellini Plans To Live On An Iceberg Until . . . It Melts!Though most people believe that climate change is real and likely to result in some catastrophic events if allowed to continue unabated, very few are ready to make the lifestyle changes needed to turn things around. That's why Italian adventurer Alex Bellini has come up with the radical idea of living atop an iceberg, until it melts. He believes that witnessing something this dramatic may be the key to convincing more people to take action....
Read news articleCandy That Doesn't Cause Cavities? Sweet!One of the biggest knocks against candy is that it causes cavities. Now some genius scientists from Berlin-based biotechnology firm, OrganoBalance, may have figured out a way to manufacture the sweet treats in a way that eliminates that risk almost entirely. Sounds too good to be true? Read on . . ....
Read news articleSpain's Messy La Tomatina Festival Never Fails To DelightOn Wednesday, August 27th, over 20,000 revelers literally painted the tiny town of Bunol red, by pelting each other with thousands of pounds of tomatoes. This was of course no ordinary food fight, but the world's largest one that is staged annually on the last Wednesday of August - Welcome to Spain's messy La Tomatina festival!...
Read news articleRare Superman Comic Book Auctions For An Astounding $3.2 MillionOn Sunday, August 24th, comic book lovers across the world watched with abated breath to what avid collectors would pay for a rare Superman comic book. Though bids above the initial asking price of $1 million USD had been coming in gradually since the pristine copy was placed on auction site eBay on July 14th, things really started to heat up during the final minutes when the price jumped from $2.5 to $2.6 and then $2.7 million, before shooting up to $3,207,752. Just when everyone thought it was over, an unknown buyer sneaked in the winning bid - a mind-boggling $3,207,852!...
Read news articleCan 'Mini-Farms' Help Solve World Hunger?Data gathered by humanitarian organization, World Food Programme, indicates that every year over 847 million people worldwide, suffer from malnutrition and about 3.1 million children under the age of five, die from starvation. While eradicating world hunger is a top priority for both scientists and philanthropists, given the increasing global population and dwindling natural resources, it is not easy. But thanks to new innovations like the recently introduced 'LivingBox', there may be some hope....
Read news articlehitchBOT - The World's First Hitchhiking Robot Completes Cross Country JourneyAlthough most hitchhikers are people in need of genuine assistance, passersby tend to ignore them because they are wary of giving rides to strangers. But what would they do if they came across a hitchhiking robot? Would humans be caring enough to take it to its desired destination or would they vandalize and toss the helpless machine by the wayside?...
Read news articlePssst . . . Peter Pan, Sherlock Holmes & Queen Victoria Wish To Speak To You!Let's be honest, historical statues can get a little boring. After all, how many times can one admire the intricate carving or read the plaque etched below? It is therefore no wonder that most people just whiz past them, as they go about their daily lives. But what if they had a story to tell? Would passersby spend two minutes of their precious time to listen?...
Read news articleAt Toronto's Aptly Named 'Signs' Restaurant All Orders Fall On Deaf EarsAt first sight, Toronto's newly opened 'Signs' restaurant appears like any other casual dining establishment. However the difference starts to become apparent as soon as diners walk in and the host or hostess welcomes them using American Sign Language (ASL). That trend continues throughout the meal as everyone, from the wait staff to the busboys, communicate only via hand gestures....
Read news articleAnnual Perseid Meteor Showers Face Tough Competition From 'Super' SupermoonEach year around this time, stargazers anxiously await nature's finest fireworks show - the Perseid meteors. The 'fireball' champions of all annual meteor showers have already been streaming through our skies at the rate of about a dozen an hour, for the last few weeks. However, things will really heat up from early August 11th to the 13th, when between ninety to a hundred meteors will come zooming across the skies, making them easy to spot, even with the naked eye....
Read news articleModern-Day Amelia Earhart Circumnavigates The Globe Successfully!In 1937, America's beloved aviatrix, Amelia Mary Earhart, set out to break yet another record by embarking on a 29,000-mile flight around the globe. However, her plane disappeared over the South Pacific without a trace, giving birth to one of the biggest mysteries in the history of aviation. Seventy-seven years later, her namesake, Amelia Rose Earhart set out to attempt the same feat. Fortunately, she was successful!...
Read news articleJapanese Scientist Builds Robots That Look Eerily HumanThe fact that the Japanese love robots is well-known. The nation of 127 million people currently employs over a quarter million robots workers, more than any other country in the world, and the number is expected to quadruple in the next 15 years. So far, most of the robots have been built for the industrial sector and therefore bear no resemblance to humans. But if some scientists have their way, the days of androids - robots that look and act like humans, are not too far away....
Read news articleStar Soccer Players Sport Some Sweet RidesA month ago, only avid soccer fans knew who Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar da Silva Santos Jr. were. However, thanks to the just ended FIFA World Cup, the trio have become household names, and rightfully so - After all, Messi was instrumental in getting Argentina to the finals, and Brazil's dismal performance against Germany and the Netherlands highlighted just how important Neymar is to the country's success in soccer. Though Ronaldo did not quite live up to the lofty expectations, he did score one of the two goals in Portugal's final game against Ghana and made a crucial assist in their match against the United States....
Read news articleJoey Chestnut Wins Hot Dog Eating Contest for Eighth Consecutive Year!When one thinks of 4th of July celebrations the things that come to mind are an afternoon feast of watermelon, chips and . . . lots and lots of hot dogs. The best place to eat these tasty franks? The one and only 'Nathan's Famous Fourth Of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest', where participants are handsomely rewarded for devouring as many hot dogs (buns and all) as they can, in the given time....
Read news articleNational Ice Cream Month Starts Today!While most of us don't need an excuse to devour one or even a few scoops of ice cream, it is always nice to have one. And what better reason than helping fulfill one's civic duty, which is what United States residents will be doing when they eat the creamy treat this month. That's because July happens to be National Ice Cream Month!...
Read news articleAustralia's Favorite White Humpback Makes A Rare AppearanceOn June 19th, a group of animal lovers on a whale watching cruise off the coast of Sydney, were treated to a rare sight - a pod of mammals that included Migaloo, the world's first documented white humpback whale. The gorgeous 55-ton all-white humpback, was sighted with five other whales as they made their annual migration from the Antarctica to the breeding areas off Queensland and Western Australia....
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