With childhood obesity rates on the rise, schools are going all out to encourage students to become more active and make healthier food choices. Some have added standing desks; others have revamped their cafeteria menus. In Dillwyn, Virginia, the educators have gone one step further - They have designed a school that incorporates movement and healthy eating....

Queen Nefertiti, the wife of King Akhenaten who ruled from 1352 to 1336 B.C., was one of ancient Egypt's most influential and beautiful queens. Historians maintain that she played a significant role in the political and religious reforms that resulted in numerous changes including the establishment of Aten as Egypt's supreme god. Many even believe that the powerful queen served as pharaoh for a brief period following her husband's death and the accession of his 9-year-old son King Tutankhamun (Tut), to the throne....

While vending machines have a bad reputation generally, they are particularly frowned upon in schools. That's because most are filled with foods that are deemed unhealthy for both kids and adults. However, no one will have any objection to Jet Blue's vending machines. That's because they dispense free books!...

Tossing food at total strangers is not something that is acceptable in most settings. However, at the La Tomatina festival in Bunol, Spain, it is not just accepted but encouraged. That's because the whole purpose of the event that is held annually on the last Wednesday of August is to pelt friends and total strangers with as many tomatoes as possible....

The Japanese have always been at the forefront of deploying robots to perform jobs that are traditionally done by humans. Over the past year, humanoid robots have been seen helping customers at Mitsubishi Bank, selling Nestle's espresso machines and even filling in for human science communicators at museums. Hence, it is not surprising to hear that the country is now home to a hotel that is staffed almost entirely by the Androids!...

On Wednesday, August 19th, ten-year-old Florida resident Kaley Szarmack was wading in knee-deep ocean waters at a Jacksonville beach, when she experienced a sharp pain in her right leg. Thinking that a crab was holding on to her, the young girl looked down only to see multiple lacerations on both sides of her leg. Soon after, Kaley noticed the dorsal fin of what appeared to be a three-foot-long shark darting away from the crime scene....

Earlier this year, Marianne Winkler, a retired postal worker and her husband were vacationing on the North Sea island of Amrum, Germany, when they stumbled upon a bottle with a message inside! And it was no ordinary letter either, but one written by an Edwardian British scientist studying undersea currents....

On August 13, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti along with officials from the water department watched as the last 20,000 "shade balls" rolled their way into the city's largest in-basin water reservoir. The release marked the final phase of the project that involved covering the 175-acre lake with 96-million four-inch black plastic balls. Their purpose? To provide shade and improve water quality....

In June, the City Council of Utrecht in The Netherlands announced that starting January 2016, a few lucky residents will receive a monthly stipend to cover their basic needs with no strings attached. That means that the recipients will have to do nothing in return and can spend the rest of their days lounging by a pool if they so wish....

Anemia, a condition where the body is not producing enough healthy red blood cells to transport oxygen to the tissues is a common ailment. Caused by a diet that is deficient in iron, its symptoms range from fatigue and dizziness to weakened cognitive ability and stunted development in children....

Food waste is a growing concern. According to a recent report by the United Nations Environmental Programme, consumers in industrialized countries waste as much as 222 million tons of food annually. To put it in perspective, that is almost equivalent to the net food production of sub-Saharan Africa. Now the residents of the small Spanish town of Galdakao have devised a simple solution to help reverse the trend - a community refrigerator!...

Earlier this year, the world rejoiced at the news that Iran had tentatively agreed to a deal that would curtail its capability to develop a nuclear program. In exchange, the United States and five other world powers promised to lift the harsh trade sanctions that have crippled the country's economy since they were imposed in 2005....

How do Londoners react when they see a stranger in distress? Do they ignore the person's plight or rush to help? That is what the folks at Action Productions, a newly established ethically driven creative agency recently tested on the streets of the bustling city....

If you have paid any attention to the news, you have probably heard Greece being mentioned fairly frequently during the past few months. Unfortunately, the Mediterranean country is not in the limelight for its idyllic beaches, towering mountains, or historic sites, but for the financial crisis it has been trying to overcome since 2010....

July 4, 2015 was America's 239th birthday. To celebrate the occasion, residents hosted barbecues, sought out the closest fireworks shows and . . . watched in emotions ranging from total awe to horror, as the contestants of Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest tried to outdo each other by devouring copious amounts of hot dogs in ten short minutes....

Love ice cream? Then you are going to be pleased to hear that July is National Ice Cream month. The month-long homage to everyone's favorite dessert is not a ploy by corporations to sell more ice cream, but one put into effect by President Ronald Reagan....

On June 21st, the 30,000 visitors that attended the , a six-month-long Universal Exhibition that is currently going on in Italy, were in for a special treat - a slice of the world's longest pizza! Measuring 1.59545 kilometers, or just under a mile, the delicious pie that extended across 800 tables handily surpassed the previous record holder - a 1.1415-kilometer-long pizza made by Spanish chefs in 2011....

Most people think about donating blood. However, very few actually do it. According to experts, though almost 50% of the US population can be counted as potential blood donors less than 10% ever give. What's worse is that even the most consistent ones donate an average of just three to four times during their lifetime. Though these statistics pertain to the US, the situation is similar worldwide. Now the officials in Swedenare trying to to reverse the trend with the help of modern-day technology....

If you happen to live in the Northern Hemisphere, you may want to plan extensive activities to keep dad entertained this Father's Day. That's because June 21st happens to be the start of summer and the longest day of the year. Also known as summer 'solstice' - a Latin word for 'sun stands still', it is the day when the tilt of the Earth's semi-axis, in the northern hemisphere, is most inclined toward the sun....

To amateurs, the 1856 British Guiana One-Cent Magenta stamp that measures a mere 2.5 cm by 3.2 cm may appear to be like any other ancient postage stamp. However, for philatelists this octagonal scrap of paper that bears an illustration of a three-masted ship is a one-of-a-kind treasure, for which an avid collector recently paid $9.5 million. According to Sotheby's, the One-Cent Magenta is not just the world's most expensive stamp sold at an auction but also its most valuable object by weight and size!...

The Wapichan or Wapishana tribe of Guyana is an isolated community of fewer than 6,000 people that live on the edge of the rainforest around South America's Rupununi Savannah, one of the world's largest open ranges of savannah lands. Located in Guyana between the Rupununi River and the Brazilian border, the 5,000 square mile area of pristine grasslands, swamplands, and rain-forested mountains has been the source of food and water for the tribe for centuries. Unfortunately, their means of subsistence is now being threatened by illegal logging and gold mining activities....

In 2014, Sriram Hathwar and Ansun Sujoe made history when they were declared the first co-champions of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 52 years, and only the fifth since the contest began in 1925. On May 28th, 2015, 13-year-old Vanya Shivashankar and 14-year-old Gokul Venkatachalam repeated the feat, after zipping through the final list of 25 difficult words with ease....

What's better than the school year drawing to a close? How about a National Donut Day, which believe it or not, happens to be tomorrow, Friday, June 5th! Given that the only way to celebrate this all-important occasion is to eat donuts, you really have no choice but to devour one (or even a dozen) of the gooey treats....

While e-books are on the rise, most people, especially young kids, still prefer printed versions that they can pore over for hours on end. Though that is an excellent habit, it also means cutting down precious trees. But what if the book could revert to its roots and transform back into a tree? Now thanks to a Brazilian children's book publisher, that is possible, at least for one book!...