The pandemic-delayed Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, which took place from Aug. 24 to Sept. 5, 2021, attracted a record number of competitors. A total of 4,403 athletes — 2,550 male and 1,853 female — competed across 22 sports and 23 disciplines. Here are a handful of the incredible men and women whose determination and grit shattered stereotypes and exhibited the amazing opportunities that can come from following your dreams....

The longest war in American history has ended. On August 31, 2021, a US aircraft carrying the remaining US officials in Afghanistan lifted off from Kabul, ending the nation's almost 20-year presence in the country. The chain of events leading to the long, drawn-out war began early on September 11, 2001....

Mattel's Barbie Role Models series, designed to inspire young girls to pursue their dreams, has highlighted the work of many incredible women. On August 4, 2021, the US toymaker revealed the latest additions to the collection — custom, one-of-a-kind dolls modeled after six female COVID-19 frontline workers....

Wildlife filmmaker Kim Wolhuter was just hoping for some authentic footage of an elephant herd climbing a steep path out of the Majale riverbed in the Mashatu Game Reserve in Botswana. Instead, she was able to capture a heartwarming video of a stranded baby elephant being helped up a cliff by the herd's matriarch....

Rosh Hashanah, or Jewish New Year, will be celebrated from sundown on September 6, 2021, through sundown on September 8, 2021. The two-day observance, which starts on the first day of Tishrei — the seventh month on the Jewish calendar — commemorates the creation of the world....

The 2021 Atlantic hurricane season began with a bang for the residents of Louisiana. On August 29, 2021, the Gulf Coast state was battered by Hurricane Ida, a powerful Category 4 storm that officials believe was the strongest to hit the area in 165 years. To make matters worse, Ida arrived on the sixteenth anniversary of the devastating Hurricane Katrina and made landfall twice....

Even those that do not particularly care for math will agree that pi, or “π," is fascinating. The numerical constant — defined as the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter— is recognized by most as 3.14. However, Pi is an irrational number. This means it can't be written as a fraction. Instead, it is infinitely long and never forms a repeating pattern. While individuals attempt to break records by memorizing pi's decimal points, scientists strive to find its most accurate value using new algorithms and powerful computers....

Clothing made from synthetic materials, such as polyester and nylon, has many positive attributes. It is cheap to produce, lasts for a long time, and is comfortable to wear. However, the fabric, made from petroleum, has one major downside. The tiny polymer strands — or what we call lint — that shed from the textiles during each laundry cycle are big contributors to plastic pollution. Now, some scientists from Lithuania have found a way to recycle the textile waste into clean energy....

The social distancing mandates, imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, isolated family members from each other in 2020. However, it also resulted in some lifelong friendships between people who would have otherwise never met. In the case of 99-year-old Minnesota resident Mary O'Neill, that person happens to be her two-year-old neighbor, Benjamin Olson....

On August 8, 2021, the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its first assessment of climate science since 2013. The news was not good. The report stated that this past decade was the hottest in 125,000 years and that the atmospheric carbon levels are the highest in at least 2 million years. Glaciers are melting faster than any time in over 2,000 years, and ocean levels are rising at twice the rate since 2006....

The COVID-delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics ended on August 8, 2021, with a spectacular closing ceremony and a fireworks show. To mark the occasion, the seven astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) organized the first-ever space Olympics. The four events, modeled after classic Summer Games competitions, included fun twists to account for weightlessness....

Snipping off the sides of an acclaimed painting to fit an assigned space would be unheard of in modern times. But that is exactly what was done to one of Rembrandt van Rijn's most famous works, The Night Watch, almost 300 years ago. Now, Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum has finally managed to restore the painting to its original glory with the help of artificial intelligence (AI)....

For most people, Friday the 13th is just another day on the calendar. However, for the superstitious, it is the unluckiest day of the year. The irrational fear of Friday the 13th is called friggatriskaidekaphobia. It affects over twenty million people in the US and many more worldwide. Some of the anxiety can be blamed on the namesake movie series. However, the day's bad reputation began long before the film's hockey-masked villain, Jason Voorhees, made his debut in 1980....

Graphic novel lovers rejoice! Saturday, August 14, 2021, is Free Comic Book Day (FCBD). This means you can walk into any one of the 2300+ participating retailers and obtain a copy, or two, of the 50 comic books specially published for the event for free! The annual celebration usually takes place on the first Saturday in May. However, this year it was postponed to August due to the COVID-19 pandemic....

Thanks to hours of training, gymnasts seem to effortlessly fly through the air at impossible heights. However, a psychological condition, known as "the twisties," can sidetrack even the most experienced gymnast. The phenomenon, attributed to stress, disorients the athletes and causes them to lose awareness while they are in the middle of a routine. It can lead to serious injury....

Blue Origin's Jeff Bezos and Virgin Galactic's Richard Branson have dreamed of going to space since childhood. The billionaires have also been competing to become the first to launch commercial space travel. In July 2021, the two men fulfilled both quests with two separate jaunts to space in their respective company's rockets. The historic flights kicked off a new era of space tourism — for anyone who can afford it....

The seven astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) recently encountered an unexpected and potentially dangerous situation. The Russian laboratory module, Nauka, inadvertently fired its thrusters while docked at the ISS. The force nudged the space station out of its normal flight position for a short time....

Mark your calendars! It is once again time for the world's biggest and most spectacular meteor showers. The Perseids have been flashing in the night skies at a rate of about a dozen an hour since mid-July. However, the number of meteors will sharply escalate in the coming week. Though the meteors will peak the night of August 11, 2021, they will be visible on the days before and after as well....

The countdown to the 2020 Summer Games has begun. On July 23, 2021, about 11,000 athletes from 206 countries will gather at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan, for the opening ceremony of the Games of the XXXII Olympiad. Here are a few contestants to keep an eye on at the world's most prestigious sporting event....

On July 8, 2021, Zaila Avant-garde outspelled 11 finalists to clinch the prestigious Scripps National Spelling Bee title. The 14-year-old from Harvey, Louisiana, is the first African American and only the second Black winner in the national competition's 93-year history. The first was Jody-Anne Maxwell from Jamaica, who won in 1998 at the age of 12. Avant-garde is also Louisiana's first spelling bee champion!...

Modern-day rhinos, which weigh anywhere from 1,800 to 5,100 pounds, are no lightweights. However, they pale in comparison to their prehistoric cousin that roamed China about 26 million years ago. The massive mammal weighed 46,000 pounds — almost as much as four large African elephants. Standing at a height of 23ft (7m), it was also taller than a giraffe....

Our seemingly calm Sun can have a nasty temper that comes in the form of powerful explosions. The star's unpredictable outbursts can disrupt satellites in orbit and be dangerous for astronauts. Though the flares are well-documented, researchers have never been able to pinpoint the cause of the erratic behavior. Now, the Sun's incredible multi-staged "tantrum" may help scientists get closer to solving the long-standing mystery....

Magawa, an African giant pouched rat trained to sniff out concealed explosive devices, has retired. The rodent, who received British veterinary charity PDSA's gold medal for bravery in 2020, was one of Belgian non-profit APOPO's most successful HeroRATs. During his illustrious five-year career, Magawa discovered more than 71 landmines and helped clear over 2,420,000 sq. feet (225,000 sq. meters) of land in Siem Reap, Cambodia....

Here is some good news for those wilting in the sweltering summer heat — July is National Ice Cream Month! The "cool" holiday can be credited to Proclamation 5219, signed by former US President Ronald Reagan on July 9, 1984. The decree urges citizens to observe the entire month, or at the very least the third Sunday of July — designated National Ice Cream Day — “with appropriate ceremonies and activities."...