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....

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....

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."...

A group of wandering wild elephants, nicknamed "The Northbound Wild Elephant Eating and Walking Tour," have become an overnight Internet sensation in China and globally. The pack first captured the attention of the locals in March 2020, after they suddenly left their home in the Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve....

The East African country of Kenya has been at the forefront of the global war on plastic since 2017, when officials outlawed plastic bags. In June 2020, the government upped the ante with a ban on single-use plastics in protected areas. Unfortunately, the preemptive measures have barely made a dent. Hundreds of tons of industrial and consumer polymer waste continue to get dumped into landfills daily. However, if 29-year-old Nzambi Matee has her way, the unsightly plastic heaps will soon be transformed into colorful bricks....

Father's Day, which will be celebrated on June 20, 2021, promises to be extra special this year. The Earth will join in the festivities with the June solstice, kicking off the Northern Hemisphere's first day of summer. Conversely, Southern Hemisphere residents will celebrate the astronomical start of winter, or winter solstice, with the shortest day of 2021....

Juneteenth — a combination of the words June and nineteenth — is one of the oldest known holidays commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. It was on June 19, 1865, that the nation's last enslaved people — a group in Texas — learned that slavery had been outlawed and that they were free. The events leading to what many call "America's true Independence Day" began with the Emancipation Proclamation, signed by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863....

The icy waters surrounding Antarctica have long been called the Southern Ocean by scientists, the media, and even the US Board on Geographical Names. However, it never received the official recognition it deserved - until now. On June 8, 2021, the National Geographic Society, which has been making maps since 1915, announced that from now on, there would be five oceans: the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic, and Southern Ocean. Fittingly, the decision was revealed on World Oceans Day!...

Since being introduced to chess at the tender age of six, Tanitoluwa "Tani" Adewumi has had one goal. He wants to become the world's youngest-ever Grandmaster. This is the second- highest title a chess player can achieve after World Champion. The record is currently held by Russian chess player Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin, who qualified for the title in 2002 at the age of 12 years and seven months....

In the early hours of June 5, 2021, astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) welcomed some unusual visitors: 128 baby bobtail squids and 5,000 tardigrades. The micro-animals were part of SpaceX's 22nd cargo resupply mission that delivered over 7,300 pounds of equipment and supplies — including treats like fresh apples and oranges — to the station. NASA researchers hope that the tiny critters will enable them to better understand the impacts of space travel on the human body....

On the heels of the spectacular May 26, 2021, total lunar eclipse comes another celestial spectacle. On June 10, 2021, some lucky stargazers will witness this year's first of two solar eclipses. Since it is an annular, not a total, eclipse, the Sun's edges will be visible around the Moon, transforming the star into a stunning "ring of fire."...

Donut lovers, rejoice! Friday, June 4, 2021, is National Donut Day. That means it is your civic duty to consume at least one — or even a dozen — of the delicious confections. The fun US holiday, observed annually on the first Friday of June, was started in 1938 by the Salvation Army to help raise funds for those in need....

While scientists have managed to recover and examine thousands of meteorites, finding their origin or even whether they are from icy comets or rocky asteroids has proved elusive. Now, for the first time, a team of international researchers has traced the source of a boulder-sized rock that landed in Botswana to an asteroid named Vesta. Boasting a diameter of about 326 miles, it is one of the largest and brightest rocks in the asteroid belt that circles the Sun between Jupiter and Mars....

Simone Biles, the world's most decorated gymnast, is well-known for performing moves so tricky and unique that many have been named after her. On May 22, 2021, the 24-year-old phenom made history again by becoming the first woman to perform a Yurchenko double pike in a competition. Even more impressive, the US Classic in Indianapolis, where Biles' accomplished the feat, was the gymnast's first meet since the COVID-19 pandemic caused all events to be canceled in early 2020....

The quarter dollar is both the most commonly-used coin in the American currency and the most unique. Since 1999, the coin's reverse, or "tails," side has showcased all 50 US states, as well as the breathtaking beauty of the country's national parks. Now, the US Mint plans to use the silver canvas to celebrate female leaders who have played a crucial part in shaping the nation's history....

Memorial Day, which will be celebrated on May 31, 2021, is one of the most important American holidays. Observed annually on the last Monday of May, it honors the brave men and women of the US Army, Navy, Marine Corps, National Guard, Air Force, and the Coast Guard who sacrificed their lives to defend America's freedom. Meanwhile, Veterans Day, which takes place each year on November 11, honors all veterans — living or dead—but mainly gives thanks to living veterans who served their country honorably during war or peacetime....

While total lunar eclipses are always spectacular, the one on May 26, 2021, promises to be particularly memorable given that it coincides with a supermoon. This means that the Moon — which will be at perigee, or its closest distance to Earth — will appear about 7 percent larger and 15 percent brighter than a standard full Moon. The eclipse will be most visible from the western parts of the Americas, Australia and New Zealand, and Eastern Asia. In the US, the best views will be reserved for Hawaii, Alaska, and the western states....

A collection of 1,000 prehistoric structures dubbed mustatils — the plural form of the Arabic term for rectangles — scattered across 124,274 miles (200,000 kilometers) in northwest Saudi Arabia may be the world's oldest monuments. A team of archeologists from the University of Western Australia (UWA) reached this conclusion after radiocarbon dating of charcoal found inside the courtyards indicated they were constructed in 5,000 BC — or about 2,000 years before the Egyptian pyramids or monuments like Stonehenge in southern England....

Geologists have long maintained that our Earth comprises four layers — the crust, the mantle, the outer core, and, the deepest layer, the inner core. However, a team of scientists led by Jo Stephenson, a doctoral student in seismology at Australian National University in Canberra, now asserts that our planet may be harboring a mysterious, fifth layer — an "inner-inner" core as well....

Researchers worldwide are celebrating the discovery of the fossil of an adult oviraptorosaur brooding over a nest of eggs containing unhatched babies. The unprecedented discovery confirms scientists' suspicions that the two-legged bird-like dinosaurs were doting parents, which not only incubated their eggs, but also guarded them —at times putting their own lives at risk....

When Jennifer Johnson and her team embarked on their annual quest to survey the sturgeon population in the Detroit River in mid-April 2021, they had fully expected to find some super-sized specimens. However, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists had never anticipated luring in the granddaddy of all sturgeons — a massive, 240-pound, 6-foot, 10-inch long fish that they estimate is at least a century old!...

Every year, on the second Sunday of May, Americans show their appreciation for the real-life heroes in their lives — moms — with special treats and lavish gifts. This Mother's Day will be no exception. A National Retail Federation (NRF) survey of 7,818 people revealed that the approximately 83 percent of US adults who plan to celebrate the holiday on May 9, 2021, will each spend an average of $220.48. The total, an astounding $28.1 billion, is the highest amount in the survey's 18-year history and easily topples 2020's record spend of $26.7 billion....

British sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor has made it his mission to use his talent to conserve our ecosystems by creating underwater museums. Over the years, the environmentalist has submerged over 850 massive artworks in numerous site-specific "sculpture parks" worldwide. On February 1, 2021, Taylor unveiled his latest endeavor — The Underwater Museum of Cannes....