This week's severe winter storm, which dumped record amounts of snow in the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast, had most residents scrambling for the safety and warmth of their homes. However, the animals at the Smithsonian's National Zoo were not going to let Washington, DC's first significant snowfall in two years go to waste....

Those hoping for some respite from the powerful nor'easter that is currently pummeling the US East Coast and Mid-Atlantic with heavy snow and near-blizzard conditions are in for a disappointment. On February 2, 2021, aka Groundhog Day, legendary woodchuck Punxsutawney Phil observed his shadow. This — according to folklore — means that the frosty weather will remain with us for an additional six weeks....

The countdown to Super Bowl LV (55) has begun! On February 7, 2021, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will battle it out for the coveted Vince Lombardi Trophy at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Florida. The National Football League's (NFL) championship game, which will pit the league's youngest Super Bowl–winning quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, against its most storied quarterback, Tom Brady, has already established numerous records....

With a series of storms unleashing their fury across the United States this week — all the way from California to New York — many Americans are experiencing the full wrath of the winter season. Freezing as the temperatures may seem, they are balmy compared to those in Yakutsk, the capital of Yakutia, or the Sakha Republic, in Russia. The residents of this remote Siberian city have been enduring average temperatures of below -30°F (-34°C) since December 8, 2020, with the mercury dipping as low as -59° F (-50.6 °C) on January 19, 2021....

Mars is famous for its orangish-red hue caused by the iron oxide in its soil. However, the Red Planet's surface, which has been drastically altered by volcanoes, impact craters, crustal movement, and atmospheric conditions such as dust storms, is also home to a wide range of fascinating topographical features. High among the list is Valles Marineris — the Solar System's longest and deepest-known canyon....

Just before noon (EST) on January 20, 2021, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. placed his hand on a 127-year-old family Bible, which has followed his entire career, and took the Presidential oath of office to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America." The inauguration ceremony of America's 46th President came just moments after Kamala D. Harris took her oath of office and became the first woman and first person of color to hold the country's second-highest office....

When paleontologists discover a new dinosaur species, they usually marvel at the ancient creature's size or speed. However, a new species of a chicken-sized dinosaur is making headlines for a feature rarely associated with the primitive reptiles that dominated the world for over 140 million years — dazzling looks!...

NASA's Artemis program not only hopes to land the next man and the first woman on the lunar south pole by 2024; it also expects them to spend up to seven days in the inhospitable environment, collecting samples and conducting experiments. To provide the pioneering scientists — and future space travelers — with a comfortable shelter, two enterprising Dutch architects have built a habitat capable of withstanding the Moon's harsh conditions....

In late November 2020, German divers, commissioned by the World Wildlife Foundation to extract abandoned fishing nets from the Baltic seafloor, stumbled upon what appeared to be a pristinely-preserved ancient typewriter. However, a closer look at the rusted, algae-covered contraption revealed that the artifact was far from a typewriter. It was a rare Enigma machine, used by German armed forces to send messages securely during the Second World War....

The cameraman zooms in on the anxious elephant, who paces back and forth. However, the pachyderm's demeanor instantly calms down upon hearing a soothing ballad from Disney’s Cinderella, “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes," sung to him by none other than American singer and actress Cher. The now-viral poignant video, published on YouTube on November 30, 2020, was the culmination of the pop singer and animal activist's four-year-long quest to save Kaavan, “The world's loneliest elephant."...

On December 31, 2020, people around the world let out a collective sigh of relief that the difficult and unpredictable year, which tested our resilience in numerous ways, had finally ended. Though the COVID-19 pandemic's continued threat resulted in one of the most muted New Year's Eve celebrations in recent history, a few countries were able to ring in 2021 in style....

Over the years, researchers have found ample evidence proving that the horned Triceratops and the Tyrannosaurus Rex (T. rex), which roamed western North America in the late Cretaceous period — some 69 million years ago — were mortal enemies. However, finding perfectly-preserved fossils of the prey and predator locked in combat was something they only dreamed of until the 2006 discovery of the "Dueling Dinosaurs" at a private Montana farm by commercial fossil hunters Clayton Phipps and his team....

The dark mornings and low temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere may lead one to think that winter is well on its way. However, the astronomical start of the chilly season will not be until December 21, 2020. Called the winter solstice, it is the point in time when the Northern Hemisphere is farthest away from the sun, resulting in less sunlight to the region this year. 2020's longest night will coincide with two exciting celestial events — the peak of the Ursids meteor shower and a "great conjunction" of the solar system's two largest planets, Jupiter and Saturn....

Most teenagers are still trying to find their passion and purpose in life. However, not Gitanjali Rao. The 15-year-old sophomore at STEM School Highlands Ranch in Douglas County, Colorado, has been coming up with innovative solutions to worldwide problems since she was ten. It is, therefore, not surprising that the youngster was selected from 5,000 equally impressive nominees — ages 8 to 16 — for TIME Magazine’s first-ever "Kid of the Year."...

Over the years, Marvel has enthralled fans with heart-stopping tales of superheroes saving the world from devastation. However, the graphic novel unveiled on December 3, 2020, is the most exciting one yet. Entitled, The Vitals: True Nurse Stories, it depicts factual accounts from the world's real-life superheroes — nurses who risk their lives daily to save strangers from the deadly COVID-19 pandemic....

At sundown on December 10th, 2020, Jewish families worldwide will commemorate the first night of Hanukkah, by lighting a candle on a hanukkiah or menorah. Often called the Festival of Lights, Hanukkah, which means "dedication" in Hebrew, is an eight-day celebration observed annually on the 25th day of Kislev — the Jewish calendar's ninth month. Though the exact date varies, the holiday always occurs sometime between late November and December....

On December 1, 2020, the United Kingdom (U.K.) became the first western country to give emergency approval for a COVID-19 vaccine. The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) officials announced they would begin distributing 800,000 doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine to 50 British hospitals as early as next week. The initial vaccines will be administered to some of the nation's most vulnerable citizens — nursing home residents, health workers, and the elderly....

Over the years, the caretakers at the Southern Plains Wildlife Rehabilitation Center (SPWRC) in Lubbock, Texas, have sheltered hundreds of species of orphaned and injured animals, ranging from birds to reptiles. However, the hairless baby opossum, dropped off at the center in mid-October by a concerned resident, was unlike any animal they had encountered before....

With much of our world automated, many experts believe that coding should be a core part of modern education. Yet, only 20 US states offer high school students access to computer science courses, and just 8 of those make the subject accessible to kids in lower grades. However, thanks to Seattle-based Code.org's Hour of Code Challenge, learners of all ages and backgrounds can now get exposure to this all-important subject....

The next time you find an excuse to abandon your aspirations, think of Chris Nikic. On November 7, 2020, the 21-year-old Maitland, Florida, resident made history as the first person with Down Syndrome to attempt and complete an Ironman. Organized by the World Triathlon Corporation, the grueling competition requires athletes to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and run a full, 26.2-mile, marathon — in under 17 hours!...

On November 24, 2020, President Donald Trump exercised his executive powers for a beloved Thanksgiving tradition — the turkey pardon. The gorgeous toms, dubbed "Corn" and "Cob," were raised at an Iowa family farm owned by National Turkey Federation Chairman Ron Kardel, a 6th generation turkey, corn, and soybean farmer. The lucky birds will spend the rest of their days under the watchful eyes of animal science students at Iowa State University....

Extreme athletes have been using wingsuits — unique jumpsuits with fabric stitched between the arms and body and between the legs — to fly untethered for many years. However, while the "birdman" or "squirrel" suits allow daredevils to soar in the skies, the pull of gravity makes it impossible to accelerate or fly higher. To push past the limitations, Austrian stuntman Peter Salzmann teamed up with German car manufacturer BMW. The result is an electrified wingsuit, which allows flyers to zoom to higher altitudes at speeds of up to 186 miles per hour!...

Stars that get too close to black holes usually end up getting sucked in by the strong gravitational forces of the dense space objects, from which no light can escape. Now, for the first time, researchers have been able to observe the cosmic phenomenon — nicknamed "spaghettification" because it pulls apart a star into thin "spaghetti-like" strands — in real-time....

Soft robots, which can move around the ocean without harming sea life, are ideal for underwater exploration. However, they are rarely deployed because they are extremely slow and have a hard time maneuvering through the water. But that may change soon thanks to an innovative, self-propelling soft robot created by researchers at the University of California, San Diego....