The idiom “shoot for the stars” has just taken on a
literal meaning for cancer survivor Hayley
Arceneaux. On February 22, 2021, the Memphis,
Tennessee, native was selected to be one of four
crew members of the SpaceX Inspiration4 — the
world's first civilian astronaut mission. The
29-year-old will make further history as the younge...
Mount Etna, Europe's most active volcano, has been
erupting regularly since 2011. However, the latest
series of explosions, which began on February 16,
2021, has been particularly noteworthy. Emanating
from the youngest of the volcano's four craters —
the Southeast Crater— they have spewed
spectacular fountains of lava as high as 0.9 miles (...
St. Patrick may have been an Irish clergyman, but
his death anniversary — observed annually on
March 17 — is celebrated worldwide, even in cities
and towns with few or no ethnic Irish people. Here is
a brief history of the man behind the holiday and
the origins of some of the fun traditions associated
with the commemoration.
A team of Swedish scientists has successfully
extracted and reconstructed the world's oldest DNA
from the tooth of a Siberian mammoth, which
roamed Earth over a million years ago. Also known
as deoxyribonucleic acid, the all-important molecule
— which contains the genetic instructions for the
development and function of living things. — provi...
On March 14, 2021, millions of Americans and
Canadians will mark the start of Daylight Saving
Time (DST) by moving their clocks forward an hour.
The time manipulation — which will result in the loss
of sixty minutes of precious sleep or leisure time on
Sunday — is designed to enable North Americans to
enjoy longer days during the upcoming spring and...
In 2011, conservationists moved eight Rothschild's
giraffes to Longicharo Island, a rocky peninsula on
Lake Baringo in Western Kenya. The scientists hoped
the isolated area would save the endangered
animals from poachers and allow their numbers to
multiply. However, intense rainfall in August 2020
caused the lake water levels to rise substantially, c...
Matthew Walzer, who was born with cerebral palsy,
had overcome most of the mobility and motor skills
challenges associated with the congenital disorder
by the time he turned 16 in 2012. However, with
limited dexterity in his right hand, one essential task
remained elusive — tying his shoelaces. Realizing
there were probably millions of others facing a simi...
On February 12, 2021, over a billion people in China
and millions worldwide will celebrate the first day of
the Chinese New Year. Also known as the Lunar New
Year, or Spring Festival, the exact date of the 15-day
commemoration, which marks the end of winter, is
determined by the lunar calendar. It falls somewhere
between late January to mid-February each year.
The invention of plastic has been a double-edged
sword for humanity. While the cheap, versatile
material has made life convenient, it is virtually
indestructible and takes centuries to decompose.
Since avoiding plastic is impossible, companies
worldwide are coming up with innovative ways to
repurpose the millions of tons of polymer waste th...
