Andean Condors, which weigh between 20 to 30 pounds (9 to 13 kilograms) and boast a wingspan of more than 10 feet, are one of the world's heaviest and largest flying birds. Yet the majestic vultures, which spend their days circling the Andes mountains and nearby Pacific coasts of western South America in search of carcasses, manage to stay afloat for hours.
Read news article
Invented by French teenager Louis Braille in 1824, braille has enabled millions of visually impaired kids worldwide to learn to read and write. However, the system of raised dots, representing individual alphabet and numbers, can be complicated for younger students to grasp. As a result, parents and educators are increasingly shunning the tactile literacy system, which is taught using special textbooks, in favor of online learning programs. Now, Denmark's LEGO Group hopes to reverse the trend with the help of braille bricks that allow children to learn through play.
Read news article
Marvel fans and movie enthusiasts worldwide are mourning the sudden death of Hollywood star Chadwick Boseman. The 43-year-old actor, best known for his portrayal of T'Challa — the king and protector of the fictional African nation of Wakanda in Black Panther — passed away on August 28, 2020, after a four year battle with colon cancer. The news came as a shock to most people since the intensely private Boseman, who was diagnosed at stage 3 cancer in 2016 — the year King T'Challa debuted in Captain America: Civil War — never spoke publicly about his illness.
Read news article
Scientists from the University of Texas at Austin have finally solved the mystery of a massive fossil that has been sitting unlabeled and unidentified at a Chilean museum for almost a decade. The relic, which resembles a deflated football, is the largest-known soft-shelled egg from a marine reptile that inhabited Earth over 66 million years ago — about the time of the mass animal extinction event. Measuring more than 11 by 7 inches it is also the second-largest egg belonging to any known animal, behind only the now-extinct elephant bird.
Read news article
Every summer, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) invites teenage volunteers to work alongside archeologists at one of several dig sites across the country. The program, designed to provide the youth with an authentic archeology experience and to help them connect with Israel's history, usually results in the discovery of ancient tools or pottery. However, two teenagers at an excavation site in Yavneh, south of Tel Aviv, struck gold — literally— when they unearthed a clay jar filled with gold coins on August 18, 2020.
Read news article
Bei Bei's 2019 departure from the Smithsonian's National Zoo, to join the giant panda breeding program in China's Wolong Nature Reserve, left a big void for fans. What made the loss of the adorable cub even more poignant was the belief that his mother, Mei Xiang, was too old to have more offspring. However, on August 21, 2020, the 22-year-old proved experts wrong by giving birth to a healthy cub.
Read news article
To the novice baker, the classic teardrop-shaped baking chip, created by Nestle in 1941, may appear like the perfect mechanism to introduce specks of chocolate to cookies and other treats. However, experts assert that the chip's dense bottom, which blocks the oven heat to retain some shape, prevents the consumer from fully experiencing the luxurious feel and taste of the melted chocolate. Now, Tesla engineer Remy Labesque has rectified the decades-old design flaw with a stylish, pyramid-shaped version that purportedly melts in your mouth, instead of sticking to the teeth like traditional chocolate chips.
Read news article
North America's relatively calm summer weather ended last week when a powerful derecho swept across the Midwest — from South Dakota to Ohio — on August 10, 2020, and a rare firenado struck Northern California on August 15, 2020. If you are like most people, you have probably never heard of either of the rare natural phenomena. Here is a brief explanation of the incredible extreme weather events.
Read news article