With Christmas less than two weeks away, your neighborhood is probably aglow with beautiful lights. However they will pale in comparison to nature's own light show, the Geminids. Though this annual celestial display that has been nicknamed the 900-pound gorilla of meteor showers has been visible since December 4th, their best showing will be on the night of December 13th and the early morning of the 14th, until about 2.00 am local time....
Read news articleThe next time you eat a piece of chocolate, be sure to savor it, because according to two of the world's largest chocolate makers - Mars, Inc. and Barry Callebaut, the decadent treat may soon be in short supply. The problem? We are consuming the candy at a faster pace than farmers can grow cocoa....
Read news articleIf you have ever tried a new sport or attempted learning a musical instrument, you are well aware that the hardest part is getting started. Once you figure out the technique, the skills return fairly easily, even if they are not used for long periods of time. Most experts attribute this to "muscle memory," which means the brain remembers the action and can recall it when needed. Now some researchers from John Hopkins University, believe there is another factor that may be as important in recalling previously learned motor skills - the errors made while learning the task....
Read news articleAn ancient Egyptian handbook that has been in the possession of Macquarie University's Museum of Ancient Cultures in Sydney, Australia, since 1981, has finally been deciphered. According to Macquarie University professor Malcolm Choat and University of Sydney professor Iain Gardner, the book contains magical spells that residents of ancient Egypt drew upon, to make all kinds of wishes come true....
Read news articleCanberra resident David Richards is well known for his stunning Christmas light displays. In 2011, he won his first Guinness World Records title with one that featured 331,038 lights. After some New Yorkers laid claim to the title in 2012, the 'crazy Christmas lights guy', as he likes to call himself, repeated the feat in 2013 with over half a million lights and reclaimed it....
Read news articleWhen the administrators of the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, Rhode Island, adopted six 'therapy' cats from an animal shelter, they had no idea that among them was one that possessed an uncanny sixth sense to predict the impending death of terminally ill patients....
Read news articleWith its slightly elongated frame, thick tires, normal brakes and pedals, Francois Gissy's two-wheeler looks just like any other high-end customized bike. However look closer, and you will notice a modification like none other - rocket thrusters that are filled with concentrated hydrogen peroxide that help the daredevil attain speeds that no man has reached before, on a bicycle....
Read news articleTiny monitoring devices have become an increasingly common way for scientists to study elusive animals that are difficult to track on a day-to-day basis. However, now it seems that smart seals have caught on to the trick and are using it to their advantage to catch fish!...
Read news articleThe recent report of the sighting of a few Kashmir musk deer has given conservationists hope that the species may be alive and well amongst the forests in Afghanistan. The study published by the World Wildlife Foundation in the November edition of the journal Oryx, states that a team of researchers scouring the country's Nuristan Province in 2008 and 2009, encountered the animals on five separate occasions....
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