It starts with acrobatic kicks and somersaults while still inside the womb, and progresses after birth to a never-ending stream of wiggles, wriggles, flailing arms, and jerking legs. When they’re not sleeping, babies certainly seem to always be on the move, long before they’re actually crawling or walking. And new research coming out of the […]
For most 12-year-olds, any free time after school is spent hanging out with friends, competing in sports, or playing video games. But budding entrepreneur Alejandro Buxton, from Fairfax County, Virginia, has another pursuit on his agenda each week: making all-natural candles that he sells online and at a local mall. The idea was inspired by
After receiving a “world-first” gene-editing treatment, a young teenager from Leicester, England, has been in remission for over six months from a form of T-cell leukemia that was once considered to be “incurable.” According to Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH), where she received the treatment, 13-year-old Alyssa was first diagnosed with T-cell leukemia
Have you ever wondered about whose scrawl is in the margins of your library book, or read a note on the inside cover and imagined who it was for? Sharon McKellar’s collection is for you. The librarian compiles items left on shelves and in library books across Oakland, California — from Post-It notes to bus
Librarian Compiles Lost Notes and Items Found in Library Books Continue Reading »
U.S. Postal Service workers are all heroes in their own right, and Johnnie Bell is perhaps the best example of that. Bell, who started out at age 23 making $1.81 an hour, is the nation’s longest-serving mail carrier and marked 70 years on the job in July. “This is just something I do because I
Nation’s Longest-Serving Postal Worker Celebrates 70 Years With USPS Continue Reading »
Outside of academia, many people have never heard of Pāṇini, the revered grammarian and scholar whom some experts refer to as “the father of linguistics.” A master of Sanskrit — a classical Indo-European language from South Asia, and the sacred and literary language of Hinduism — Pāṇini is thought to have produced his legendary treatise,
After 2,500 Years, a Ph.D. Student Has Solved an Ancient Grammatical Puzzle Continue Reading »
Exercise is a key component to maintaining good health, both mentally and physically — and for some people, a high-intensity, 45-minute workout is an activity to look forward to. For many others, though, it’s akin to having a cavity drilled without an anesthetic. If you’re part of the latter group, recent research may give you
Mussels, the small mollusks often enjoyed alongside French fries at seafood restaurants, can be delicious — but also dangerous, for ships at least. These marine organisms are one of the biggest culprits of “fouling,” which is when a boat’s integrity can become compromised due to the buildup of mussels and other living things like algae
Have you ever stopped to wonder how the first month of the year came to be called “January,” or where the other months’ names, from “February” through “December,” actually originated? In case the start of another trip around the sun has you curious, here’s a brief overview of how we arrived at our present-day calendar system.
What’s a “January,” Anyway? A Brief Guide to the Origins of Each Month’s Name Continue Reading »
In the middle of Nevada’s vast desert there’s a 200-million-year-old rich fossil bed, where many “school bus-sized” ichthyosaurs are petrified in stone. The remains of these 50-foot-long, ancient marine reptiles (Shonisaurus popularis) have been found over the course of half a century, but the findings have perplexed paleontologists since their discovery — specifically why their
