مستوى عالي

Houston residents, recovering from the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey, finally have something to cheer about – a World Series victory. Thousands of fans lined up on the city streets on Friday, November 3 for a parade celebrating the Houston Astros who won the baseball championship with a resounding 5-1 score against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the seventh game. What makes the much-needed win even more special is that it is the first time the 56-year-old team has brought home the coveted trophy....

North Americans will enjoy an extra hour of fun, or sleep, this weekend! That’s because Daylight Saving Time (DST) ends on November 5, which means that the clocks will turn back an hour. In addition to adding an extra 60 minutes to Sunday, this simple action effectively moves an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening, making it easier to wake up....

Mention the word superhero, and the images that come to mind are of fictional characters like Spiderman, Wonder Woman, or Batman. However, veteran photographer Josh Rossi has used his camera to unveil the world’s real superheroes – six young children who are battling severe diseases and disabilities....

Festivals, most associated with religion, are an essential part of the Indian culture. There is rarely a week that goes by without some celebration. However, few are as widely observed as Diwali. Also known as Deepavali (row of lights), the joyous five-day ritual is the biggest and most anticipated of all Indian celebrations....

Thanks to hardworking firefighters and tamer winds, the devastating fires that have been ravaging parts of Northern California since October 8 finally appear to be under control. While some of the 100,000 evacuees are now being allowed back home, with 217,000 acres burned and more than 5,700 structures destroyed, many are returning to charred remains....

Many kids dream of venturing into space to search for new planets or to conduct cutting-edge research on the International Space Station (ISS). In August 2017, twelve eager men and women came one step closer to realizing their lifelong ambition, when they reported to the Johnson Space Center in Houston to begin two years of grueling training. If they succeed, they will be NASA’s biggest graduating class of astronauts since 2000....

Wildfires are a common occurrence in California from early spring to late autumn due to the dry, windy, and hot weather conditions. However, the Golden State has never experienced anything as devastating as the fires that are currently burning through parts of Northern California. Though it has been four days since the first flames ignited, firefighters still have no control over the blazes that extend all the way from Napa to Mendocino County....

For most of you, this Friday, which happens to be October 13, will mean little more than the start of a weekend. However, don’t tell that to the 20 million people worldwide that suffer from paraskevidekatriaphobia. They are convinced that the combination of the day and number brings bad luck. While no one knows for sure how Friday the 13th began to be so feared, there are numerous theories....

While reducing plastic waste is something most consumer wish to do, it is not an easy goal to achieve. That’s because the cheap, versatile, and durable material is found in almost every household item – from dinnerware to drink bottles to even food wrappers. Now, an Indonesian-based startup has come up with a delicious and nutritious solution to help reduce our dependence on this environmental hazard....

Columbus Day has been a fixture on American calendars since 1937, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared October 12 a federal holiday to honor the Italian explorer who “discovered” the Americas in 1492. However, the holiday, whose date has since been changed to the second Monday of October, has always been somewhat controversial. Many people believe that Christopher Columbus should not be given credit for “discovering” the continent, since Native Americans had already been residing there for generations....

In most countries being able to drive is a fundamental right, afforded to anyone that is of legal age. However, this is not the case in Saudi Arabia. In this ultraconservative Islamic nation, women are not allowed to do many things that females worldwide take for granted, including getting behind the wheel. Though there is no official law in place, local authorities consistently turn down license requests from women, effectively resulting in a defacto ban. Those who defy the unwritten rule often end up losing their jobs and even risk getting arrested and jailed....

Unraveled shoelaces are the bane of people worldwide. The pesky knots magically appear to come apart at the most inconvenient times – in the final sprint of a long run or, just before a crucial point in a game. However, while there has been a lot of research conducted on the durability of the various types of knots, nobody has ever investigated the fundamental question – why do laces come undone? Now, thanks to a team of researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, there is finally a scientific explanation to this knotty problem which affects both young and old....

At the beginning of each school year, students rush to their new classrooms to see what exciting surprise is in store for them. Some are greeted with a new class pet, while others encounter a reading nook furnished with comfortable bean bags or couches. This year, Oregon educator Kyle Hubler took the first-day thrill to a whole new level by transforming his classroom into a mini Hogwarts, complete with wands, (fake) owls and costumes!...

Self-driving cars are all the rage today, Companies ranging from car manufacturers like General Motors and Toyota to private-hire companies like Uber and even Internet search giant Google are all scrambling to be the first to bring them to market. The efforts are so intense that the University of Michigan has established an entire city to help the cause. Dubbed Mcity, it allows manufacturers to safely test their autonomous cars using human props....

On September 15, 2017, Cassini’s 19 year, 11 month, 0 day, 3 hour, 12 minute and 46 second long mission ended with a plunge into Saturn, the planet it had been orbiting for 13 years. The fiery demise was not accidental, but the result of a well-orchestrated plan to ensure that the spacecraft, which was running out of rocket propellant would not crash and pollute Saturn’s pristine moons....

The next time your brain refuses to recall a simple fact or name, be thankful. That’s because according to University of Toronto professors Blake Richards and Paul Frankland, could be a sign that your brain is getting rid of unnecessary information so that it can operate more efficiently, and help you make better decisions....

Pedestrian etiquette – things like not walking into oncoming traffic or keeping to the right of the sidewalk – comes naturally to humans. However, while robots have been programmed to accomplish many things, teaching them to navigate among crowds has proved a challenge because it is hard to accurately predict each person’s path. Now, a team of MIT engineers, led by Steven Chen, have overcome the hurdle with a knee-high autonomous machine that can seamlessly weave itself through pedestrians, paving the way for errand-running and pizza delivering robots....

Harvey, Irma, Jose, and Maria — these seemingly innocuous names all belong to powerful hurricanes that have devastated small islands and major US cities in the past few weeks. Maria, a Category 5 storm began its path of destruction by pummeling the Commonwealth of Dominica, a tiny sovereign island country in the Caribbean, on Tuesday, September 18. Two days later, on September 20, the slightly weakened Category 4 hurricane unleashed its wrath on Puerto Rico, which was still reeling from the impacts of Irma....

Given that sharks have been around for millions of years and can live for as long as 400 years, it is evident that the formidable species has developed an arsenal of survival mechanisms. However, a lemon shark’s two-year quest to rid itself of a piece of ingested stainless steel through its skin, and self-heal Wolverine style, has impressed even the most jaded scientists....

Every year on September 19, residents of Mexico City conduct an emergency evacuation drill to mark the anniversary of an 8.0 magnitude earthquake that killed about 10,000 residents in 1985. Yesterday was no exception. At 11:00 am, thousands of people left their homes, offices, and shops and made their way to the predesignated safe zones. Little did they know that within just two hours, the evacuation warning bells would ring again. Only this time, they were instantly followed by the violent shaking of a 7.1 magnitude earthquake....

A week ago, on Tuesday, September 12, Apple unveiled its latest offerings to eagerly awaiting fans. The 2017 product showcase held at Apple Park, the company’s new “spaceship” headquarters in Cupertino, CA, included an upgraded Apple Watch, 4K Apple TV, as well as the next generation iPhones – 8 and 8 plus. Just as the presentation appeared to be drawing to a close, company CEO Tim Cook, took to the podium mouthing the late Steve Job’s familiar, “one more thing . . .” phrase, before introducing the much-anticipated iPhone X (“ten”)....

Male humpback whales are well-known for the long sweet melodies they sing during the breeding season. The soulful songs that last anywhere from ten to twenty minutes, are not random noises, but carefully orchestrated themes that keep repeating and developing. Scientists are not sure if the mammals sing to attract partners or to deter rivals but once they get going, they tend to repeat the same tune over and over, for long periods of time....

Just days after Hurricane Harvey struck Texas and parts of Louisiana, leaving behind unprecedented destruction, an even stronger tropical cyclone was reported heading towards Florida. Irma, the most powerful Atlantic Ocean hurricane in recorded history, first brought chaos to the Caribbean, devastating islands like Barbuda and St. Martin on September 6, where it struck with Category 5 winds that at times reached up to 185 mph....

Though it has been 16 years, Americans who lived through the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks remember the events of the tragic day vividly. Early that morning, 19 members of the Islamic extremist organization Al Qaeda, split into four teams, each with an experienced pilot, and hijacked four commercial flights — United Flight 93 from New Jersey, American Flight 77 from Washington DC, as well as United Flight 175 and American Flight 11 from Boston....