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Experts have long predicted that 3D printing will revolutionize the construction industry by making home builds cheaper, faster, and more environmentally-friendly. However, the uptake has been slower than anticipated because 3D technology to create fully-functional homes has been considered lacking. That perception may change soon with the recent unveiling of the world's first two-story home printed in a single piece in Antwerp, Belgium....

September 11, 2020, marks the 19th anniversary of the most brazen and deadly terrorist attacks on American soil. The unprovoked act of violence, planned by Islamic extremist organization Al Qaeda, killed 2,977 innocent people and changed life as we knew it forever....

When the United States formally entered World War II — the six-year-long global conflict that began in 1939 with Nazi Germany's attack on Poland — in 1941, millions of brave Americans helped to fight for the cause. Among them was New Orleans resident Lawrence Brooks, who served the country for five years as a soldier in the US Army's 91st Engineer Battalion. Fortunately for us, Brooks, who will celebrate his 111th birthday on September 12, 2020, is still around to share his exciting encounters....

A perfectly-preserved silver dollar, which set a new world record for coin sales when it auctioned for $10,016,875 in 2013, is back on the market, and experts believe it might fetch even more this time! The rare "Flowing Hair" coin, which features a portrait of Lady Liberty on one side and an eagle on the other, will be sold to the highest bidder by Legend Auctions on October 8, 2020, at The Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas....

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....

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....

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....

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....

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....

While astronomers have discovered evidence of thousands of exoplanets, obtaining direct images of the distant worlds has always been a challenge. That's because the planets tend to huddle close to the star they orbit and often get concealed by their star's dazzling light. Of the handful of images captured, most are of a single planet orbiting a Sun-like star. The only two multi-planet systems photographed feature brown dwarfs, or "failed stars," which are radically different in nature from the Sun. Now, an international team of scientists may have finally captured a young, Sun-like star with two giant Jupiter and Saturn-like planets in orbit....

On August 11, 2020, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden made history by announcing California Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate for the upcoming election. Harris, who is the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India, is the first African American woman on a major party ticket and only the fourth woman in US history to run for vice president. She is also the first person of Asian descent to appear on a presidential ticket....

Over the years, researchers have made numerous attempts to make Harry Potter's invisibility cloak a reality. While each version has been slightly better, none have come close to the one donned by the young wizard. Now, scientists may be able to get some tips from an unlikely source — ultra-black deep-sea fish that have evolved the capability to hide in plain sight to avoid detection....

Summer 2020 has been exciting for stargazers. They have been treated to a once-in-a-lifetime visit from comet NEOWISE and had the rare opportunity to observe five planets and a full moon simultaneously, among other celestial events. Now, to top it all off, come the Perseids — the biggest and most spectacular meteor showers of the year....

SpaceX's first-ever passenger flight to the International Space Station (ISS) ended successfully on August 2, 2020, when Crew Dragon Endeavour splashed into the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida. After a series of safety checks, the recovery teams unlocked the capsule's hatch and quickly whisked the spacecraft's precious cargo — NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley — to shore. During their total 64 days in space, the astronaut duo completed 1,024 orbits around Earth and traveled 27,147,284 miles....

The lack of clues left behind by ancient Americans has made it difficult for researchers to pinpoint precisely when humans first arrived on the continent. However, it has always been believed to be about 13,000 years ago, just as the world was thawing from the last ice age. Now, evidence from the Chiquihuite Cave in Zacatecas, Central Mexico, seems to suggest that prehistoric humans may have been living in North America as early as 30,000 years ago....

Male birds typically sing the same tunes as the rest of their species because an unrecognizable song defeats the two primary reasons for their crooning — to establish and defend their territory and to attract mates. While the songs, which are passed down from generation to generation, may vary slightly by region, any new compositions are typically limited to the local environment. However, for reasons unknown to scientists, white-throated sparrows across Canada are abandoning their classic song for a catchy new tune "written" by their peers in British Columbia....

Scattered across the ocean bed, and often hidden from the human eye, are hundreds, or perhaps even thousands, of "blue holes." The massive underwater sinkholes, which host a diverse biological community — ranging from coral to sponges to sharks to sea turtles — were formed thousands of years ago when groundwater dissolved karst, a type of porous limestone rock found on ocean floors....

American civil rights leader and U.S. Representative John Lewis (D-GA) passed away on July 17, 2020, following a seven-month battle with pancreatic cancer. The 80-year-old dedicated his life to building what he called "The Beloved Community" in America — first as a civil rights leader and then as a lawmaker advocating, for reforms on issues from gun control to health care....

On July 18, 2020, about 150 Paris residents settled inside 38 electric boats floating on the Seine river to enjoy a free screening of Le Grand Bain — a 2018 comedy about a group of middle-aged men forming a synchronized swim team. The city's first "Cinema sur L'Eau," or "Cinema on Water," was organized by MK2 Cinemas to celebrate the June 22 reopening of the country's movie theaters, which had been shuttered since mid-March to stem the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus....

Even those not normally interested in astronomy will find it hard to resist NEOWISE, the brightest comet to grace our skies since the 1997 appearance of Comet Hale-Bopp. The spectacular cosmic snowball of frozen gas, rock, and dust has been visible to those willing to wake up before dawn since early July. However, it has now risen high in the evening skies and can be viewed with the unaided eye by even the most casual stargazer....

The solar system is about to get busy! In the next few weeks, a slew of spacecraft will embark on a one-way journey to Mars, to seek evidence of past life and to further investigate its unusual atmosphere. The back-to-back missions are timed to take advantage of the short window of opportunity — caused by celestial mechanics — that will allow them to reach the Red Planet in the most efficient and cost-effective manner....

The term "bird brain" is frequently used to describe a person's lack of intelligence and good decision-making ability. However, some scientists believe it should be considered a compliment, given that many birds can perform tasks that were once considered solely within the realm of humans. These include manufacturing and using tools, solving problems, and planning for future needs. Now, Griffin, an African Grey parrot, has proved that birds may even possess better visual memories than human adults and children....

One of the biggest challenges to battling the rapid spread of COVID-19 is identifying and isolating people who are infected before the symptoms, which usually take between 3 to 13 days to surface. Now, frontline workers may get some help from canines who can "sniff out" the disease even when the patient is asymptomatic, meaning he or she never shows any of the traits associated with COVID-19....

Former US President Ronald Reagan's love for jelly beans, which were a staple offering during his 8-year-term in office, is well-documented. However, the country's 40th head of state also had another guilty pleasure — ice cream, which he described as "[a] nutritious and wholesome food." To give the delicious treat the respect it deserved, on July 9, 1984, Mr. Reagan signed Proclamation 5219, which declared July as National Ice Cream Month!...