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The presence of ice in the permanently shadowed craters around the Moon's poles has been known for some time. However, researchers had been unsure if the hydration detected on the satellite's sunlit areas was "molecular" water (H2O), or hydroxyl (OH), a molecule that's one hydrogen atom shy of becoming water. On October 26, 2020, NASA confirmed that the liquid was indeed water....

NASA's OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer) probe made history on October 20, 2020, when it landed on Bennu, a 1,640-foot (500 meters) tall asteroid that lies 200 million miles away from Earth. The brief, six-second touchdown was planned to retrieve samples of the ancient space rock's surface and bring them back to Earth for analysis....

When 22-year-old giant panda Mei Xiang gave birth to a healthy cub on August 21, 2020, Smithsonian's National Zoo officials were both excited and anxious. That's because giant panda cubs, which weigh about 100 grams — the equivalent of a stick of butter — when born, are challenging to keep alive. Unable to see, hear, or crawl, the helpless infants are completely reliant on their mothers for food and protection. As it turns out, they had little to worry about. The newborn, who celebrated his eight-week birthday on October 16, 2020, is thriving under Mei Xiang's care and showing signs of becoming a feisty toddler....

Suspended liquids and inverted floating boats may seem like something straight out of a Harry Potter novel. However, as a team of scientists at the ESPCI in Paris, France, recently demonstrated, the gravity-defying feats do not require magical spells — just the knowledge of some basic laws of physics!...

Zipping across the solar system in an electric car may seem like something straight out of a science fiction movie. However, that is exactly what Starman — a mannequin dressed in an astronaut's suit and seated inside a red Tesla Roadster — has been doing since being blasted into space aboard SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket on November 5, 2018....

The remains of German World War II steamer Karlsruhe, found in the seabed off the coast of Poland by Baltictech divers in late September 2020, may house more than the typical Nazi artifacts. It could contain the jewel-encrusted panels of Russia's legendary Amber Room. Often called the "Eighth Wonder of the World," the chamber was last seen in Königsberg, Germany — present-day Kaliningrad, Russia — before it vanished into thin air in 1945....

Human hair is about 50 times softer than a razor blade, which is made using heat-hardened stainless steel and often reinforced with diamond-like carbon. Yet, a few wisps of hair are powerful enough to dull a blade's sharpness within a few weeks of use. To understand how this impressive feat occurs, a team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) decided to take a closer look at what happens when the sharp edge of a blade slices through human hair....

A rat may seem like an unlikely candidate to receive a gold medal for bravery and devotion to duty. However, six-year-old African giant pouched rat Magawa, who was honored with British Veterinary Charity PDSA's highest animal award on September 25, 2020, is no ordinary rodent. Over the past five years, the "HeroRAT" has saved hundreds of lives by detecting 39 landmines and 28 unexploded items in Cambodia....

Faced with a declining population and shrinking workforce, Japan has been increasingly turning to robots for help. Over the years, the androids have been deployed to perform a large number of human tasks, including building products and providing care and companionship for the elderly. The latest addition to the Japanese "workforce" may be Model-T. This seven-foot-tall robot is currently undergoing trials restocking sandwiches, drinks, and ready meals on shelves at select locations of local convenience store chains Lawson and FamilyMart....

Visitors enjoying a quiet breakfast at the Singita Ebony Lodge, a luxury hotel in South Africa's Sabi Sand Game Reserve, were treated to a rare encounter with a leopard in early September 2020. The handful of guests watched in awe —and a little trepidation — as the majestic animal, who appeared to be searching for a tasty morsel, calmly explored the various areas of the restaurant. Fortunately for the humans, nothing on the "menu" seemed to catch the leopard's fancy, and it left as abruptly as it had arrived....

On September 5, 2020, almost 800,000 fans worldwide tuned into American illusionist and endurance artist David Blaine's YouTube channel to witness his first major live event since 2012. Called Ascension, the stunt involved Blaine strapping himself to 52 colorful helium balloons and soaring into the clear blue skies above Arizona's Great Basin Desert....

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....

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....

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....

The San Francisco Zoo's annual "March of the Penguins," to celebrate the graduation of their Magellanic penguin chicks from "fish school," is usually attended by hundreds of cheering fans. Unfortunately, COVID-19 restrictions forced this year's ceremony, held on August 8, 2020, to be limited to a handful of lucky guests and officials. However, the lack of fanfare did not appear to bother the six adorable graduates proudly waddling over to their permanent home on Penguin Island....

Stephen Wamukota, a nine-year-old from Mukwa village in Western Kenya, is making headlines worldwide for his ingenious hand washing machine. The young boy came up with the idea after watching village residents, who do not have easy access to running water, struggle to find an effective way to wash their hands to avoid spreading and contracting COVID-19....

Over the years, there have been numerous attempts to create "glow-in-the-dark" plants. However, none of the approaches — which included infusing plants with nanoparticles of the luciferins and enzymes needed for the phenomenon to occur, or incorporating them with bacterial bioluminescence genes – proved feasible....

Burying loved ones with basic necessities like grains, ceramic pots, and clothing, to ensure their comfort in the afterlife, was a fairly common tradition in ancient cultures. However, the families of some lucky individuals went a step further by including a board game for entertainment. Morten Ramstad, a researcher at the University of Bergen, Norway, and his team stumbled upon one of the rare artifacts — found only in a handful of graves before — while excavating the remains of an Early Iron Age (400-300 BC) burial mound in Western Norway....

Spain's three-month-long lockdown order imposed to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic was finally lifted on June 22, 2020. To celebrate the joyous occasion, the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Spain — one of Europe's oldest and most famous opera houses— staged its first live performance since mid-March. While every seat was occupied, there was not a human to be found. Instead, the sold-out audience comprised 2,292 potted plants carefully selected from local nurseries....

Are you looking for an "out of this world" gift for dad this Father's Day? Then you are in luck, for June 21, 2020, also happens to be the day of a relatively rare annular solar eclipse. The celestial event, which will transform the Sun into a spectacular "ring of fire," will be visible across a narrow, but long, slice of the Eastern Hemisphere. While a larger swath of the world will be able to view a partial eclipse, Americans will miss the event altogether since it will occur on the evening of June 20 and end by sunrise on June 21, 2020....

Over the past two decades, powerful instruments, like the now-retired Kepler space telescope, have allowed astronomers to identify thousands of exoplanets. While the unique new worlds, which range from fiery gas giants to icy spheres, have helped increase astronomers' knowledge about the development of planets, the process of how they form has always been a mystery. Now, scientists may finally get some answers thanks to the stunning, first-ever images of a new exoplanet being "born" about 520 light years from Earth....

Given their reputation as solitary creatures that come together only to mate and hibernate, the notion of snakes hanging out in groups with their "best friends" may sound a little far-fetched. However, a recent study conducted by researchers from Canada's Wilfrid Laurier University asserts that the reptiles not only actively seek out socialization with their peers, but are also extremely particular about who they spend time with....

Over the years, archeologists have unearthed several royal tomb complexes in the Dra' Abu el-Naga' necropolis near Luxor, Egypt. However, the occupant of a 3,500-year-old wooden coffin, recently discovered in the region by a Spanish-Egyptian team, was not a pharaoh or an important royal official, but a mysterious teenager adorned with precious jewelry....

Since early May, visitors to the Padre Island National Seashore off the coast of South Texas have been discovering specimens of the rare blue dragon, or Glaucus atlanticus. Though the name evokes images of flying, fire breathing monsters, the delicate creatures are a type of sea slug that spend their lives in the temperate and tropical waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans....