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Nickelodeon's annual Kids Choice Awards show is notorious for dumping buckets of green slime on the heads of unsuspecting hosts and celebrities. Fortunately for the winners, that was not possible during this year's virtual award ceremony, aired on May 2, 2020. To compensate, the popular children's cable channel surprised the millions of online viewers with footage of International Space Station (ISS) astronauts getting "slimed". The video's debut was particularly timely given that May 2, 2020, was National Astronomy Day!...

"Glow in the dark" dolphins may seem like something straight out of a science fiction movie. However, that is precisely what Newport Coastal Adventures' Captain Ryan Lawler and professional videographer Patrick Coyne witnessed on April 22, 2020, when they set out to explore the spectacular neon blue tides that have been lighting up the waters off Southern California's coast since mid-April....

Christie's is well-known for selling expensive, one-of-a-kind items. However, its latest offering is literally "out of this world." On April 30, 2020, the British auction house announced that the fifth-largest chunk of the Moon — a 29-pound (13.5-kilogram) rock dubbed NWA 12691 — was being offered for private sale for a "reasonable' $2.5 million!...

On April 29, 2020, Earth will get an intimidating visitor — a massive asteroid called 1998 OR2. Fortunately for us, the space rock, which experts believe will be the largest one to fly by our planet this year, will be following the strict COVID-19 pandemic regulations. 1998 OR2 will not only be zooming past Earth at a safe "social" space of about 3.9 million miles (6.3 million km), or about 16 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon, but it will also be wearing a "face mask."...

Researchers have long believed that all four-limbed animals or tetrapods, a group that includes amphibians, reptiles, and mammals, evolved from an ancient group of fish known as Elpistostege watsoni, which lived between 416 million and 358 million years ago, during the Devonian Period....

NASA's ambitious plans to land humans on the Moon by 2024 just got one step closer to becoming a reality thanks to the first comprehensive map of our satellite's surface. Unveiled on April 23, 2020, the colorful 1:5,000,000-scale "Unified Geologic Map of the Moon" is the result of decades of painstaking work by scientists from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), NASA, and the Lunar and Planetary Institute....

When 99-year-old Tom Moore announced a "walkathon" to help Britain's National Health Service (NHS) staff, he was hoping to collect a modest £1,000 ($1,250). Instead, the World War II veteran has managed to raise millions from donors worldwide in less than two weeks, and the money is still pouring in at unprecedented rates....

The search for an Earth-like planet that can support life has led to the discovery of many strange worlds, including one with two suns, a lava land, and a shimmering "sapphire" planet. However, none are as extreme or as bizarre as WASP-76b, which boasts 4,352-degree Fahrenheit (2,400-degree Celsius) temperatures, wind gusts of over 10,000 mph, and a steady pelting of iron rain!...

Japan has always been at the forefront of robotic technology. Over the years, the androids have been deployed to work in banks, run hotels, and even serve as personal assistants to the elderly. Now, in what is being hailed as an "industry first," a Tokyo university has used avatar robots to enable students to "attend" their graduation ceremony without leaving home....

On March 16, 2020, researchers aboard the Schmidt Ocean Institute's ship Falkor stumbled upon a beautiful *giant* Apolemia, a type of siphonophore, in the Indian Ocean off western Australia. The scientists are not sure of the exact length of the silly string-like creature, which was found in the Ningaloo Canyons at a depth of 2,070 feet (631 meters). However, based on the measurement of its outer ring by a laser-equipped drone, they estimate it was 150 feet (46 meters) long....

NASA's X-plane program, established in 1946 to test and evaluate new technologies and aerodynamic concepts, began with the launch of the X-1 — the first plane to break the sound barrier. Since then, the endeavor has led to numerous industry breakthroughs, including the first supersonic and hypersonic flights, and the first crewed suborbital flight....

After an extensive 14-year, $6.6 million restoration, Egypt's oldest pyramid was reopened to the public on March 5, 2020. Located in the Saqqara necropolis, northwest of the city of Memphis, the Pyramid of Djoser was built 4,700 years ago as a tomb for Pharaoh Djoser, the first king of the 3rd dynasty (2650–2575 BCE). The massive pyramidal funerary complex was neglected for centuries and almost on the verge of collapse before Egyptian officials finally decided to take action in 2006 and bring it back to its former glory....

On April 7, 2020, the skies will be lit up with a Super "Pink" Moon — the brightest and biggest full moon we will encounter all year! Though Earth's natural satellite promises to be spectacular, that night, those hoping for a pink hue will be disappointed. April's full moon gets its name from pink wildflowers called phlox that bloom in early spring. Though the moniker is misleading, it is undoubtedly better than the alternative nicknames, which include sprouting grass moon, fish moon, and hare moon!...

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed life as we knew it just a few weeks ago. Millions of people worldwide are now under mandatory or voluntary lockdowns. All public attractions, including museums and aquariums, are shuttered, and the usually crowded streets of popular tourist destinations are desolate. An unanticipated silver lining during these challenging times for humans is that many of the Earth's other inhabitants are finally getting a chance to leave their normal habitats and roam freely....

For most birds, nest-building entails creating a bowl-shaped receptacle of twigs and dry leaves. However, don't tell that to the common tailorbird (Orthotomus sutorius). The tiny birds, found in urban gardens across tropical ecosystems worldwide, go through extraordinary lengths to sew together a comfortable and safe home for their offspring....

Texas, the biggest of the contiguous US states, prides itself on being larger than life. Everything, from hairstyles to boot heels to food portions to mascots to convenience stores (the largest one boasts 80 soda fountains), is exaggerated. Hence, it should come as no surprise that the Lone Star State is also home to the largest signature on Earth....

Though many single-celled lifeforms have evolved to survive without oxygen, multicellular organisms have always been believed to need it to live. Now, scientists in Tel Aviv, Israel, have found that Henneguya salminicola, a parasite, which spends its life attached to the muscle tissue of fish, has adapted to living without oxygen....

Ryker, a gorgeous Belgian Malinois, achieved instant Internet fame in December 2018 after the trainers at the Double H Canine Training Academy in Louisville, Kentucky, released a hilarious training test video of the adorable puppy. Captioned "Epic Service Dog Training Failure," it showed the enthusiastic dog trying his best to follow the instructions, but miserably failing at every trick, that he was taught....

California's Yosemite National Park is home to numerous stunning waterfalls. However, from mid-to-late February each year, the unlikely star of the pristine preserve is Horsetail Fall — a small, nondescript waterfall that forms over the eastern edge of the park's famous vertical rock formation, El Capitan, every winter. That's because, during the two-week-period, the temporary 1,000-foot fall frequently transforms into a spectacular "firefall" for about ten minutes a day during sunset....

While jewelry crafted from gold can be gorgeous, even ardent fans will admit that wearing the heavy metal over long periods of time can get a little cumbersome and annoying. Now, researchers from Swiss university ETH Zurich have created a new form of lightweight gold that weighs five to ten times less than traditional 18-carat gold — which typically comprises 75 percent gold and 25 percent copper — but retains the same purity....

A shark that walks in water instead of swimming might sound like a creature straight out of a science fiction thriller. However, that is precisely how the four new species of the fish — found in the tropical waters of the Indo-Australian archipelago — move across the seafloor. The unique ocean dwellers were discovered by a team of scientists, led by Dr. Christine Dudgeon from Australia's University of Queensland, during a 12-year global conservation study....

An elephant, who accidentally fell into a dry, 25-foot deep well in Northeast India, lived to see another day thanks to the quick-thinking rescuers' scientific knowledge. The chain of events unfolded early in the morning on Tuesday, January 28, 2020, when residents of Amliya toli village, in the state of Jharkhand, awoke to the cries of the stranded pachyderm and called the forest department for help....

Shana Stamey and her family had no doubt that their gorgeous white German Shepherd, Gypsy, would give birth to some adorable puppies. However, the Clyde, North Carolina, residents would have never guessed that one of the eight canines born on January 10, 2020, would emerge into the world with a stunning lime-green coat!...

Swiss military-trained pilot and aviation enthusiast Yves Rossy is famous for pulling off seemingly impossible stunts. Over the years, the adventurer has used his jet-propelled carbon wings to soar across the Grand Canyon, circle over Japan's Mt. Fuji, and even fly alongside the world's largest commercial airplane, the Airbus A380. However, the one thing that has eluded the "Jetman" is the ability to take off from the ground. All his "flights" begin after being transported to a certain altitude aboard a helicopter or plane....