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With Christmas around the corner, Valentine’s Day is probably the last thing on your mind. However, don’t tell that to Motohiro Okai. The chocolatier who works at the Rihga Royal Hotel Chocolate Boutique L’éclat in Osaka, Japan, has been feverishly working to perfect an exclusive line of “shoes” that will delight even the most discerning man....

From December 5-11, millions of kids in over 180 countries will take the Hour of Code challenge. The annual initiative, which coincides with Computer Science week, is organized by Seattle-based non-profit Code.org to demystify the world of coding, and inspire students of all backgrounds and ages to consider a career in software engineering....

With only about 1,800 specimens left in the wild, all giant pandas are precious. However, Qi Zai, a seven-year-old that resides at the Foping Panda Valley in China’s Shaanxi province, is even more so. That’s because he is amongst a handful of giant pandas known to have brown and white fur and the only such specimen in captivity. However, while the 220-pound Qi Zai is now the superstar of the animal world, life has not always been easy....

American rock band OK Go has been entertaining fans with their original music videos since 2006. The inaugural creation for their song "Here It Goes Again" filmed with the group’s four members performing atop fast-moving treadmills became one of the year’s biggest hits and even won a Grammy. The video for “This Too Shall Pass” released in 2010, featured a Rube Goldberg machine. Now, the group has done it again with a video so complex, that it can only be fully appreciated in slow motion!...

After shopping for deals in stores on “Black Friday”, or online on “Cyber Monday,” Americans and people worldwide, are preparing for “Giving Tuesday.” Now in its fifth year, the global event that is celebrated annually on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, is the brainchild of the 92nd Street Y, a cultural center in New York City and the United Nations Foundation....

On November 19, after two days aboard a Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft, NASA’s Peggy Whitson, along with Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and rookie ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet, docked at the International Space Station (ISS). In doing so, America’s most experienced female astronaut became the oldest woman in space, breaking the former record set by Barbara Morgan who reached the ISS at age 55....

Sweden’s ICEHOTEL has been delighting visitors with its extraordinary architecture, glittering ice sculptures, and unique location since 1989. However, those not brave enough to face the Arctic winters are out of luck. That’s because the hotel, located in the village of Jukkasjarvi, 200 km north of the Arctic Circle, is built entirely from ice blocks which melt when summer comes along. But this year, adjacent to the conventional ice structure, sits the equally impressive ICEHOTEL 365. Though also built entirely from ice, it is designed to remain open year-round....

Snapchat, the popular social media app that allows users to share photos or short videos, or “snaps,” has taken the world by storm since its launch in 2012. Now, the company has done it again with the release of Snapchat Spectacles — stylish sunglasses that can record short video clips....

The Mannequin Challenge is the latest viral Internet video trend that is taking the world by storm. As the name indicates, it involves being frozen in action for about a minute while the video is being recorded, usually with a catchy tune playing in the background....

While full moons are always a delight to watch, the one scheduled to make an appearance on November 14 will be even more so. That’s because it is no ordinary full moon, but the brightest and biggest “supermoon” since 1948. The next time you will encounter this glorious a sight, will be on November 25, 2034....

On Friday, November 11, Americans will celebrate Veterans Day. The federal holiday honors the brave men and women of the armed forces who risk their lives to protect our freedom. They include members of the US Army, Navy, Marine Corps, National Guard, Air Force, and the Coast Guard....

Imagine going to the beach and finding thousands of perfectly shaped snowballs scattered around. That is exactly what the lucky residents of Nyda in Siberia’s Yamal Peninsula have encountered since late October....

While ancient scrolls hold many secrets, opening the delicate manuscripts is always a tricky endeavor. The situation becomes even worse when they are charred as was the case with the Ein Gedi scroll discovered by archeologists at the site of an ancient synagogue in Israel in the 1970’s. The animal skin document that resembled a lump of coal was extremely fragile, and therefore, never opened. However, the curators of the Israel Antiques Authority (IAA) preserved it in the hopes that some day, advances in technology would allow them to read what lay inside. Now thanks to a team led by University of Kentucky professor Brian Seales, that has become a reality....

NASA scientists can build rockets, send men to the moon, and may soon even help establish a colony on Mars. But can they carve pumpkins? That was the challenge posed to the brilliant engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, CA six years ago, during Halloween. The friendly competition has since become an annual tradition with teams trying to outdo each other with increasingly hi-tech carvings....

Imagine being able to visit any foreign country without having to worry about the language barrier. Until recently, universal translating devices only existed in science fiction movies and TV shows. But technology is finally catching up with human imagination, and companies worldwide, are feverishly working to introduce universal translators. Among them is New York-based startup Waverly Labs....

The next time you shriek at the sight of a spider, be aware that the arachnid can hear you loud and clear from as far away as 10-feet! The surprising discovery by Cornell University researchers adds to the already impressive list of arachnid attributes that includes superior vision and ability to weave intricate webs....

In a reversal of roles, a humpback whale calf was recently seen nudging its stranded mother to safer, deeper waters off the east coast of Australia. The chain of events leading to the heartwarming rescue unfolded near North Stradbroke Island, 62 miles southwest of Brisbane, on Friday, October 7....

On August 27, NASA’s Juno mission completed the first orbital flyby of Jupiter. Traveling at a speed of 130,000 mph, the spacecraft passed about 2,600 miles above the gas giant’s swirling clouds. Though the space probe will be conducting 35 additional flybys before the mission ends on February 2018, this was its closest approach and hence, the most important for data collection. Juno did not disappoint....

If you visit Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington DC, you may notice one of the zoo’s resident elephants, Shanthi, strolling around in stylish Teva boots. While the footwear makes the 9,000-pound pachyderm stand out among her peers, its primary purpose is to provide the 41-year-old relief from the side effects of arthritis, a chronic condition that causes painful inflammation and stiffness of joints....

Robots have come a long way since ancient Greek mathematician, Archytas, released a steam-powered wooden dove dubbed “The Pigeon” in 350 B.C. However, the terminator-type rigidity of the machines has hindered them from being useful at tasks like search and rescue operations. While researchers have recently created softer and more flexible robots, they still contain hard electric power and control systems — such as batteries and circuit boards....

What do circles, squares, and triangles have to do with making movies? According to a new video from Now You See It, a YouTube channel that explores film concepts, it is one of the several ways used by directors and cinematographers to influence the audience about a character or a situation....

Looking for some inspiration for your Halloween pumpkin? Then you might want to check out American sculptor and artist, Ray Villafane’s masterpieces. The two-time winner of the Food Network show, “Outrageous Pumpkins,” does not just “carve” pumpkins. He transforms them into 3-D sculptures — ghoulish ones of course!...

Polish explorer Krzysztof Starnawski’s fascination with the Hranická Propast, or Hranice Abyss, an underwater cave in the Czech Republic, began in 1999. The diver, who once held the record for the deepest dive (283-meters) with a closed circuit rebreather, says the cave’s limestone unusual formation led him to suspect that it was a lot deeper than his dives had taken him....

Legendary artist and scientist Leonardo da Vinci, who conducted the first systematic study of friction, has always been credited as the pioneer in Tribology. But while his famous machinery design sketches reflected the inventor’s knowledge of the benefits and drawbacks of friction, precisely when and how Leonardo developed these ideas, has remained a mystery....