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Athletes and sports fans hoping to attend the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil this August may be faced with a terrible dilemma. They will have to decide if a quest for a medal or the opportunity to cheer their favorite athlete is worth the potential health risk posed by the Zika virus that has been plaguing Brazil since April 2015....

With the increasing popularity of drones as toys and potentially even for commercial delivery, researchers are going all out to build cooler and more sophisticated quadcopters. However, none can compare to the Loon Copter, which not only flies like a bird, but also swims like a fish!...

Palm oil is the most widely consumed vegetable oil in the world. It is found in a wide variety of products ranging from vitamins to chocolate, bread, laundry detergent and even biofuel. The oil is popular because it has an exceptionally high melting point and contains primarily saturated fats. The former allows the oil to maintain a semi-solid consistency at room temperature making it easy to spread, while the latter makes it the perfect substitute for trans fats which are generally deemed unhealthy. It also has the highest yield of any oil crop and is cheap to produce and refine....

Valentine's Day is one of those rare holidays that is enjoyed by almost everyone in the world. After all, what's not to like about a day when loved ones get to shower each other with cards, flowers, chocolates, and jewelry? This display of affection does come at a steep price — Almost $19 billion, and that number is just for the USA....

In mid-January, scientists from University of Cambridge's Department of Zoology released some heart-breaking news for Spider-Man fans. The researchers said that the web-slinging hero could never exist in real-life. And it is not due to the lack of radioactive spiders, but because humans are simply too big to skitter up tall buildings....

On Monday, February 8, millions of people across the world will celebrate the Chinese New Year. Also known as Spring Festival, it marks the beginning of the year 4714 and is the longest and most important Asian celebration. The revered tradition whose date is determined by the lunar calendar signifies the end of the dreary winter season and the beginning of spring....

King Kong fans will be pleased to hear that the massive skyscraper climbing ape is not just a figment of filmmakers' imagination. There were actual giant apes or Gigantopithecus that roamed the planet not too long ago. However, since the only fossil evidence found is the lower jawbone and a handful of teeth, researchers have been unable to glean much insight into the giant ape's lifestyle or what caused it to become extinct....

Ask any American what he/she is doing on Sunday, February 7 and the answer is likely to be either hosting or attending a Super Bowl party. For those that need a refresher, Super Bowl is the grand finale of the American football season. Played between the AFC (Denver Broncos) and NFC (Carolina Panthers) champions for the coveted title of the National Football League Champion, it is the most watched annual television program in the United States....

It's February 2, the day when legendary groundhog Punxsutawney Phil and the relatively new Staten Island Chuck AKA Charles D. Hogg predict if Americans will have to suffer through an extended winter or enjoy an early spring. This year was no exception....

For most people normal winter sports like ice skating, skiing, or snowboarding provides enough excitement. However, for a select few adventurous souls those are not sufficient. They prefer to take advantage of the abundant snow and ice with 'sports' that range from heart-stopping to downright hilarious....

Australia is home to some of the world's deadliest animals. However, few are as dangerous as the cane toad. Native to Central and South America, the innocent looking amphibian is an invasive species that was imported to Australia in 1935 to control the native grey-backed cane beetles that were harming sugarcane crops. With very few natural predators, their population began to grow rapidly. Experts estimate that there are currently over 200 million specimens spread across Northern Australia and the numbers are only growing....

While Spain's tomato-throwing festival, La Tomatina, that is celebrated in Bunol every summer is world-renowned, the country's other food-centric celebrations are not as well known. The Els Enfarinats and the Jarramplas festivals that are held in December and January respectively, also involve food fights, except the produce being tossed, is not as gentle as tomatoes....

Remember ROY.G. BIV (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet), the mnemonic that helped you to memorize the order and colors of the rainbow? Well, you can forget it because as it turns out, not all rainbows are equal. They can vary drastically depending on the conditions under which they occur. A team led by atmospheric scientist Jean Ricard of the National Centre for Meteorological Research in Toulouse, France, has identified twelve rainbow 'flavors', each with its own distinct characteristics....

When Pluto was demoted to dwarf status in 2006 we were left with a mere eight planets in our solar system. Now Planetary Astronomy Professor Mike Brown, the researcher responsible for 'killing' Pluto may have redeemed himself with the discovery of a massive ninth planet - One he believes is worthy of being added to the elite group of eight....

Being famous for having one of the most bitter winters in China and most likely the world does not sound like a good way to market a city. However, it works for Harbin. That's because for the residents of the capital of China's Heilongjiang Province it means a chance to stage a spectacular winter festival....

On December 30, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry announced that elements 113, 115, 117 and 118 are now approved to join the prestigious periodic table. Their addition completes the group of man-made elements that make up the table's 7th row, and brings the total number that will need to be memorized by students to 118!...

Food waste is a growing problem both in the United States and across the globe. In North America alone anywhere from 30-40% of perfectly edible food ends up in the trash each year. To put it in perspective that is almost 20 pounds of food per person, per month! While the fact that most ends up in our landfills is bad enough, what's worse is that over 48 million Americans, including 15.3 million kids, live in households that do not have sufficient food! Now, concerned citizens are trying to raise awareness of the issue with some innovative ideas....

The 2015 holiday season brought little cheer to the thousands of Southern California residents affected by a methane leak from an underground gas storage facility. Since late November, over 2,800 families from the Porter Ranch Community in Los Angeles have been forced to flee their homes to escape the adverse effects of the odorless gas. What's worse is that they have no idea when they will be able to return....

A few years ago, Douglas Long and his colleagues from the California Academy of Sciences were helping D. Ross Robertson identify some chimaeras caught off the Pacific coast of Central America in 2010. Among the images were those of a mysterious pitch black shark. Intrigued, the marine ichthyologist asked the Smithsonian Institute researcher to lend him the preserved specimens so that his team could study the fish in detail....

Access to clean water is something many of us take for granted. However, for millions of people living in developing nations, it is a scarce commodity. According to the World Health Organization 3.4 million people, mostly children, die annually from water-related diseases. But that could change soon thanks to 'Row-bot', a tiny autonomous robot that powers itself by eating harmful water microbes....

Manatees or sea cows as they are often called, are large, rotund marine animals that can weigh as much as 1,000 pounds. But despite their enormous size, the mostly herbivorous animals have no blubber to protect them from chilly winter waters. Hence, every winter, the gentle giants seek out warmer waters. For the approximately 6,000 Florida manatees that reside in the Gulf of Mexico it means heading to the balmy 72°F waters of the roughly one-acre Three Sisters Spring in Florida's Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge....

At the stroke of midnight on December 31, cities around the world welcomed the new year with elaborate fireworks shows. Here are some of 2016's most spectacular displays. So cuddle up with a warm blanket and a cup of hot chocolate and enjoy the shows!...

In November 1966, Fred Thrower, the President of New York-based television station WPIX was faced with a dilemma. He had to figure out some exciting Christmas Eve programming to replace a three-hour slot left vacant by the cancelation of the regular Saturday night college basketball game....

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