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What's better than an all-electric zero emission car that can travel 75 miles between charges? How about one that can do that and also, squeeze itself into a parking spot no matter how small - Introducing, Hiriko, a green vehicle built to ease some of the stress of urban living....

How long can you resist a marshmallow? For a minute, maybe two - How about 20 minutes? Believe it or not, the answer to that simple question, could shape your entire future - At least that, is the conclusion reached by University of Stanford scientist Walter Mischel the brainchild behind the now legendary 'Stanford Marshmallow' test....

We have heard of restaurants that sell only donuts or pastries or even a variety of beverages - But just water? That has to be a first. What's even more astonishing is that it is not some fancy water brought in from an exotic location, but just ordinary tap water that has apparently been super-purified....

Starting a bank from scratch a child's play? Absolutely, if you ask some enterprising youngsters in India, who have not only managed to establish one, but also, unlike many of the large International banks, run it successfully since 2001. What's even more impressive is that the young bankers and their 9,000 + clients are all homeless!...

While destruction of rainforests is causing concern in many parts of the world, nowhere is it worse than in the Amazon. Often referred to as the 'lungs of the planet' the 1.2 billion acre rainforest produces about 20% of the earth's oxygen and is therefore, not just crucial for its own ecosystem, but also, for the survival of all living creatures, including humans! Fortunately, the deforestation there trends are slowly but surely, starting to reverse....

Summer vacations are all about lazing around, frolicking on the beach and . . . . . . Building sand castles. However, no matter how hard we try, most of us never seem to get it right. Turns out, it's not because we are doing something wrong, but because there is a scientific method to the madness - At least that's the conclusion reached by a global team of researchers from Amsterdam, France and Iran....

Olympics spoiler alert - Usain Bolt has been outrun! How do we know this before the world's fastest man has even run the finals of his signature 100-meter dash? Because, while Usain hopes to complete the distance in 9.4 seconds, Sarah has already done it in a blistering 5.95 seconds. However, in all fairness to the Jamaican sprinter, she does have a slight advantage, because Sarah is not a two-legged human, but a four-legged cheetah!...

While to most of us ants are just tiny annoying insects that seem to come in droves whenever they sense something sweet, the household pests are quite fascinating - They have a naturally built-in GPS system that allows them to navigate their way, the ability to morph into 'living rafts' to survive floods and now it turns out that with a little help from humans, some of them can even be transformed into colorful gems....

Though 25% of the world's population may not have access to electricity, they all have access to a source of energy that is currently being wasted - Kinetic energy released by their bodies when they exert themselves. Now two Harvard alums have figured out how to capture this energy and convert it into electricity - The only equipment needed? A Soccket soccer ball and the desire to have some fun!...

If the current space suits worn by astronauts seem a little cumbersome and unwieldy, they are. That's because in order to protect the explorers, the suit has to be able to withstand extreme temperatures, space debris and be equipped with a rather bulky Primary Life Support Subsystem - A survival kit for astronauts that contains amongst other things, an oxygen tank, a device to get rid of the exhaled carbon dioxide, a battery, a radio and even a warning system in case the space walker needs to be rescued....

Now that the 2012 London Olympics have officially kicked off, swimming fans are in for some thrilling head to head confrontations in the pool. While most intense athletic rivalries tend to occur between athletes representing different countries, in this case, the most exciting showdown is expected to be between Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte - Both part of Team USA....

If you ever happen to visit Central Asia's Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan, you will witness a strange but breathtaking sight - A giant hole in the middle of the desert aglow with a fire that never seems to go out - And the fact is, that it has not gone out for the last forty years at least. However, this phenomenon, which has become a minor tourist destination, is not a natural wonder but the result of an accidental excavation....

With specialty cupcake stores sprouting all over America, the price of this bite-size treat has certainly escalated over the last few years. However, none even come close to this beauty, which at $1,010 USD can safely claim the title of the 'World's Most Expensive Edible Cupcake'....

What can be tougher or more grueling than Hawaii's Ironman Triathlon or the Badwater Ultramarathon? How about Tough Mudder, a 12-mile obstacle course that drags contestants through mud, fire and even 10,000 volts of electric current....

No matter how hard conservationists try, there is always some ruthless poacher out there to kill animals regardless of how close they are to becoming extinct. Now, a trio of endangered young mountain gorillas in Rwanda have decided to take it upon themselves to try save their species, by thwarting their attempts....

Less than two years after it made headlines for losing a piece of ice four times the size of Manhattan, the Petermann glacier that covers four-fifths of Greenland, is making headlines again, for losing another large chunk to the sea....

When the discovery of an exciting archeological find is announced, the person at the forefront is usually the paleontologist leading the dig. However, the credit of unearthing one of the most complete pre-human skeletons can be being solely attributed to the sharp eyes of technician Justin Mukanka at South Africa's University of Witwatersrand....

If you happened to be in San Diego, California from Thursday July 12th to Sunday July 15th, you would have encountered a rather strange sight - Thousands of adults strolling all over town dressed in the wackiest costumes that ranged from popular comic book characters to science fiction heroes to something, they had just put together - Welcome to Comic Con International, a convention which allows adults to act like children again....

Looking for an excuse to get yourself some delicious ice cream? Here's one - It's your civic duty, because today, July 15th, 2012, is National Ice Cream Day! So go ahead and have a scoop or two, or if you can get away with it, just grab a tub!...

Pluto, the ninth planet from the sun is so tiny that in 2006 it lost its status as a full-fledged member of the solar system and was instead demoted to dwarf planet. But tiny as it it may be, the planet seems to be attracting a lot of moons around it. Just last year NASA's Hubble Telescope discovered a fourth moon, which scientists believed was the final one....

While being at the top of any list is good in most circumstances, in the case of Madagascar's 103 known species of lemurs it is a 'kiss of death' - Literally! That's because a shocking study released by the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission earlier this week, revealed that 23 species of the primates are now 'critically endangered', 52 are endangered and 19 are vulnerable. These dire statistics mean that the primates are the most endangered vertebrates on earth - More so than any other mammal, reptile, amphibian, bird or bony fish!...

When the 13th day of the month falls on a Friday, it seems to generate an irrational fear in some people. While during most years the two coincide once or at the most twice, this year we have had the misfortune of having three of them. First on January 13th, then April 13th and the Grande Finale, which happens to be today, Friday July 13th! Another odd coincidence this year is the trio are exactly 13 weeks apart - Something that hasn't happened, since 1984....

With the 2012 London Olympics just about a fortnight away, all the athletes are training hard - However, none is training with as much passion as Oscar Pistorius, the first disabled runner that has been allowed to compete with able-bodied competitors in the history of the games....

What's better than having an ice cream cone? How about one that is 13 feet high and filled with one ton of ice cream? That was what the lucky people of Gloucester, England were able to witness and even better, get a sample of, on Saturday June 30th, 2012....