Articles with 600-800 Words

As a movie that portrays young scientists as superheroes, Walt Disney Animation's latest release Big Hero 6, is all about celebrating scientific curiosity and individual potential. Directed by Don Hall and Chris Williams, the movie centers around a group of young "misfits" who, with the help of a compassionate robot, successfully save the futuristic city of San Fransokyo (a blend of San Francisco and Tokyo), from an evil scientist and his swarm of malignant microbots....

Pet enthusiasts are constantly debating whether cats or dogs are superior. Now there is a report that confirms that it may be a toss-up - at least when it comes to drinking liquids. While one has figured out how to lap up liquids without as much as wetting a whisker, the other has developed a smarter technique....

Though all hotels undergo periodic renovations, very few do it as frequently as Sweden's ICEHOTEL, which is rebuilt every year. That's because as the name indicates, the hotel is carved entirely from ice blocks that melt into a giant puddle of water, when the temperatures warm up. And while each rendition of ICEHOTEL is special, the 2014 version is even more so, given that the unique destination is celebrating its 25th anniversary....

Rising sea levels are a growing worry for many coastal cities around the world. While all are expected to be impacted, some like Indonesia's capital Jakarta, are more vulnerable. Located in the northwest coast of the Java Sea, Southeast Asia's most populous city lies on a low flat basin at the mouth of the Ciliwung River on the Jakarta Bay. Though its average elevation is 8-meters (26 feet), 40% of the city lies below sea level and is sinking by as much as six inches, annually. Experts speculate that if this pace continues, much of northern Jakarta will be underwater by 2030....

On November 12th, hundreds of biking enthusiasts in the Amsterdam suburbs of Krommenie and Wormerveer hopped onto their two-wheelers, to test out SolaRoad, the world's first solar bike path. The 100-meter test project is the result of a collaboration between the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), local authorities and a consortium of Dutch companies....

Artists generally have a better perception of colors than the average person. However, very few can discern colors quite like Concetta Antico, a San Diego-based contemporary artist. That's because this talented painter happens to be a tetrachromat - a select group of people that have the ability to distinguish 100 million nuances of color, an astounding hundred times what a normal person can observe! This means that their world is full of vivid colors that most of us will never experience....

In 2012, the world mourned the loss of Lonesome George, a 100-year-old giant tortoise that resided on the Galapagos Island of Pinta. While losing any member of these ancient species that outlive most humans is sad, what made it worse was that George was believed to be the last known living member of the Pinta Island giant tortoise subspecies. Fortunately, the same fate does not await the Hood Island giant tortoises of Española Island....

No Halloween celebration would be complete without a peek at pumpkin carver extraordinaire Ray Villafane's incredible masterpieces. As has been the case for the past three years, the artist and his team of equally talented carvers, spent the weekend of October 18th and 19th at the New York Botanical Garden, transforming some of the world's largest pumpkins into scary zombies....

With Halloween rapidly approaching, reports of paranormal sightings will start to escalate as people get into the spirit of the spooky holiday. While most are obvious hoaxes, there are a few reported by people who genuinely believe they have encountered a ghost or spirit. It is these perceptions that professional skeptic Benjamin Radford spends his time investigating and resolving, with logical explanations - so far, he has not failed!...