Around this time in 2003, the Science Museum of Virginia in Richmond introduced a new attraction: a 29 ton globe that people can push around. Here's a look at the mechanics behind Kugel Balls.
It's called the Intrepid Benthic Rover II, and its five year (or more) mission is to explore the deep ocean, most of the time by itself. Plus: in a new book artist Marina Luz paints the covers of books where people are trying to describe a book when they can’t remember the title.
Humans make a lot of jokes about the seventh planet from the sun. But do scientists who study Uranus think the jokes are funny? The website Futurism found out. Plus: today is the first day of Magic Week, and there's a magic shop in Burnsville, Minnesota that's the oldest in the US.
Darwin, Minnesota is where you find a 17,400 pound ball of twine that one guy made over the course of 30 years. Here's the twine ball's story. Plus: to no one's surprise, researchers find that cats prefer to get food for free instead of having to work for it.
The Olympic Games are supposed to bring the countries of the world together, but that isn't always what happens. Several times the Games have been canceled, and at other times, boycotts have led some countries to hold their own alternative competitions. Plus: we mark the birthday of the great Black scientist and inventor Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson.
Time is a funny thing, and measuring time can get pretty wild too. The proof is a study out of the UK that finds clocks that use more energy, and give off more heat, are also more accurate. Plus: a book of photos by Rumi Ando showcases Tokyo, but with its signs, cables, doors and windows removed.
We don’t know for sure why dreaming is a thing at all - but a neuroscience researcher at Tufts University has an idea that might help explain them. It’s called the overfitted brain hypothesis - and it’s based on something that happens with artificial intelligence. Plus: a new book showcases scenic photos of certain small buildings in the Alps that everybody has to use once in a while.
Researchers at Washington State University have found a way to convert plastic waste into jet fuel that takes only an hour. And it's also less energy-intensive, which could make recycling plastic more cost-effective and more common. Plus: today in 2017, a high school in Virginia made sure to include a beloved service dog in its yearbook photos!
The next Mars rover is set to land next month, and it's equipped with microphones to make the first audio recordings on another planet. So how does sound work on Mars, which has about 1 percent of the atmosphere Earth does? Plus: Saturn's ringed moon Rhea is getting a chemical coating that likely started on another moon.
Scientists have determined that the Greenland shark lives longer than any known invertebrate, up to 400 years. How? We don't know, but it sure does seem chill about it. Plus: UK-based artist Sue Austin developed an underwater wheelchair, making the wide, wide sea a lot more accessible.
