August 2026

When it comes to solar panels, they are usually spread across rooftops or open fields where they serve more purposes than just providing energy. But near Chandrasan village in the western Indian state of Gujarat, a roughly 2,460-foot ribbon of panels sits above moving irrigation water, turning an existing canal into both a power site…

Honeybees can be trained with nothing more than the promise of a sugary reward; they learn to pick out a specific face and keep picking it out later, even when it appears from a slightly different angle or sits among faces they have never encountered before. It is a strange and slightly humbling discovery, not…

A large Burmese python was discovered hiding beneath a New Jersey family’s shed. Animal control officers carefully removed the reptile after dismantling part of the structure. An X-ray revealed the snake’s swollen belly contained a recently swallowed opossum. Officials suspect the exotic pet was abandoned by its previous owner. The SPCA warns against releasing such…

Mercury is the smallest planet in the Solar System, only slightly larger than Earth’s Moon, but what lies beneath its battered surface is anything but small. Its metallic core stretches out to nearly 85 per cent of the planet’s total radius, leaving behind a rocky shell so thin it barely qualifies as a shell at…

Quote of the day by Melinda French Gates Growth rarely feels comfortable while it is actually happening. Learning something new, taking on more responsibility, or simply stepping into an unfamiliar situation tends to bring real uncertainty along with it. Melinda French Gates put a name to that discomfort directly. “When something’s uncomfortable, it means you’re…

For generations, women along Japan’s Ise-Shima coastline have entered the sea without scuba equipment or oxygen tanks to gather seafood from the seabed. Known as Ama, or ‘women of the sea’, these traditional free divers rely on breath-holding, years of experience and an intimate knowledge of the ocean. Some have continued the demanding work well…