6th Century Mural Tomb Discovered in China
June 18, 2013
Archaeologists have uncovered the tomb of a Chinese military commander and his wife, who were buried nearly 1,500 years ago. The murals are particularly well preserved. Showing scenes from ancient times, the murals fill the walls and even the ceiling of the tomb, with most of the scenes intact.
'You Say Soda, I Say Pop': Maps Show Regional Dialects Persist
June 18, 2013
Publishing at the right time is half the battle, prospective authors say. Such is the case with Joshua Katz, a doctoral student in statistics, whose linguistics research has gone viral in a big way. His recently published aggregated maps illustrating speech patterns by region across the United States have resulted in quick fame and 30 million pageviews in a week.
The site contains maps depicting responses to 120 questions, including these:
- Pop, soda, or Coke?
- Which syllable do you emphasize when you say 'Pecan'?
- Trash can or garbage can?
Food Waste in U.S. Exceeds 90 Billion Pounds
June 18, 2013
Americans waste 90 billion pounds of food a year, a new study has found, and the consequences are widespread. The study, done by the Natural Resources Defense Council, estamed that the average family of four Americans wastes up to $2,275 of food each year, in food that is bought or prepared but not consumed. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that Americans throw away 21 percent of the food that they buy.
Zoo Trail to Extend the Range of the Home
June 15, 2013
Animals at the Philadelphia Zoo are getting to live more like they would in the wild. The zoo, with 42 acres one of the largest in the U.S., has installed a series of caged trails and above-ground walkways that will allow the animals to wander from place to place (watched by zoo staff, of course). When the trail system is completed, in a few years, it will be the first such habitat-rotation system in the world.
The G-8
The G-8 leaders are meeting in the United Kingdom. Find out more about this group of powerful world leaders.
Ill Boy Throws Telerobotic First Pitch from Miles Away
June 14, 2013
A teen boy with a rare blood disorder threw out the ceremonial first pitch at a baseball game, from 1,800 miles away. Nick LeGrande, an ardent fan of the Oakland Athletics baseball team, has severe aplastic anemia and spends a lot of time at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo. Nick and his family live not far away. Nick is a big baseball fan but is not so much a fan of the local team, the Kansas City Royals. His team is the Oakland A's. And he was able to deliver the first pitch at a Yankees-A's game at the Oakland Coliseum, using a telerobotic pitching machine.
Lawsuit Challenges 'Happy Birthday' Copyright
June 14, 2013
The song "Happy Birthday" is under copyright, but that might be changing. Currently, the Warner/Chappell Music owns the copyright to the song, and everyone who sings the song in a movie or television show or TV commercial is required to pay a licensing fee, which is commonly several hundred dollars. However, a production company has filed a lawsuit, alleging that the copyright is well and truly expired.
Thousands Protest as Putin Launches New Party
June 14, 2013
Protesters in Russia again gathered in the thousands, more than a year after their most visible vocal opposition to date, to voice their disapproval of President Vladimir Putin. About 10,000 people chanted "Russia without Putin" in a march through Moscow, the Russian capital, as helmeted riot police looked on in silence. The protesters called for the relsease of activists jailed for their role in the 2012 protests against Putin's inauguration to his third presidential term. The protest ended peacefully, and later Putin took the stage at a separate meeting of the new political group the Popular Front, which has been created to supplant the existing United Russia, now holding a majority in government.
When it's really hot outside, you often want to stay cool. You might also want some extra spending money. What do you do? One option is to set up a lemonade stand. 
Thurgood Marshall appointed to the Supreme Court
