Page 39 - Ids Games News Today

Many superheroes wear capes. But Batman's imposing floor-length cloak is legendary. The twisting sheath not only adds to the Dark Knight's mystique but also transforms into a rigid fabric that allows him to fly for extended periods. Now, engineers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore have replicated the shape-shifting material in real life. 

After years of intense public pushback, the now-shuttered Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus finally announced the retirement of their Asian elephant performers in 2016. While the decision was a resounding victory for animal lovers and activists, it raised a new issue. The mighty pachyderms were raised in captivity and lacked the skills to survive in the wild.  Now, thanks to Florida-based White Oak Conservation, the animals have a new home — one where they can roam f...

The western false asphodel — an herb-like plant found in abundance along North America's West Coast —  has been known to science since 1879.  But it is only recently that researchers from the University of British Columbia discovered the innocent-looking plant's penchant for insects. The finding is particularly exciting given that this is the first new predatory plant to be discovered in 20 years.

The social distancing mandates, imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, isolated family members from each other in 2020.  However, it also resulted in some lifelong friendships between people who would have otherwise never met.  In the case of  99-year-old Minnesota resident Mary O'Neill, that person happens to be her two-year-old neighbor, Benjamin Olson. 

Some artists seem to excel at impressing the world with artwork that can only be called unusual at best. First, there was Maurizio Cattelan's Comedian, a series of three sculptures — each comprising a single banana affixed to a wall with duct tape — that sold for $120,000 apiece in 2019.  Now, contemporary Italian artist Salvatore Garau has managed to sell an immaterial, or imaginary, masterpiece to an anonymous buyer for an astonishing 15,000 euros (about $18,000)!

The icy waters surrounding Antarctica have long been called the Southern Ocean by scientists, the media, and even the US Board on Geographical Names.  However, it never received the official recognition it deserved - until now.  On June 8, 2021, the National Geographic Society, which has been making maps since 1915, announced that from now on, there would be five oceans: the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic, and the Southern Ocean. Fittingly, the decision was revealed on Wo...

On the heels of the spectacular May 26, 2021, total lunar eclipse comes another celestial spectacle.  On June 10, 2021, some lucky stargazers will witness this year's first of two solar eclipses.  Since it is an annular, not a total, eclipse the Sun's edges will be visible around the Moon, transforming the star into a stunning "ring of fire."

Donut lovers, rejoice! Friday, June 4, 2021, is National Donut Day. That means it is your civic duty to consume at least one — or even a dozen — of the delicious confections.  The fun US holiday, observed annually on the first Friday of June, was started in 1938 by the Salvation Army to help raise much-needed funds for the needy.

Antarctica is surrounded by icebergs. However, the finger-shaped chunk of ice that recently broke loose from the western side of the Ronne Ice Shelf — one of the world's most extensive ice platforms —  is worthy of a mention. Measuring approximately 105 miles (170 km) long and 15 miles (25 km) wide, it boasts a surface area of 1,660 sq miles (4,300 sq km) and is currently the world's largest iceberg. 

While scientists have managed to recover and examine thousands of meteorites, finding their origin or even whether they are from icy comets or rocky asteroids has proved elusive.  Now, for the first time, a team of international researchers has traced the source of a boulder-sized rock that landed in Botswana to an asteroid named Vesta. Boasting a diameter of about  300 miles, it is one of the largest and brightest rocks in the asteroid belt that circles the sun between Jupiter...