Page Type: Middle

On April 8, North America will experience a rare event: a total solar eclipse. In some parts of Mexico, the United States, and Canada, the daytime sky will briefly go completely dark.

During a total solar eclipse, the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, blocking sunlight from reaching some areas of Earth. Along a narrow band on the surface of our planet, called the path of totality, the sky goes completely dark for a short time and only the outer edge of the Sun (called the corona) can be seen.

On April 8, totality, or complete darkness, will begin over the Pacific Ocean and pass over Mazatlán, a city on the west coast of Mexico at about 2:07 p.m. Eastern time. From there, the Moon’s shadow will move over Mexico and into the U.S. and then Canada. Totality in the United States begins in Texas just before 2:30 p.m. Eastern time and ends in Maine at just after 3:30 p.m. Eastern time. Each location in the path of totality will be completely dark for only a few minutes or even seconds. But things won’t go back to normal right away. Before and after totality, each location will experience a partial solar eclipse—a period when the Moon is partially blocking the Sun.

A high school student has invented a device that can detect and kill a harmful invasive species called the spotted lanternfly. Eighteen-year-old Selina Zhang’s invention, ArTreeficial, is a fake tree that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and electricity.

Zhang is from New Jersey, one of the 17 U.S. states where the spotted lanternfly has been damaging trees and crops since it arrived in the country aboard a ship from China a little over a decade ago. When Zhang learned about the insect, she began thinking about ways to get rid of it. She’s not the only one. Officials have tried battling the lanternfly with insecticides and other measures, but these solutions are harmful to the planet.

Could life beyond Earth exist in our own solar system?

Scientists have discovered that there’s an ocean hidden beneath the icy surface of Mimas, one of Saturn’s moons. The finding suggests there may be more liquid water—which is needed to support life as we know it—beyond Earth than scientists had previously thought.

Until recently, Mimas’s biggest claim to fame may have been that a large crater on its surface makes it look like the Death Star from the Star Wars movies. Other than that, astronomers thought it was just a ball of ice. But when scientists studied images and data collected by a spacecraft called Cassini, they learned that Mimas’s orbit around Saturn is affected by something in the moon’s interior. Further calculations revealed the existence of an ocean.

Scientists believe that the ocean is 12 to 18 miles (20 to 30 kilometers) under the icy surface of Mimas, and that the water is about 45 miles (72 kilometers) deep. With a diameter just under 250 miles (400 kilometers), Mimas is tiny. The ocean makes up about half of its volume.

Cole Brauer just became the first American woman to sail around the globe alone. Brauer placed second out of 16 competitors in the Global Solo Challenge, a 30,000-mile (48,000-kilometer) race around the world.

Brauer’s boat arrived at A Coruña, Spain, on March 7, 2024, after 130 days at sea. Setting out on October 29, Brauer sailed south along the west coast of Africa and rounded the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of the continent. She then headed east to Australia and on to South America’s Cape Horn, where frequent storms make the waters notoriously rough and boats must steer clear of icebergs. Finally, Brauer sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to Spain.

Schools in New Jersey may soon be playing host to some new, four-legged visitors. The state legislature is considering a bill to help bring more therapy dogs into public elementary schools.

The bill is bipartisan, meaning that it has support from both a Democratic and a Republican lawmaker. If passed, the bill would allow the New Jersey Department of Education to pick two school districts in each of the state’s three regions—northern, central, and southern New Jersey—for a three-year pilot (test) program. During this time, officials would study the effect of the program on students’ mental health and academic performance.

“[If the results are positive], then we hope we’ll be able to allow this program to be part of the curriculum and work throughout the state of New Jersey for every school district,” state senator Anthony Bucco, a Republican, told PIX11 News. Bucco is sponsoring the bill with Democratic state senator James Beach.

School therapy dogs are already used in many states, at the elementary school level all the way up through college. Researchers have evidence that spending time with animals can reduce levels of cortisol, a chemical the body produces in response to stress. Therapy dogs might also help students improve their academic performance.

“Research demonstrates that the use of therapy dogs in a school setting can improve confidence, motivation, and even school attendance,” Senator Beach said in a statement. 

Is it curtains for Camembert? A recent report seemed to suggest that a type of gooey, pungent cheese called Camembert could be headed for extinction. But what does that even mean?

To understand what’s going on, let’s start with fungus. Fungus is a part of many cheeses, such as the soft, stinky ones. Along with bacteria, fungi break down the molecules in ripening cheese, giving it a strong flavor and creamy texture.

The problem with Camembert, Brie, and some other kinds of cheese is that they’re made with a type of fungus called Penicillium camemberti. P. camemberti gives Camembert the white rind that helps make it recognizable to buyers. Scientists say this fungus doesn’t reproduce well, a situation that could lead to problems down the road.

P. camemberti wasn’t always used in the production of Camembert. Until about 1900, cheesemakers in France, the birthplace of Camembert, would place newly made Camembert in caves, where it would grow fungus naturally. But it takes a while for fungus to grow. To speed up production, cheesemakers began adding P. camemberti instead.

But P. camemberti can reproduce only through cloning—making exact copies. And over time, this has caused it to lose its genetic diversity. Now the fungus needs to be cloned, which makes its long-term survival less certain.

Many people responded to this news with a possible solution. Why not add a different type of fungus to Camembert—one that can reproduce? So far, that hasn’t happened.

But scientists say it will be a while before Camembert is in any real danger of disappearing.

“We always make it clear to journalists that there is no short-term danger to Camembert production,” researcher Tatiana Giraud told CNN. “What our articles say is that there is a great homogenization of [fungi] and that this reduces their ability to adapt, nothing more.”

Many students across the United States ride to school in yellow buses, most of which run on diesel fuel. But a growing number of school districts have adopted a cleaner way to transport their students. They’re investing in electric school buses.

California was the first state to begin purchasing school buses that run on electricity, about 10 years ago. Three of the state’s school districts made the switch, citing numerous benefits. Unlike traditional diesel buses, electric vehicles don’t produce a high volume of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. They also produce fewer toxic fumes, which can cause health problems. Studies show that the switch to cleaner technology can even improve students’ academic performance.

The transition to electric has been slow to spread across the country, partly because electric vehicles are costly to buy. And, while they don’t require traditional fuel, their batteries do need to be charged, which means charging stations must be installed where they don’t already exist. That costs money, too.

But a 2021 U.S. law called the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act included $5 billion to be distributed to school districts so they can replace their diesel buses with electric ones. Districts in 49 states have received funding, which is being distributed between 2022 and 2026. (Wyoming returned the money due to concerns about how well the buses would perform in the state’s cold climate.) Several states have passed laws requiring that their school districts increase the number of clean school buses they use.

So far, electric school buses make up a very small percentage of the nation’s total school bus fleet. But slowly, as more funding becomes available, changes are being set in motion.

Is Wendy’s raising its prices? Not exactly, but customers may soon see some changes on the fast-food chain’s menu.

In February, Wendy’s caused an uproar when it announced that it would be testing digital menus at its drive-throughs, as well as “dynamic pricing,” or “surge pricing.” Dynamic pricing is the practice of raising the price on goods and services during times when demand is highest. It’s already used at places like concert venues, bowling alleys, and movie theaters. Hotels, airlines, and ride-sharing apps like Uber use dynamic pricing as well. When Wendy’s used the term in its announcement, people took that to mean that hungry customers would soon see higher prices if they drove up to a Wendy’s at the wrong time.

But Wendy’s has since said that its announcement was misunderstood. The company says it has no plans to raise prices when demand is highest. Instead, it plans to lower prices when demand is low.

“We said these [digital] menu boards would give us more flexibility to change the display of featured items,” a Wendy’s spokesperson told NBC News. “Digital menu boards could allow us to change the menu offerings at different times of day and offer discounts and value offers to our customers more easily, particularly in the slower times of day.”

Wendy’s claims that the plan would benefit its customers. Robert Shumsky, a professor at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, told National Public Radio (NPR) that this might be true.

“[Wendy’s] talked about, for example, getting more breakfast customers in,” Shumsky said. “They might actually reduce breakfast prices at certain times in order to encourage people to come during what they currently have as relatively low-demand periods.”

If Wendy’s goes ahead with the plan, there wouldn’t be any changes until 2025 or later.

The story of the first Black woman in Congress is coming to Netflix on March 22. Shirley (rated PG-13), starring Regina King in the title role, traces the life and career of trailblazing lawmaker Shirley Chisholm.

“What she did was so pioneering,” King, who is also a producer on the movie, told Harper’s Bazaar. “She was a true maverick and, you know, we use this term all the time, but she was a true first.”

Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1924, Chisholm started her career as a nursery school teacher, eventually earning a master’s degree in early childhood education from Columbia University. Chisholm’s desire to tackle race and gender inequality led her to become more and more politically active. She belonged to the Brooklyn chapters of the League of Women Voters, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the Urban League. 

In 1964, Chisholm won a seat in the New York state legislature, representing her Brooklyn district. Four years later, she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where no Black woman had ever held a seat.

Chisholm’s dedication to the causes she believed in earned her the nickname “Fighting Shirley.” She introduced more than 50 pieces of legislation, spoke out for racial and gender equality, opposed the Vietnam War, and championed increased funding to fight poverty.

A U.S. company believes it has located the wreckage of famed aviator Amelia Earhart’s plane, more than 86 years after it disappeared over the Pacific Ocean. Is one of history’s biggest mysteries about to be solved?

Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan were last heard from on July 2, 1937, when they sent several radio transmissions while trying to land on Howland Island in the Pacific. They planned to refuel on Howland and then continue Earhart’s attempt to become the first woman to fly solo around the world. Since the pair disappeared, many individuals and organizations have searched the area. So far, no one has been able to find any surefire evidence that can be traced to Earhart’s flight.