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A’ja Wilson is already a Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) legend, and she’s just getting started. In 2023, the Las Vegas Aces forward led her team to its second consecutive championship. With her talent and drive, there’s no telling how far she can go.

The Aces clinched the WNBA title on October 18 with help from Wilson’s 24 points and 16 rebounds. Wilson, who has been in the league six seasons, was named Finals MVP, the latest addition to an impressive series of accolades.

Wilson wasn’t a born athlete, according to her dad, Roscoe Wilson, who played pro basketball in Europe and was A’ja’s first coach. She was tall for her age, but her skills needed to be developed. The only answer was hard work. A’ja practiced day after day and became a standout at her high school in South Carolina.

“We had to work on getting to the basket, hitting the 12-foot, 15-foot, 8-foot jumpers,” Roscoe told Sports Illustrated. “I would…tell her, ‘You are going to get this done,’ and that her college coach would be tougher on her than I am.”

That college coach turned out to be Dawn Staley at the University of South Carolina. It wasn’t easy for Wilson to adjust to college. She has a learning difference called dyslexia, which can make reading difficult. Staley not only helped Wilson in basketball but also gave her opportunities to practice and become more comfortable with reading. Today, Wilson says that Staley, along with her grandmother, were two huge influences that helped her become the person she is today.

“I was a tall, lanky, freckle-faced teenager trying to understand where I fit. My grandmother always had a way to make me feel good about myself: through talks, walks, and tough love,” Wilson wrote on her website. “Coach Staley and I bonded the first moment we met. She saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself, and she was able to coax it out.”

Wilson became her college team’s all-time leading scorer. Several media organizations named her National Player of the Year in 2018, and she won numerous honors for her talents on the court. When she was selected by the Las Vegas Aces in 2018, she was the number one draft pick. In addition to the two WNBA titles, Wilson’s trophy case includes an Olympic gold medal, two World Cup gold medals, and two WNBA Defensive Player of the Year awards.

Wilson is still only 27 years old and likely has many more years left in her career. For now, she’s just enjoying her latest victory.

“I cried to my parents [when we won],” Wilson told Jennifer Hudson during an appearance on the Jennifer Hudson Show. “They sacrificed so much for me. So to have them on the court with me after we won, I cried like a baby, because it was just a wonderful moment.”

A team of three men and one woman have become the first to travel the entire Northwest Passage by kayak in a single season. The team achieved their goal in 83 days.

The Northwest Passage is a legendary sea route that begins at the Atlantic Ocean and cuts through the northernmost part of North America to reach the Pacific Ocean. Explorers attempted to travel the route for centuries, but expedition after expedition ended in failure or even disaster due to sea ice and the harsh northern climate. Finally, in 1906, a crew led by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen completed the journey.

Since then, melting ice due to climate change has made the Northwest Passage more accessible, but it’s still a harsh journey. Many people have traveled the entire route in different kinds of human-powered vehicles, but no one has been able to paddle it in a single season. Until now.

The successful expedition was years in the making. Its leader was U.S. explorer West Hansen. Hansen had already paddled down the entire length of both the Amazon River in South America and the Volga River in Europe. He started planning the Northwest Passage journey in 2018, but the trip was delayed due to COVID-19 and poor weather. His first attempt, in 2022, was thwarted by bad weather and other issues.

This year’s team included Hansen, Eileen Visser, Mark Agnew, and Jeff Wueste. They called themselves the Arctic Cowboys. The team started in July, but while that’s summer in the Arctic, the weather was wintry by most standards.

“The biggest challenge was the sea ice,” Agnew told the BBC. “We became trapped in the ice a lot. There was this one occasion in particular where we were trapped in the ice and two icebergs began to ram together with us in between.”

When a wildfire swept through the town of Lahaina, on the island of Maui, thousands of people lost their homes. William Fincher and his family were among them. But thanks to the kindness of a local builder, the Finchers will soon have a new place to live.

Just days after the fire, builder Juan Ricci was already ordering the materials to build two tiny homes—smaller than average homes—with enough space for Fincher, his wife, their two kids, and their two dogs. Ricci paid for the materials out of his own pocket, and he and his crew are donating their time and skills. Fincher is helping. He’s not a professional builder, so Ricci’s crew is guiding him along.

“I’m good with tools, but I don’t know how to frame or put roofs on or lay foundation, electrical, you know, none of this stuff,” Fincher told ABC News. “Juan does, and Juan has the [workers] that know how to do this stuff.”

As of October, the land affected by the fire was not yet fit for rebuilding—officials were still clearing it of debris. That means it will be a long time before the Finchers and other residents can rebuild on their own land. Instead, Ricci’s crew is building the Finchers’ tiny homes on land owned by a family friend. 

Construction isn’t cheap. So Ricci, who has his own bills to pay, set up a GoFundMe, a type of web page on which people can ask for donations. As of October, the page had raised nearly $19,000 out of a $100,000 goal.

“That’s the idea, to raise some money and keep going and start paying the guys that have been working, helping the people,” Ricci told Good Morning America. He’s hoping to use some of the funds to build homes for other Lahaina families as well.

“Everybody’s trying to help out right now,” Ricci said.

American Indians, or Native Americans, make up 1.3 percent of the U.S. population. But a new report says that they are rarely represented in movies.

The report shows the results of a study done by the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. The study looked at the presence of American Indians in the 1,600 top-grossing films from 2007 to 2022. (The top-grossing films are the ones that made the most money.) It found that less than 0.25 percent (one-quarter of 1 percent) of speaking roles in these films went to American Indians, and only one of the films featured an American Indian lead actor. Only about one-third of the roles played by American Indian actors were important to the plot of the movie.

When American Indians did appear on screen, only 23 percent of them were female.

“Audiences would have to watch thousands of movies to see even one Native woman on screen, and very likely in a minor role,” said Annenberg Associate Professor of Communication Stacy L. Smith, the report’s main author. “This is a failure of imagination on the part of writers, directors, and casting directors.”

Smith said American Indians are nearly invisible in movies. She added that it would be difficult for American Indian actors to earn a living because there are very few roles for them.

The report says there are many ways to improve American Indian representation in Hollywood. It suggests supporting the work of American Indian filmmakers and actors. One way to do this is for movie studios to fund (pay for) movies that feature American Indian actors or those made by American Indian filmmakers.

A new football helmet allows coaches to communicate with players who are deaf or hard of hearing.

The technology works like this: During a game, a coach standing on the sideline can select from a list of plays on a tablet and then send the selection to the quarterback’s helmet. The play appears on a tiny screen at the front of the helmet, where the quarterback can see it. The quarterback then communicates the play to the rest of the team. This process is similar to how plays are communicated to hearing quarterbacks. Many of them receive audio messages from coaches via speakers in their helmets.

Do scary movies thrill you…or make you want to hide under a blanket? Whether you love them or hate them, horror movies have been a thing pretty much since film was invented. Why are so many people willing to be terrified? Researchers have a few theories.

Fight or Flight

Our ancestors had to be on the lookout for animals that could kill them. So, when we’re faced with a threat, our bodies release adrenaline, a hormone that increases the oxygen supply to our brains and can cause things like an increased heart rate. A rush of adrenaline gets us ready to escape a source of danger. When that threat isn’t real (it’s just on screen), this can make us feel a sense of excitement that a lot of people like.

But not everyone enjoys that feeling, which may be why some people shy away from scary movies (as well as roller coasters and other thrills and chills).

A threat can also cause our bodies to release other chemicals, including endorphins, which can lessen pain and make us feel good. Endorphins are also released when we laugh or exercise.

What a Relief!

Some researchers believe that people get a sense of relief from scary movies. Viewers are thankful that the monster on the screen isn’t chasing them—instead, the fictional characters are the ones in danger. They’re also thankful when the movie is over because, well, they were scared for about two hours!

Safe and Sound

Oddly, watching a scary movie can make us feel safe. We know the monster on the screen can’t hurt us and that the monster’s victims are just actors. Looked at like this, a scary movie can be pure entertainment.

There’s one other reason for our love of horror. When groups of people experience a scary movie together, it can make them feel closer to one another.

So see if your friends and family want to get together for a fright fest. Or don’t!

Fourteen-year-old Heman Bekele has just been named America’s Top Young Scientist! The 9th grader from Annandale, Virginia, won the 2023 3M Young Scientist Challenge for developing soap that’s designed to treat skin cancer.

The 3M Young Scientist Challenge invites students in 5th through 8th grade to “create an original solution to an existing problem,” according to its website. Heman, who was in 8th grade when he entered the competition, chose the problem of melanoma, a common type of skin cancer. The soap he developed contains ingredients that have been shown to slow the growth of certain types of cancer cells and boost cells in the body that protect the skin.

Cancer treatment can be very expensive, but Heman says a bar of his soap would cost about 50 cents. This would make it far more accessible for people around the world who cannot afford to treat their skin cancer any other way. 

“Imagine a world where skin cancer treatment isn’t a privilege for a few but a right for all,” Heman said in a YouTube video he created for the competition. “Our soap has the potential to reach corners of the globe where skin cancer treatment has been out of reach for far too long.”

As part of the competition, Heman and nine other finalists worked with a mentor—a scientist who helped them turn their idea into a real prototype, or example of their invention. The experience will serve Heman well—he wants to become an electrical engineer, helping to develop new forms of technology. 

Anyone who has a bike or car knows how annoying it is to get a flat tire. Now, a U.S. company called The SMART Tire Company is selling an airless tire that it says will make flats a thing of the past. It’s designed for both terrestrial and extraterrestrial travelers.

The tire is based on a technology that was developed by NASA (the U.S. space agency) for use on its Mars rovers, the uncrewed vehicles that have been sent to explore the Red Planet. Rover wheels, which are aluminum cylinders containing springs, have worn down quickly because the Martian surface can be rough and the planet is extremely cold. So NASA created new wheels, covering them with a material called a shape memory alloy, which is strong but flexible. When the material is put under pressure, it collapses but then returns to its original shape.

Simone Biles is back. The 26-year-old gymnast returned from a two-year break to win the individual all-around on October 6 at the 2023 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships. She’s now the most decorated gymnast ever.

Biles scored the individual all-around title two days after leading the U.S. team to their seventh gold medal in a row. She later won three more medals in individual events: gold medals in the floor exercise and balance beam and a silver medal in vault. Biles now has 30 world medals (including 23 gold medals), plus seven Olympic medals—more than anyone else in her sport. Biles is known for attempting some of the most difficult maneuvers ever. In fact, five gymnastics skills are named after her.

Multiple victories may not be the only reason Biles cried happy tears as she stood on the podium. This year’s event took place in Antwerp, Belgium, where Biles won her first world championship a decade ago.

“Ten years ago, I won my first worlds. Now we’re back here. So it was emotional,” Biles told reporters. “It means everything to me, the fight, everything that I’ve put in to get back to this place, feel comfortable and confident enough to compete.”

It’s been only a few months since Biles returned to gymnastics after stepping away in 2021. That year, at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, she decided not to compete. Biles said that the pressure of the sport was affecting her mental health and she needed a break. Since then, she has worked with mental health experts to learn ways to manage stress.

Biles has now reestablished her dominance in the sport. Earlier this year, she won gold at the U.S. Championship. Next, she’s looking to compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.

On October 14, 2023, parts of the Western Hemisphere will experience an annular solar eclipse. The sky won’t go dark. Instead, the Sun and the Moon will align to form a “ring of fire.”

An annular eclipse is different from a total solar eclipse. During a total eclipse, the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, blocking the Sun and causing the sky to go dark for a brief time. An annular eclipse happens when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun but is at or near its farthest point from Earth. (Remember, the Moon’s orbit is elliptical, or oval shaped.) Since the Moon is a bit smaller in the sky, it doesn’t block the Sun completely, and a thin ring of light is visible—what some people call a ring of fire.

Annular eclipses are visible only in a zone called the path of annularity. The October 14 event will be visible in parts of Oregon, California, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. It can also be seen in parts of Mexico, Central America, and South America.

A partial solar eclipse will be visible in other places. Because less of the Sun will be blocked, people in those locations won’t see the ring of fire.

In the United States, the annular eclipse will first be visible in part of Oregon at 9:13 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time and last be visible in part of Texas at 12:03 p.m. Central Daylight Time. The eclipse will then move over Mexico and Central America and, finally, South America.

If you have the opportunity to view the annular or partial eclipse, be safe. Don’t look at the Sun unless you’re wearing eclipse glasses or solar viewers. Regular sunglasses are not safe for viewing an eclipse.