The Real-Life Sleeping Beauty: A Girl with Hypersomnia Syndrome

An Indonesian 17-year old teenager Siti Raisa Miranda or Echa, has a rare medical condition formally called Kleine-Levin syndrome (KLS) where she can sleep for days and weeks without being woken up. Echa was only 13 when she first slept for a week. She’s now 17, and her parents still need to feed her and change her clothes when she experiences the deep levels of grogginess. […]

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Remembering Alex: The African Grey Parrots Final Message

“You be good, I love you. See you tomorrow” Parrot’s last words to her caretaker.
Alex (1976 – September 6, 2007) was an African Grey Parrot and the subject of a thirty-year (1977–2007) experiment by animal psychologist Irene Pepperberg, initially at the University of Arizona and later at Harvard University and Brandeis University. Pepperberg bought Alex in a regular pet shop when he was about one year old.
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Remembering the 1945 Empire State Building Disaster: When a Plane Met Skyscraper

An airplane crashed into the Empire State Building in 1945. Among other damage, plane parts severed the cables of an elevator and the woman inside fell over 70 stories. She lived and holds the world record for the longest survived elevator fall. […]

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Henrietta Lacks: Who Was She? Here’s how HeLa cells became necessary for medical research

Henrietta Lacks was died in 1951. The tumor that killed her has been alive and growing to this day. The tumor is immortal and was used to progress the Polio vaccine and is the jumping point for most human cell research to this day. Scientists have grown some 20 tons of her cells. […]

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The world’s largest salt flat, can be seen in space

At 10,582 square kilometers (4,086 sq mi), the Salar de Uyuni (or Salar de Tunupa) is the largest salt flat in the world. It is located in the Potosi and Oruro departments in southwest Bolivia, near the crest of the Andes, and is elevated 3,656 meters (11,995 ft) above the mean sea level. […]

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‘Super obedient’ lookout parrot trained by Brazilian drug dealers is seized by police

In 2019, police in Brazil seized a ‘super obedient’ lookout parrot trained by drug dealers. According to reports, the bird had been taught to alert criminals to police operations by shouting: “Mum, the police!” As soon as the police got close, he started shouting. […]

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The story of a man who spent 72 hours with 72 venomous snakes to prove they only bite when provoked

In the 1980s, an Indian man spent 72 hours in a glass cabin with 72 snakes, some of which were extremely venomous. His aim was to prove that snakes only attack when provoked. Remarkably, he was not bitten once in those 72 hours and even set a Guinness World Record in the process. […]

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