Wildlife officials have caught a turkey that’s been running rampant along the New Jersey Turnpike since August. Lingering near tollbooths at an interchange in Jersey City, “Tammy the Turnpike Turkey” inspired many commuters to call and complain to authorities.

 

The turkey evaded State Fish and Wildlife officials all last weekend until they finally caught her Wednesday. Tammy will go to live at the Popcorn Zoo in Lacey Township.

NASA has found a “significant amount” of water on the Moon after crashing an observation satellite on the lunar surface. The probe, known as Lcross, created a hole 60 feet by 100 feet wide and “kicked up at least 26 gallons of water.”

 

Water on the Moon could be used for explorers who may someday set up permanent camps. Scientists could also analyze frozen water to learn more about our solar system’s history.

For 51 years, two books checked out from a high school library in Phoenix, Ariz., went unreturned. This week, those two books were returned along with a letter of explanation and a money order for $1,000.

 

The two Audubon Society books were checked out from the Camelback High School library in 1959. The letter explained that the borrower’s family moved to a new city and the books were mistakenly packed. The $1,000 was sent to cover late charges.

The BSA wants your opinion. Sign up for a research panel at http://scouting.org/bsasurveycenter. In addition to helping the BSA learn what you like and don't like about merit badges, belt loops and Scouting in general, you'll also have a chance to win an iTunes gift card. Just enter the password "youthpanel" and go from there.

 

Click here to get involved.

Zachary Pruner, a 12-year-old from New York, credits skills learned through Scouting for helping him act when a gunman entered his middle school.

 

Zachary, a student at Stissing Middle School in Pine Plains, N.Y., was in the school’s guidance office when a man entered carrying a long rifle. He spent two hours trapped under a desk before the SWAT team arrived. Zachary then got the attention of the SWAT captain and held a sign to the window that said: “One guy and four people inside, including me.” He knew to hold the sign because he has family in the Army and because of preparation through the Boy Scouts.

 

Click here to read more.

The New Super Mario Bros. Wii video game debuts this weekend, and New York’s Nintendo World store will host a celebration. On Nov. 14, the Rockefeller Plaza store “will be transformed into the Mushroom Kingdom, filled with interactive gaming stations, costumed characters, trivia challenges, a Super Mario Bros. museum, prize giveaways and a live gameplay tournament highlighting the game’s new multiplayer capabilities.”

Join in the celebration at Nintendo World this Saturday. The new game officially goes on sale Sunday, Nov. 15.

An eighth-grade boy earned a suspension from school after showing up for class with a new haircut. Dustin Reader, from Hamilton, Ohio, is a huge Cincinnati Bengals fan. In honor of the Bengals’ 6-2 start to this NFL season, Reader shaved his head to look like a Bengals’ helmet. He also added a giant “B” in the back.

 

When defending the suspension, the school pointed to its code of conduct, which prohibits extreme and distracting hairstyles.

The United States Postal Service unveiled today a Scouting stamp that will go on sale next summer. The “Celebrate Scouting” stamp honors the 100^th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America.

Craig Frazier of Mill Valley, Calif., designed the stamp. The stamp’s image shows a backpacking Scout and a large silhouette of another Scout surveying the landscape. It’s meant to depict “the spirit and outdoor adventure of Scouting.”

Today, the United States honors its citizens who have served in foreign wars. Veterans Day is recognized each year on Nov. 11—the same date on which a cease-fire brought World War I to a close in 1918.

 

Click here for more Veterans Day history.

A powerful Persian army disappeared in an Egyptian sandstorm 2,500 years ago. The exact location of the soldiers’ demise had never been discovered—until now.

 

Researchers have found bronze weapons, an earring and human bones in an isolated area of the Sahara desert. They believe the items belong to the lost Persian army, which numbered 50,000 and disappeared in 525 B.C. The army was sent by Persian King Cambyses II to “attack the Oasis of Siwa and destroy the oracle at the Temple of Amun.”

An Oklahoma couple driving home in an SUV last week sideswiped an escaped elephant. The 8-foot, 4,500-pound pachyderm had run away from a nearby circus. While the couple walked away from the accident unhurt, the elephant was examined for a broken tusk and a leg wound.

Using 200 pounds of rice and 180 pounds of fish, hundreds of amateur chefs created a 330-foot long sushi roll Sunday in Berkeley, Calif. The lengthy culinary creation set a record, surpassing a 300-foot roll made in Hawaii in 2001.

An engine tail cone detached from a jetliner and landed on a New York lawn Thursday night. The cone popped off of a Delta plane shortly after takeoff from New York City’s Kennedy airport. The plane continued to its destination—Tokyo, Japan—and landed safely on Friday.

Jetliners can fly without the engine tail cone. The part weighs 20 pounds and stretches 4 feet in length. A resident noticed the cone hours after it fell from the sky and alerted authorities.

An Indiana family may have their trusty canine to thank for saving them from a house fire early Wednesday morning. The Sizemore family was fast asleep when Dash, a 2-year-old border collie-Australian shepherd mix, started growling and barking.

Laura and Stacy Sizemore woke up to find their home filled with smoke. They roused their two sons and quickly left the house. The home’s two smoke detectors had failed to alert the family when a fire started in a detached garage and spread to the back of the house.

Scientists have long thought that sperm whales dine on giant squid found in the dark depths of deep oceans. Photos taken last month prove those theories.

 

On Oct. 15, a photographer snapped images of a female sperm whale carrying a 30-foot long giant squid in her mouth. A calf trailed closely behind. Sperm whales use echolocation to find food in the blackness of deep ocean areas.

 

The photos were taken off the Bonin Islands, which are 621 miles south of Tokyo, Japan.

 

Click here to see more images.

Meadow, a yearling Black Angus, suffered a severe case of frostbite months ago. Today, the New Mexico calf is getting around on prosthetic hind legs. Doctors at Colorado State University amputated parts of her hind legs in August and fitted the calf for the “new” legs.

Meadow is believed to be the first bovine calf to undergo the double prosthetic hind leg surgery.

A U.S. Navy warship built using steel from the World Trade Center sailed into New York Harbor this week. The U.S.S. New York will be commissioned Saturday.

 

After a two-week journey from Louisiana to New York, the ship honored 9/11 victims by stopping alongside Ground Zero and firing a 21-gun salute.

 

Read more about the U.S.S. New York in the November issue of Boys’ Life.

A Florida wildlife officer brought a 5-foot-long alligator to his daughter’s school last week. The show-and-tell visit took an unfortunate twist, though, when the reptile leaped from the man’s arms and ran away.

 

Searchers scouted a wooded area surrounding the Panama City school last Friday, but they couldn’t capture the gator. They think the animal has hunkered down in a pond.

Drivers in minivans beware—bears dig your ride. A new study shows that, between 2001 and 2007, bears attacked 908 vehicles in Yosemite National Park. Minivans made up 29 percent of those attacked automobiles. By comparison, minivans make up just 7 percent of the vehicles that visit Yosemite each year.

NASA’s new Ares I-X rocket went on its first successful test flight this week. Lifting off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the test rocket traveled 150 miles and reached an altitude of 150,000 feet before the booster stage splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean.

 

The Ares I-X test vehicle stands 327-feet tall and is designed to take NASA astronauts outside of Earth’s low orbit, to the Moon and beyond.

 

Click here to see video.

Stretching nearly 49 feet into the California sky, a new ice sculpture made the DVD release of “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” one cool event this week. The sculpture is an icy rendering of Scrat and his acorn.

Twentieth Century Fox commissioned the sculpture, which was made by the Ice Bulb ice company. Fourteen artists used more than 133,000 pounds of ice to create the sculpture. At more than four stories high, the Ice Age statue breaks the Guinness World Record for tallest ice sculpture.

The sculpture is now on display at the outdoor skating rink in downtown Santa Monica, Calif.

The Tesla Roadster took a spin through the Australian outback during the 10^th annual Global Green Challenge, and the electric car set a new range record in the process. The vehicle churned out 313 miles (501 kilometers) on just one charge, rolling across the finish line with three miles left on the battery.

 

Tesla claims a one-charge range of 244 miles.

Find your way to a television tonight, and see the world’s best professional baseball teams duke it out for a championship. The 105th edition of Major League Baseball’s World Series begins at 7:57 p.m. Eastern on Fox. The New York Yankees play host to the 2008 champion Philadelphia Phillies in Game 1.

 

Did your favorite team make it to the Series? Comment below and tell us who will win it all.

Ripley’s Believe It or Not! has acquired the world’s largest rubber band ball. Made by Joel Waul, a 28-year-old Floridian, the ball stands 6-feet tall and weighs nearly 10,000 pounds. Starting construction on April 10, 2004, Waul has since used 720,000 rubber bands to create the giant sphere, which he nicknamed “Megaton.”

Megaton will make the trip from Waul’s home in Lauderhill, Fla., to Ripley’s headquarters in Orlando, Fla., beginning Thursday, Oct. 29. Two cranes, a flatbed truck and a transportation team will help with the move.

Click here to see more photos.

A blue whale washed ashore in Northern California this week, a rare occurrence according to experts. Officials believe a ship struck the 70-foot female. The whale was found dead Monday night near Fort Bragg in Mendocino County.

Blue whales are the world’s largest mammals.

Click here to read more.

Nepal’s Khagendra Thapa Magar claimed the title of world’s shortest man last week. The 18-year-old, who stands only 22 inches tall, has been waiting four years to reach the qualifying age.

Last Thursday, one day after his 18^th birthday, Magar’s supporters sent an application packet to Guinness World Records. It’s unclear how long official verification of the record will take. A 29-inch man from China currently holds the record.

Click here to read more.

Look to the sky just before sunrise Wednesday, Oct. 21, and see the beauty of the Orionid meteor shower. Earth is passing through debris from Halley’s Comet, and “flakes of comet dust hitting the atmosphere should give us dozens of meteors per hour.”

Wake up early Wednesday to see the show. No telescope is required for viewing.

Click here to read more.

A bloodsucking creature helped Australian detectives solve an eight-year-old crime this week. In September 2001, two thieves entered an elderly woman’s cabin, tied her up and stole several hundred dollars in cash. Detectives found a leech at the crime scene and extracted blood believed to belong to one of the burglars. The police recorded the blood’s DNA, but they didn’t have a match on file.

Fast-forward eight years. Australian police arrested a man named Peter Cannon on drug-related charges. They took a DNA sample, and found that it matched the blood extracted years earlier from the crime scene leech. Cannon has been charged with the 2001 burglary, and he faces a sentence up to 21 years.

Click here to read more.

A new planet-detection system installed at a Chilean telescope has discovered 32 more planets outside Earth’s solar system. Known as “exoplanets,” these far-flung outer-space bodies are found by sensing how stars react to their gravitational fields.

Known as the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher, or HARPS, this instrument has now discovered 75 total exoplanets in 30 different planetary systems.

Click here to read more.

Government officials from the tiny nation of Maldives held an underwater cabinet meeting this weekend. The purpose: to heighten global warming awareness. Maldives is the lowest-lying country in the world.

President Mohammed Nasheed held the meeting with 13 others. They sat in chairs 20 feet under the water’s surface at the bottom of a lagoon. At an average of 7 feet above sea level, Maldives could someday be in danger of being swamped by the Indian Ocean should sea levels rise due to melting ice caps.

Click here to read more.

Nine snake species not native to the United States could cause major problems for American ecosystems if established in the wild. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the snakes are popular pets among reptile lovers, but owners often release the snakes when they become too difficult to care for. Once released, these snakes attack, consume and decimate other species that are unused to living among predatory reptiles.

The nine snake species are: the Burmese python, reticulated python, northern African python, southern African python, boa constrictor, yellow anaconda, Deschauensee’s anaconda, green anaconda and Beni anaconda. The Burmese python is considered “high risk” and could potentially infiltrate the lower third of the United States.

Click here to read more.

Design your own roller coaster with the new “Sum of all Thrills” ride at Disney World’s Epcot Center. Guests use math tools to design their own ride, and then actually feel it using simulators. Millions are expected to try the ride each year.

Raytheon partnered with Disney in developing the ride. The companies hope to interest more young people in math and science.

Click here to read more.

Scientists have discovered a tropical jumping spider that lives as a vegetarian, feasting mostly on plant buds. This marks the first known vegetarian spider out of more than 40,000 known species.

Naturalists first found the Bagheera kiplingi in the late 1800’s. It wasn’t until a close 21^st century study, though, that researchers observed the spider eating the buds of acacia plants.

Click here to read more.

At three-feet tall and seven-feet long, Boomer the dog may be a new record holder. Caryn Weber is the owner of Boomer, a 3-year-old Landseer Newfoundland. At 180 pounds, Boomer is large enough to drink from the kitchen sink and eat a 20-pound bag of dog food in two weeks.

Boomer’s measurements will be sent to Guinness World Records for official verification.

Click here to read more.

Scotland’s Loch Ness has long been rumored as the home of a reclusive sea creature called the “Loch Ness Monster.” A U.S. research team recently went on an expedition to find proof of the Monster’s existence, but they found something else surprising.

The team discovered thousands of plastic-covered golf balls bunched together at the bottom of the lake. The researchers first thought they were looking at mushrooms, but a zoom of the camera revealed the small items as golf balls.

The balls were found 300 yards from the beach and 100 yards from the shore. It’s believed visitors to Loch Ness have been using the body of water to practice golfing skills.

Click here to read more.

Two spacecraft sent by NASA crashed into the lunar surface Friday morning. The intentional crash was part of a mission searching for ice on the Moon. It will most likely be two weeks before scientist have an indication as to whether or not ice was found.

Click here to read more.

A World War II veteran has agreed to return to Germany two 400-year-old law books that he took as a young soldier fighting in Europe. American Robert Thomas was 18 years old when he took the two legal volumes from a salt mine in 1945.

The books had been placed in the mine to protect them from bombing attacks. They were returned to Germany’s ambassador to the U.S. at an event in Washington today.

“The books will go home,” said Thomas, a retired optometrist, “because it’s the right thing to do.”

Click here to read more.

NASA has discovered a massive new ring around the sixth planet from the sun. The Spitzer Space Telescope used infrared rays to detect this never-before-seen ring, which is Saturn’s largest. The ring consists of a “thin array of ice and dust particles at the far reaches of the Saturnian system.” This newly discovered ring is tilted 27 degrees from the planet’s main rings.

Click here to read more.

A man brought an antique howitzer shell into a Philadelphia police department, causing a scare Saturday. His intentions were innocent, though. After receiving the shell from a Marine friend in 1977, the man decided to turn it in to authorities for precautionary reasons. He should have called ahead.

Philadelphia police district headquarters were evacuated once the howitzer shell entered the building. The city bomb squad came and removed the device to a disposal site. They say all indications are that the shell was live.

Click here to read more.

An African boy took photos of windmills in a book and used them to transform his small village in Malawi. Seven years ago, William Kamkwamba was kicked out of school because he couldn’t afford the $80 fee. Instead of spending days in a classroom, he found a public library and a book full of windmill pictures.

Inspired by the images, William dug around in junkyards for items he could use: bicycle parts, pipes, tractor fans and car batteries. He started building windmills as a 14-year-old. Now he has five, the tallest of which stands 37-feet tall. The windmills help provide electricity and water in William’s hometown.

Fellow villagers once laughed at the young man who used junkyard items to build towering contraptions. They’re not laughing anymore. William, now 22, studies at the African Leadership Academy, and donors cover the cost of his education. A new book about William and his creations, called “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind,” is now available in American stores.

Click here to read more.

The Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro was chosen today as host of the 2016 Summer Olympics. Other cities considered were Tokyo, Japan; Chicago, U.S.A.; and Madrid, Spain.

Rio de Janeiro’s selection marks the first time a South American city will host the Olympics. The 2012 Summer Olympics will be held in London, England.

Click here to read more.

Walter Breuning celebrated his 113^th birthday last week at the Rainbow Retirement Center in Great Falls, Mont. He is considered to be the oldest man in the world.

Born Sept. 21, 1896 in Melrose, Minn., Breuning moved to Montana in 1918 and began working on the railroad. Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer was among the guests at Breuning’s birthday celebration.

Scientists identified 163 new plant, fish, reptile, amphibian, mammal and bird species last year in the Mekong Delta area. The discoveries, announced by the World Wildlife Fund, included a gecko with an orange and brown body and a black and white tail, a tiger-striped pit viper, a tree frog with rough skin and many more.

The Greater Mekong includes parts of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and China.

Click here to see more photos.

An amateur archaeologist has uncovered the largest stash of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver ever discovered in Great Britain. Terry Herbert used a 14-year-old metal detector to unearth the treasure, most likely loot captured during a war, on a Staffordshire farm.

Experts say the treasure is worth millions of dollars and could have belonged to a king. More than 1,300 different items were found. They date back to the seventh century, a time during which Germanic tribes known as the Anglo-Saxons ruled what is now the United Kingdom.

Click here to read more.

Nintendo has announced that the price of its Wii will be cut by $50 to $199.99. The change will take effect this Sunday, Sept. 27. This marks the first Wii price reduction since November 2006.

Click here to read more.

Massive dust storms unexpectedly tinted Australia’s biggest city a shade of orange this morning. Citizens of Sydney woke up to discover the worst dust storms in 70 years.

The dust covered everything outside and even crept into people’s homes. Visibility problems caused delays in flight and boat transportation.

For the first time ever, a giant squid has been caught alive. A research ship conducting whale studies in the Gulf of Mexico accidentally snagged the deep-sea beast while casting nets one-third-of-a-mile into the sea. Unfortunately the nearly 20-foot long 103-pound squid did not survive the trip to the surface.

The squid caught was likely a young female. Adult giant squids can reach 60 feet in length.

Click here to read more.

The world’s largest Gummy Bears are now on sale. At almost 10 inches tall and approximately 5 pounds, this enormous candy packs 12,600 calories — more than five times your daily intake — so make sure to share with friends.

Three colors are available — red, green and blue — and the giant Gummy Bears can be purchased online for $29.95.

Click here to get yours.

A box turtle left home alone this summer had his front two legs chewed off by a raccoon. Lucky, who lived in his owner’s backyard in Petaluma, Calif., was rushed to an emergency animal hospital. It appeared he would need to be put down, but Lucky showed enough fight that his owner decided to try something unusual.

Veterinary surgeon Robert Jereb is known for finding uncommon ways to help injured animals. After seeing Lucky, Jereb went to a hardware store and picked out sliders that normally go underneath tables and chairs. Jereb stacked the sliders and surgically attached them where Lucky’s front legs had been. The surgery worked.

Now Lucky uses his back two legs to provide the power. The sliders on his front two legs provide balance and support. The sliders may need to be replaced some day because of wear and tear, but for now Lucky is using them to glide through a second chance at life.

Click here to read more.

Guinness World Records announced today that a Turkish man standing 8 feet 1 inch is the tallest person in the world. Sultan Kosen, 27, suffered from a pituitary tumor that caused him to grow more than the average human. He uses crutches to walk, because his knee joints are weak from carrying his body weight.

Click here to see video.

On this date in 1920, the National Football League was formed in Canton, Ohio. The original teams to play in that inaugural season were the: Akron Pros, Buffalo All-Americans, Decatur Staleys (now the Chicago Bears), Rock Island Independents, Dayton Triangles, Chicago Cardinals (now the Arizona Cardinals), Canton Bulldogs, Cleveland Tigers, Detroit Heralds, Chicago Tigers, Columbus Panhandles, Muncie Flyers, Rochester Jeffersons and Hammond Pros.

Today, the N.F.L. consists of 32 teams. Here’s a look at this weekend’s gridiron action:

Sunday, Sept. 20

Houston at Tennessee, 1 p.m. Eastern

New Orleans at Philadelphia, 1

Arizona at Jacksonville, 1

Oakland at Kansas City, 1

Cincinnati at Green Bay, 1

Minnesota at Detroit, 1

St. Louis at Washington, 1

New England at New York Jets, 1

Carolina at Atlanta, 1

Tampa Bay at Buffalo, 4:05

Seattle at San Francisco, 4:05

Baltimore at San Diego, 4:15

Pittsburgh at Chicago, 4:15

Cleveland at Denver, 4:15

New York Giants at Dallas, 8:20

Monday, Sept. 21

Indianapolis at Miami, 8:30

A Canadian angler caught a humongous fish this month and set a world record in the process. Adam Conrad landed a 48-pound rainbow trout on Sept. 5 in Saskatchewan’s Lake Diefenbaker.

The 26-year-old used a 4-inch Mepps Syclops lure on a six-pound test line in bagging the big catch. World records are determined by the International Game and Fish Association.

Two French photographers spent months taking 1,200 photos of the Milky Way from an isolated spot in the highlands of Chile. Serge Brunier and Frédéric Tapissier stitched together their photos to create an amazing panoramic image of our galaxy.

The European Southern Observatory has created a Web site where you can explore within a zoomable image.

Click here to explore on your own.

Click here to see incredible video of the panorama.

An 8-year-old cheetah set a new world speed record for land mammals by sprinting 100 meters in 6.16 seconds last week. The cheetah, named Sarah, lives at the Cincinnati Zoo and set the record in her second attempt of the day. The previous record was 6.19 seconds.

Cheetahs are capable of reaching speeds of 70 miles per hour in short bursts. In comparison, Jamaica’s Usain Bolt holds the human world speed record of 9.58 seconds in the 100 meters.

Click here to read more.

One of the most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex skeletons ever assembled will be auctioned off Oct. 3 in Las Vegas, Nev. Found 15 years ago near Buffalo, S.D., this skeleton is expected to fetch between $2 and $8 million.

Also up for sale at the same auction are the largest shark jaw ever found, a giant pig skull and many other items from nature.

Click here to see a photo gallery.

Sept. 11 marks the National Day of Service, and there’s a new resource to help you make the most of your volunteer time. GreatNonProfits, GuideStar, VolunteerMatch and Do Something have teamed up to promote non-profit organizations that get the most positive reviews from their communities.

Find top-rated non-profits, read about people’s volunteer experiences and submit your own reviews for others to see.

Click here to get started.

Scholastic Media has launched a line of applications for the iPhone and iPod touch, including apps based on I SPY, Goosebumps, and Clifford the Big Red Dog. An app based on The 39 Clues will be available soon. Check out the apps available now:

I SPY Riddle Race: Combines board games and timed challenges in 60 interactive search-and-find puzzles.

I SPY Spooky Mansion: Search a mysterious mansion for hidden objects, and collect keys that allow you to escape.

Goosebumps PhotoShock: Customize your photos using horrifyingly fun and creepy icons, objects and frames.

The 39 Clues Madrigal Maze: Go on a training mission to solve a series of 39 mazes and become a member of a top secret organization. Earn exclusive access to a secret Madrigal Encryption Key.

Clifford’s Be Big With Words: Play this word game and improve your spelling and phonics.

The apps are available for either $1.99 or $3.99 from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch.

Click here to learn more.

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope received a makeover this year, one that made it more powerful than ever. NASA released images this week that show the new magnitude of the orbiting space observatory. The photos include shots of far away galaxies, star clusters and nebula.

Click here to see the gallery.

A father and son duo took home the annual cricket spitting championship at the Central Wisconsin State Fair this weekend. Brian Johnsrud spat a thawed cricket 22 feet 8 inches to win the adult championship. His son claimed the age 9-to-11 title by shooting his cricket 10 feet 5 inches.

Their key to victory? Brian Johnsrud says to find the biggest cricket available, take a deep breath and then place the insect on your tongue. The rest should take care of itself.

Click here to see more.

Fred Denegri popped the top on a can of Diet Pepsi this summer while cooking outdoors in Ormond Beach, Fla. He found more than just caffeinated liquid inside. After tests, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration confirmed that the remains of either a frog or a toad were inside the aluminum soda can.

The can was processed at an Orlando plant that produces 1,250 cans of soda each minute. A Pepsi spokesman said “the speed of the production lines and the rigor of its quality control make it virtually impossible for a frog or toad to get into a can.”

Click here to read more.

A Florida raccoon managed to get his head trapped inside a peanut butter jar this week. The dark-eyed, stripe-tailed creature was found wandering around in an elementary school parking lot, and the Pinellas County Sherriff’s department was notified.

A deputy arrived on the scene and gently helped the raccoon out of its predicament. Both the deputy and the raccoon escaped the incident uninjured.

This week marks the beginning of Go Healthy Month. This program is sponsored by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, and it aims to empower youth to join the fight against childhood obesity.

So how can you participate?

Go here and inspire others by sharing a personal health story. Find Go Healthy events or organize one in your own community.

Click here to get started.

The Station Fire that has been ravaging an area just north of Los Angeles doubled in size during the last two days of August. Two firefighters have been killed and 18 houses destroyed. The Station Fire now covers more than 85,000 acres.

NASA’s Terra satellite took images of the Station Fire from space. These images show the hot spots where the fire is most intense, and the massive amounts of smoke can be seen drifting to the northeast.

Click here to see more images.

Spider-Man meets Mickey Mouse. The characters of Marvel Entertainment will have a new home in the Magic Kingdom when the Walt Disney Company purchases the comic creator for $4 billion.

Marvel Entertainment owns the rights to more than 5,000 comic characters. In addition to comics, Marvel just recently started producing its own movies. One of the first, “Iron Man,” became a blockbuster last summer earning $100 million in its first three days.

Click here to read more.

The Athenaeum Hotel in London is getting a green façade makeover. The sides of the eight-story building will be turned into an “antigravity forest” consisting of more than 12,000 plants.

French botanist Patrick Blanc is the artist behind this unusual gardening design. He’s done similar work at a Portuguese shopping mall and other structures, but this is his largest project.

Click here to see more photos.

Break out the big fruit for a “green” source of energy. According to a new study, watermelon juice could be used to make the biofuel ethanol.

Almost 20 percent of watermelons grown in the U.S. are rejected because of scars or unusual shapes. Instead of being thrown away, these reject watermelons could be pressed into service in making the “green” fuel. Researchers even envision mobile breweries that would drive to watermelon farms and transform the juice on the spot.

Click here to read more.

Perky Jerky is a meat snack that also provides a boost of caffeine—150 milligrams per bag, to be exact. The company says its new treat contains 100 percent all natural beef. It also contains Guarana, a “natural energy booster.” Check the nutritional information before giving it a try.

Click here for nutritional info.

A slender home in New York City measures only nine-and-a-half feet wide. The narrow floor plan hasn’t dimmed the home’s value, though. It’s on the market currently for $2.7 million.

Located in Greenwich Village, the home was built in 1873. Poet Edna St. Vincent Millay once lived there, as did anthropologist Margaret Mead. The home is 42 feet long.

Click here to read more.

Stores in Mexico City are no longer allowed to provide non-biodegradable plastic bags thanks to a city law that went into effect Wednesday. Punishments won’t be given to violators for at least a year, though. The law gives commercial establishments until Aug. 18, 2010, to switch to more environmentally friendly bags.

A Colorado bear wandered into a skate park in the resort town of Snowmass and found it impossible to climb out. The wild animal was found Tuesday morning. The bear spent the night trapped due to the skate park’s steep concrete sides.

Workers from the Parks and Recreation Department responded to help the bear. They extended a ladder into the park’s bowl and waited for the bear to climb out. Once it used the ladder, the bear walked away without incident. No injuries were reported.

On this date 400 years ago, Italian scientist Galileo presented his revolutionary telescope to lawmakers and merchants in Venice. Within a year, Galileo used his telescope to discover Jupiter’s four moons.

After exploring the stars and planets with his telescope, Galileo suggested that the Sun was the center of the solar system rather than Earth. This idea was not well received, and Galileo spent the end of his life under house arrest.

Click here to read more.

A Chinese woman used only her hair to drag six cars a distance of 50 meters, which is more than 164 feet. Zhang Tingting performed the feat this month in Beijing, setting a record in the process.

A man using a public restroom in Australia found himself stuck to the toilet seat last Saturday. Someone had smeared quick-drying glue on it. The 58-year-old man was taken to the hospital after paramedics removed the seat. The police called the prank a “sick joke” and urged any witnesses to come forward.

Click here to read more.

On this date in 79 A.D., Mount Vesuvius shook southern Italy and boiled over into one of the most devastating volcanic eruptions in history. Since then, the mountain has erupted more than 50 times.

The eruption 1,930 years ago buried the ancient cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum with hot ash. The ash preserved the cities just as they were at the time of eruption. Excavators even found an oven that still contained loaves of bread almost 2,000 years old.

A groundskeeper at the Morrison Lake Country Club near Grand Rapids, Mich., stumbled upon a 10,000-year old mammoth tooth last week. The single tooth weighed an astonishing 10 pounds.

The tooth was sent to the University of Michigan’s Museum of Paleontology, where a researcher confirmed it belonged to a mammoth. Bones and a portion of the tusk were later found at the site as well.

Click here to see video.

Olympic champion Usain Bolt, of Jamaica, set world records this week in the 100- and 200-meter sprints at the IAAF World Championships in Berlin, Germany.

Bolt won the 100 meters in 9.58 seconds, breaking his own record of 9.69, which he set last year at the Beijing Olympics. His time of 19.19 in the 200 meters broke his previous world record of 19.30, also set in Beijing.

Young baseball players from around the world are gathered in Williamsport, Pa., today for the start of the 2009 Little League World Series. ESPN and ABC will broadcast many of the games starting today through Aug. 30.

Eight teams from the United States will compete on one side of the bracket. Teams from Curacao, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Germany, Mexico, Canada and Chinese Tapei will compete in another bracket.

The winners of each bracket will meet in the championship game Sunday, Aug. 30, on ABC. A team from Hawaii won the 2008 championship.

Click here for more tournament info.

Today marks the 50^th anniversary of Hawaii’s statehood. On Aug. 21, 1959, President Dwight Eisenhower signed an executive order, officially making the former U.S. territory the 50^th state in the Union. Alaska had become the 49^th state months earlier on Jan. 3, 1959.

Want a PlayStation 3? Sony’s game console will come a little cheaper after a 25 percent price cut to $299. Sony made the announcement while also introducing a slimmer version of the PS3 that will go on sale at the same price the first week of September.

Some experts say Sony’s price cut may inspire Nintendo to lower the price of its Wii.

Tokyo has unveiled a monstrous robot to help publicize its bid to bring the 2016 Summer Olympics back to Japan. Named “Gundam,” this 59-foot tall robot billows smoke out of its chest. He stands near what would be the beach volleyball venue if Tokyo were to receive the 2016 Games.

More than 1 million people have visited Gundam since he was unveiled. Tokyo last hosted the Olympics in 1964. London will host the 2012 Games.

Click here to see photos.

A newly discovered pitcher plant that feasts on rodents is believed to be the largest meat-eating shrub in the world. The plant has been named Nepenthes attenboroughii, after British wildlife broadcaster David Attenborough.

Botanists first discovered the plant on Mount Victoria in the Philippines. The plant is red and green, and it lures insects and rats into its mouth before dissolving them with acidic enzymes.

See the incredible video here.

Orville Wright was born on this date in 1871 in Dayton, Ohio. In honor of Wright’s birthday, Aug. 19 is honored each year as National Aviation Day.

Orville and his brother Wilbur were operating a bicycle shop when they began experimenting with kites and gliders. After years of tinkering, the brothers built an airplane and Orville piloted the first known powered flight. The flight took place on Dec. 17, 1903, near Kitty Hawk, N.C. It lasted less than 1 minute.

A curious squirrel stepped into a timed camera shot and created an unexpectedly hilarious picture. A married couple was trying to take a nice photograph along a picturesque lake in Banff National Park, Canada. Just before the timer went off, the unnamed squirrel jumped into the shot. Since, he’s become an Internet sensation … even though he’s probably not aware of it.

The British government has provided the details of hundreds of UFO encounters reported between 1981 and 1996. Most of the sightings can be explained, but some remain equal parts mystery and humor.

In 1995, two men in central England described an alien with a lemon-shaped head in a hovering UFO. The two humans reported that the alien said: “We want you; come with us.” On another occasion, two women reported seeing a UFO hovering over the jazz stage at a music festival.

The British Ministry of Defence received 608 UFO-sighting reports in 1996, a huge jump from the 117 reports in 1995. Theories suggest British citizens may have been more eager to see UFOs due to the release of the “Independence Day” film in which Will Smith fights aliens and the popularity of the supernaturally-themed television show “The X-Files.”

Click here to see the Ministry’s UFO files.

Six orphaned gorillas are new residents on an isolated island near Gabon’s Loango National Park. Each of the six gorillas has been rescued from illegal trade. They are ages two to seven.

The plan is to move the six gorillas to a wider wilderness area within three years. Western lowland gorillas are critically endangered, and this project is to help increase their numbers. Experts will monitor the gorillas’ progress from a base camp on the island.

Click here to see video.

Gather up 800 eggs, 200 pounds of flour and 200 pounds of sugar, bake for 12 hours and you too can break a world record. Ryan Abood, who owns Gourmetgiftbaskets.com, baked a 1,224-pound triple vanilla cupcake with pink frosting, which earned the distinction as world’s largest.

Abood’s cupcake made its debut at the Woodward Dream Cruise classic cars event in Royal Oak, Mich. A representative of Guinness World Records verified that it was more than eight times the size of the previous record holder.

The world’s largest cupcake packed an estimated 2 million calories. After confirming the record, the cupcake was sliced into pieces and served in exchange for donations to the Susan G. Komen breast cancer organization.

Click here to see pictures.

NASA is using high-tech devices to help predict when a volcano might erupt. Small pods called “spiders” have been lowered into and placed around Washington state’s Mount St. Helens, which erupted severely in 1980.

These spiders are equipped with a seismometer, GPS receiver, infrared sounder and lightning detector. The pods can go where people can’t, and they are designed to sense magma rising to the Earth’s surface, even miles below the ground.

Click here to see video.

One of America’s most famous frontiersman, Davy Crockett, was born on Aug. 17, 1786. He grew up in the Tennessee woods, learning to live in the outdoors at a young age. He also served his state in the United States Congress.

Crockett died on March 6, 1836, helping Texas revolutionaries defend the Alamo in San Antonio, Tex.

The much-anticipated Fisker Karma will make its first public appearance this weekend at the Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races. This new plug-in hybrid is scheduled to make two laps around the racetrack on Saturday, Aug. 15.

Fisker Automotive unveiled the Karma as a concept car 20 months ago. The Karma uses a battery with a 50-mile range. A gas-powered engine can extend that range to 300 miles. The Karma reaches a top speed of 125 miles per hour, and it will sell for between $88,000 and $104,000.

Click here to read more.

Rawlings new S100 batting helmet is built to withstand a pitched baseball traveling up to 100 miles per hour. The batting helmets currently used by major league players can be compromised at speeds of 70 m.p.h.

The S100 is more protective, but it’s also far bulkier. Some players say they would refuse to wear the helmet because of its appearance. “I am absolutely not wearing that,” New York Mets right fielder Jeff Francoeur told the New York Times. “We’re going to look like a bunch of clowns out there.”

But San Diego Padres second baseman Edgar Gonzalez will try anything. He was hit in the head by a 93-mile-per-hour fastball three weeks ago, and he still feels dizzy when he lies down. “I would wear anything,” he said. “I don’t care how goofy it looks.”

Even if major league players refuse, Rawlings is hoping high school, college and minor league players will start using the more protective S100.

Click here to read more.

A vacationing woman driving along Lake Erie received quite a surprise this week when a fish fell from the sky and shattered her windshield. Authorities say that an eagle had been carrying the fish—a freshwater drum known as a “sheepshead”—when the bird dropped it from a height of 40 feet. The driver said the fish hitting her Toyota’s windshield made a sound like a brick.

Click here to read more.

A British Cub Scout has become one of the youngest people in the world to scale to the top of Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro. Jack Harley-Walsh, 10, reached the 19,330-foot summit with his mother on Thursday, Aug. 6.

“I can’t believe I’ve done it,” Jack told the British Broadcasting Corporation. “I’m really emotional and really happy.”

Click here to read more.

Boaters off the coast of Florida received a shock this weekend when a nearly 6-foot shark jumped out of the ocean and into their watercraft. Mike Powers and his passengers scrambled to get away from the bull shark.

The predator thrashed around on the boat’s floor, injuring itself and bleeding profusely. After 30 minutes, the shark finally calmed down enough for the crew to throw it back into the water. Luckily, none of the boat’s passengers were injured.

Click here to see video.

Fifty years ago today, the first photo of Planet Earth was snapped from space. On Aug. 7, 1959, U.S. satellite Explorer VI transmitted the image. Previous images of Earth were merely drawings based on projections.

A patron at Idaho’s Tautphaus Park Zoo accidentally dropped their mobile device into water at the pelican exhibit this week. After a number of the birds played with the cell for a while, one of them swallowed the phone.

Zoo workers spent three hours trying to identify which bird had sucked down the cell. Fortunately, the swallowing bird eventually regurgitated the phone.

“We just need folks to be really cautious when they’re in the zoo,” said zoo superintendent Bill Gersonde, “and remember that they’re guests in the animals’ homes and they need to keep their personal belongings as close to them as possible.”

Click here to read more.

Three horses raced onto an Israeli highway this week and began running alongside an automobile. Things became complicated when an oncoming vehicle burst onto the scene. The first two horses swerved out of the way, but the third horse trampled over the car, crashing through the windshield before continuing ahead. Tourists caught the bizarre incident on video.

Neither the animal nor the car’s passengers were seriously injured.

Click here to see video.

A 7-year-old boy accidentally sliced himself with a newly purchased knife as he was walking out of a store June 23. The knife penetrated his upper-right leg and severed his femoral artery. Good thing Cub Scout Mavry Sepulvado, Pack 3039, New Caney, Tex., was on the scene.

Ten-year-old Mavry was in a car with his mom when the accident occurred. While a store manager helped the injured boy lie down, Mavry quickly took off his shirt and offered it as a tourniquet. Paramedics soon arrived and whisked the injured boy to the hospital. When the store offered Mavry a new shirt, he said: “That’s O.K. I’m a Cub Scout. That’s what we do.”

The City of Humble, Tex., where the accident occurred, honored Mavry on July 24.

Click here to read more.

The 2009 edition of the Perseid meteor shower is slowly starting as August begins, but the real sky show takes place Aug. 11 and 12. According to NASA, “Earth passes through the densest part of the debris stream” on those dates, and as many as a dozen meteors can be seen each hour.

Click here for more viewing tips.

Muffy the dog disappeared from her home in Brisbane, Australia, nine years ago. Authorities recently went to investigate a possible cruelty case in Melbourne—1,200 miles away from Brisbane—and they discovered a “fluffy white mutt sleeping outside on a scrap of cardboard.”

A microchip in the dog’s neck identified her as Muffy, the missing pooch who once belonged to Natalie Lampard in Brisbane. While Muffy will return to her original home this week, no one will ever know how she traveled so far or what she’s been doing for most of the last nine years.

Click here to read more.

Troop leader Don Leever became extremely ill while hiking with eight Scouts this month in Colorado. Leever figured it was altitude sickness, and he continued to push himself. But, after four days, he could no longer stand or walk. He couldn’t keep down food or water, so the Scouts made a quick decision to evacuate their leader.

Using trekking poles and bear rope, the Scouts fashioned a stretcher. After the Scouts and other chaperones carried Leever partially down the mountain, paramedics met them. They discovered that Leever’s blood sugar had risen to dangerous levels, and he was airlifted to a nearby hospital.

“They led me like a little puppy dog and put me on the stretcher,” Leever told The Houston Chronicle. “They were carrying me, and it was pretty awesome to see everybody sharing the load — and not a word of complaint.”

Click here to read more.