Inspire Science

Did you know a group of bunnies is called a fluffle? Or that the people who voiced Mickey and Minnie Mouse were married in real life? How about this one: In ancient Persia, government officials debated laws twice - once sober and once drunk? We could all use a little good news right now. Comedian and writer Emily Winter is here to tell you confidently that there is kindness, beauty, empathy, humor, resilience, wonder, silliness, cuteness, strength, hope, and joy in our world.

Scarcely six months after their epic adventure in The Hyrax Song, Journee and her friends find themselves on a hunt for the mysterious Zoe-Chai seed. The legendary tale of this seed had been kept alive for generations in the grasshopper world. Legend said that if planted, the seed could feed the entire kingdom and neighboring locust army forever. But where could they find it? And more impossibly, where could they plant it in the perfect location and under the perfect conditions with just a week until the required full moon and rare alignment of the celestial planets.

As director of legendary Pommery Champagnes, Philippe Pozzo di Borgo was not generally someone in the habit of asking for help. Then, in 1993, an accident left him a quadriplegic. Passing his days hidden in his Paris townhouse, Philippe found himself the modern equivalent of an “untouchable.” The only person who seemed not to be bothered by Philippe’s condition was someone who had been marginalized his entire life - Abdel, the unemployed, uninhibited immigrant from the outskirts of society who would become Philippe’s caretaker.

While the core themes of adventure, friendship, and the yearning for eternal youth remain at the heart of this story, we invite you to embark on a fresh journey with us. Together, let us rediscover the wonder and enchantment of Neverland, as we witness the evolution of these beloved characters through a contemporary lens. We hope that this modernized retelling of Peter Pan will inspire your imagination, ignite your sense of wonder, and remind you that the magic of childhood and the power of dreams are timeless treasures meant to be cherished.

As Good and Evil sit precariously weighing in the balance, swaying back and forth with the whims and spirit of humanity, many continue to ask: What is it that gives us purpose? Who truly matters in this age of adversity? Are we coincidental masses of flesh and blood, or were we put on this Earth for a reason? Such impassable questions have been debated, answered, reexamined, and refuted since the very dawn of time. With the seemingly ever-mounting confusion, it’s easy to see why many have simply given up the search. Ebenezer Makinde, however, may be the exception.

This essay comes from the NPR series This I Believe, which features brief personal reflections from both famous and unknown Americans. The pieces that make up the series compel listeners to rethink not only what and how they have arrived at their beliefs, but also the extent to which they share them with others.

In A Long Time Coming, a compelling narrative by Evan Thomas, Newsweek shares the inside stories from one of the most exciting elections in recent history, illuminating the personalities and events that influenced the outcome, and taking stock of the key players and key issues for the new administration.

Written and composed by immigrants and first generation Americans, Home provides a stronger sense of welcome and belonging for everyone. The United States is composed of and built by immigrants, and it has been a beacon to those in search of a new life for hundreds of years. Home is a collection of 34 poems and 12 songs inspired by a diverse group of immigrants who have made significant contributions to the United States.

July 20, 1969. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin left humanity’s first footprints on the Moon. The plaque they left behind reads, “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon, July 1969, A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.” But was the Apollo 11 moon landing mission really a global endeavor? How did people outside the United States view these “rocket men”? Against the political backdrop of the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union, was it, indeed, “For all mankind”?

After November 8, 2016, first came the sadness; then came the rage, the activism, and the protests; and, finally, for thousands of women, the next step was to run for office - many of them for the first time. Journalist Caitlin Moscatello reported on this wave of female candidates for New York magazine’s The Cut, Glamour, and Elle. And in See Jane Win, she further documents this pivotal time in women’s history.

In this concise, lively look at the past, present, and future of voting, a journalist examines the long and continuing fight for voting equality, why so few Americans today vote, and innovative ways to educate and motivate them; included are checklists of what to do before election day to prepare to vote and encourage others.

This essay comes from the NPR series This I Believe, which features brief personal reflections from both famous and unknown Americans. The pieces that make up the series compel listeners to rethink not only what and how they have arrived at their beliefs, but also the extent to which they share them with others.

Early on in the Microsoft story, Bill Gates and other key executives met to decide how they would incentivize employees to make a charitable impact. The status quo was to offer a small percentage of your paycheck as a pretax deduction to a charity selected by your company. Microsoft decided to so something revolutionary instead. The Purpose Mindset tells the inside story behind how Microsoft built its culture of giving.

The story is inspired by real dreams and a variety of moments in life that remained to vivid to forget. It is a Mythical Fictional Story of Crystal Powers and the Origin of Time. For Lena, in her dreams, sometimes she would touch the surface of the crystal and time would stop. It allowed her to go anywhere and only she was moving. In the story, the dreams continued and became a passion of hers to try and understand what the meaning of these dreams were.

On February 28, 2000, Adnan Syed was convicted and sentenced to life plus 30 years for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, a high school senior in Baltimore, Maryland. From the moment of his arrest, Syed has consistently maintained his innocence. Rabia Chaudry, a family friend, always believed him and has never given up the hope that he might someday be released. By 2013, however, after almost all appeals had been exhausted, things looked bleak. That was when Rabia contacted Sarah Koenig, a producer at This American Life.

The Companions of Hira have used their cunning and their magic in the battle against the patriarchal Talisman, an organization whose virulently conservative agenda restricts free thought. One of the most accomplished Companions, Arian, continues to lead a disparate group in pursuit of the one artifact that could end the Talisman’s authoritarian rule: the Bloodprint. But after a vicious battle, the arcane tome has slipped once more beyond her reach. Despite being separated and nearly losing their lives, Arian’s band of allies has remained united.

What if the last great frontier wasn't space—but the depths below? Meet Theodore. Explorer, scientist, dreamer. With two master’s degrees—one in bioscience and one in mechanical engineering—and a PhD in oceanography, he's not just prepared for adventure; he was born for it. In Theodore The Explorer: Born To Discover, follow a man whose heart beats to the rhythm of curiosity and whose compass points toward the unknown. From lost civilizations beneath the sea to untold tales whispered by the wind, Theodore journeys across jungles, deserts, ruins, reefs, and into the hearts of people ...

The unusual creak of a floorboard, a flash of light in the dark and the eerie breeze from a closed window… We've all heard tales of phantoms and spooks haunting old buildings, but how many of them can be linked back to real people, real lives and real history? From the ghostly phantoms who walk the grounds at the Tower of London to a haunted maze at Hampton Court Palace, these spine-tingling tales of ghosts, ghouls and unexplained occurrences will bring history to life in the eeriest way possible.

After obtaining a married status contract in 1989, I worked on a five-star hotel project down on the Turkish Mediterranean Coast. Here, due to my wife and I loving both the people and area, we bought some land with a Turkish friend and had a house built. This turned out to be a major change in our lives, with our moving from our home in Plymouth to live in the Turkish countryside, just a short distance from what is now the resort town of Kemer. This move proved an excellent one, as we enjoyed many happy years among friendly people.

Gratitude is considered the most powerful and impactful emotional state that we, as humans, can operate from. Backed by the science of positive psychology that defines gratitude in a way where scientists can measure its effects, this book thus argues that gratitude is more than feeling thankful: It is a deeper appreciation for someone or something that produces longer-lasting positivity. Gratitude has the power to recharge your energy, boosts your self-worthiness, and is directly linked to both your physical and mental well-being, leading you directly to happiness.