A pair of baby red pandas at the Philadelphia Zoo have been named after two of the city’s most famous residents: Betsy and Benjamin. Zoo officials said Friday that the monikers, which pay homage to Betsy Ross and Benjamin Franklin, received overwhelming support in a public naming contest. Officials say… Read More

A 78-year-old woman decided to spend her final hours last month — to her very last breath — in the now-shuttered New Jersey luncheonette she spent more than three decades running. The lights dimmed on Chubby’s Luncheonette three years ago, but it was so special to former owner Carol “Chubby”… Read More

Authorities say a suspected burglar has died after getting stuck in a chimney in Central California. Fresno County Sheriff’s Lt. Brandon Pursell said a homeowner in the rural town of Huron heard someone yell after lighting a fire in his fireplace Saturday afternoon and alerted authorities. Pursell said the homeowner… Read More

An Australian set his third Christmas-themed world record in as many years Friday by illuminating a tree in downtown Canberra with 518,838 twinkling lights. Guinness World Records confirmed that David Richards had broken the record for the most lights on an artificial Christmas tree that had been held for five… Read More

After 20 years in a Lakers uniform and a lifetime in basketball, Kobe Bryant determined that his aching body and his passion for the game had both grown weaker than his excitement about the future. That’s when Kobe decided he could only wait a few more months to begin his… Read More

In Baltimore, this year can be divided into two parts: what came before Freddie Gray died and what happened afterward. Gray, 25, suffered a mysterious injury in the back of a police transport van and died April 19, inspiring thousands to take to the streets to protest what they believed… Read More

Australia is trying a new technology to stop shark attacks on swimmers along its beaches… drones. A series of drones in New South Wales will watch the coastline for signs of big sharks in shallow water, then alert authorities when any are seen. The New South Wales government is also… Read More

The Internet was abuzz a few weeks ago with speculation that astronomers may have discovered an “alien megastructure” in a nearby solar system. Not so fast, NASA is now saying. While some scientists speculated that the strange dimming of star KIC 8462852 could be caused by alien satellites, it’s much… Read More

Self-driving cars may be coming to our roads sooner than first thought. Federal transportation officials have announced rethinking their position on self-driving cars with an eye toward getting the emerging technology into the public’s hands. Just two years previous, the U.S. Department of Transportation struck a cautious tone. Its official… Read More

Whether or not you believe in ghosts, this is spooky. In a video captured on cell phone, a guest walks deserted hotel halls while lights flicker on and off in a strange and frightening pattern. There is no sign of anyone else in the video, leading some to speculate that… Read More