When the United Nations Charter was being written in 1947, many believed that a separate statement was needed to precisely define what “human rights” were and what the UN could do to protect them …

The concept of “collective defense” is the foundation for the establishment of NATO, a military alliance of 29 nations created in 1949 with the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty. At this year’s summit, leaders traveled to the UK and were welcomed by Queen Elizabeth with a reception at Buckingham Palace …

Halloween is celebrated on October 31 in communities across America with both fun and fright-filled festivities. This holiday has deep historical roots dating back centuries and is connected with more solemn observances in Christian churches in every part of the world …

NASA is setting its sights on the Moon in the 2020’s. The Artemis Program (Apollo’s twin sister) will send men and women into space to set up an outpost on the lunar surface and begin testing new equipment and technologies that could pave the way to Mars in the 2030’s.

In 2007, medical researchers discovered a method for changing a normal adult body cell back into a stem cell by manipulating it’s DNA. These induced pluripotent stem cells respond the same way as embryonic stem cells, replicating themselves and differentiating into other types of body cells…

When a gene mutation disrupts the function of a normal body cell, that cell could grow out of control and become cancerous, affecting other, healthy cells. Traditionally fought with chemotherapy or radiation, scientists are now developing immunotherapy treatments that modify a patient’s adaptive immune system to battle cancer cells …

In July 1863, on a battlefield in Southwest Pennsylvania, 28,000 Confederate and 23,000 Union soldiers lost their lives fighting the Battle of Gettysburg. The 3-day war was a decisive victory for the North and the turning point of the Civil War …

St. Francis lived a humble, frugal existence yet he was filled with joy. He was drawn to the natural world and was said to have an overwhelming compassion for all living things. On his travels through the Italian countryside, he sought to help others and to follow in the footsteps of Jesus …

High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, often has no symptoms, yet it could weaken the arteries of the circulatory system and cause damage to the heart, brain, and kidneys over a span of many years.

Storm systems are formed when warm air rises and clashes with cold air, resulting in precipitation and heavy winds. Hurricanes and Tornadoes are made of the same elements of air and water as regular thunderstorms, but they have the potential to quickly grow in size and build up a rotational velocity that causes catastrophic destruction …

March 9, 2020 is the start of the Hindu “festival of colors” known as Holi. The theme of this tradition is the triumph of good over evil. The holiday is celebrated by gathering to throw brightly colored powder at each other in a spirit of love and happiness …

The “network” is a series of dish-shaped antennas at three strategic locations around the globe; California, Madrid, and Australia. The stations are spaced approximately 120 degrees longitude apart from each other, ensuring that as the earth rotates there is a continual connection with NASA spacecraft wherever they are in the solar system …

The technology behind genetically modified crops is way beyond the practices of cross-pollinating plants and selectively breeding livestock; strategies that have evolved over thousands of years. The research involving recombinant DNA is carefully regulated by the FDA, the EPA, and the USDA …

Buddhists believe that the practices of yoga and meditation help a person to elevate their thoughts and to develop self-awareness, resulting in a feeling of peace and unity with the natural world …

A satellite’s “place in space” is determined by three things: its distance from the surface of the earth (the farther away, the slower the orbit), the eccentricity of its orbit (either circular or elliptical) and its inclination (whether it orbits parallel to the equator or at an angle) …

The aging process is usually thought of as being a gradual decline from youth into old age. But current research is demonstrating that it’s more like the ups and downs of a rollercoaster, that there are many ways to influence our health over our lifespans in order to slow the rate at which we’re aging and to recover from illness …

During the twentieth century, US Presidents have traveled safely around the country and eventually around the world in airplanes that were customized for security, efficiency, and comfort …

The story of Jesus’ birth is one of the most familiar in the world; when Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem, they sought shelter at the inn but they were turned away and Jesus was born in a nearby manger …

According to Hindu tradition, an omnipotent and all-encompassing power known as Brahman exists in the universe. This energy is divine in nature, eternal and unchanging, and is embodied by three separate gods or deities; Brahma the creator, Vishnu the protector, and Shiva the destroyer …

In 2020, the James Webb Space Telescope will be placed in space at a distance of 1.5 million kilometers (930,000 miles) from earth, enabling scientists to gather data on a universe they’ve literally never seen before …

The word Eid in Arabic means “festival” and refers to two of the holiest days on the Muslim calendar, Eid al Fitr and Eid al Adha …

Visual light seen by the human eye is only one type of energy found in the universe and represents the smallest part of the electromagnetic spectrum …

The spiral, ladder-shaped molecule of DNA is a familiar sight. In recent years, scientists have been researching the correlation between DNA and the aging process, specifically whether the shortening of telomeres at the base of a DNA molecule could result in accelerated cell death and various types of cancer …

Jesus said he was the Son of God, and that his teachings and healing miracles could be experienced by any person who believed that love and forgiveness could transcend sickness and other human limitations …

Though David was known as a great King, he was a flawed human being and often prayed to God for safety, courage, and strength. Not only are these stories about King David found in the writings of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, David himself authored parts of the Old Testament …

The idea for a “larger than life” sized sculpture originated with Doane Robinson, a historian searching for ways to attract tourists to South Dakota. As the project evolved in the 1920’s, funding from Congress was secured and Robinson consulted with Gutzon Borglum, an American son of Danish immigrants who had worked on other historically themed sculptures …

A Jewish scholar named Eliezer Ben-Yehuda (1858-1922) worked to bring the ancient Hebrew language into the twentieth century, and today it’s one of two official languages spoken within Jewish communities in Israel and around the world …

Inside the human eye, delicate structures bend and focus light. Light is converted to electric signals that travel deep into the brain, allowing us to recognize objects and interact with our environment using our sense of vision …

President Jimmy Carter is known to be a deeply religious man and a devoted husband, father, and grandfather. As he celebrates his 94th birthday this year, he continues to focus on the social issues that have preoccupied his time since leaving public office in the early 1980’s …

Paul was shunned, threatened, and arrested, yet during the last 20 years of his life he completed three missionary journeys. As he traveled through modern-day Europe, he established Christian churches and encouraged people from every level of society to accept each other’s differences and to worship God in a spirit of love and humility …

Health experts aren’t sure how many antioxidants a person should consume in a day, and they seem to disagree about whether supplements are as effective as whole foods. Since there are numerous types of natural chemicals in a standard diet that do the work of antioxidants, it might be impossible not to get enough …

We all know that finding time to exercise moderately is probably a good idea. A fitness routine that includes both cardio and strength training (jogging combined with yoga, for instance) could help maintain a healthy weight, lower blood pressure, and slow the aging process …

In recent years, scientists from around the world have been racing to “catch up” with both asteroids and comets in order to study them. They’re interested in their composition, in tracking changes in their trajectory, and discovering whether or not they contain organic compounds that could prove that life on earth might have evolved from organisms found within these interplanetary rocks …