The Five Best Fireworks Shows in the World

What are your plans this July 4? If you’re like us, you’ll stay the hell inside and maybe catch a replay of the fireworks show on Channel 5 or something. We know, we know — not as exciting. So in case you’re a lover of the patriotic spectacle, but can’t…

Cowtown Gears up for this Week’s International Go Skateboarding Day

June’s host to more than 30 “national holidays,” including the ever-important National Doughnut Day, Hug Your Cat Day, and today’s very fitting International Panic Day. Fortunately, if you’re a skater, there’s no need for panic. In fact, this week’s going to be pretty sweet thanks to Cowtown Skateboards and a…

Google Street View “Trekker” Program Hits the Hiking Trails

Mapping the roadways of the world isn’t enough for Google, which announced its Street View program is headed for wilderness hiking trails. Like much about the Internet, this sounds like both a blessing and a curse. After all, Google Street View can be accessed equally by lost motorists and burglars…

LIVE: Footage of Venus Transit (Plus Space Jams)

No need to break a sweat or severely damage your vision this afternoon, members of The Exploratorium are hosting a live webcast of Venus’ transit across the Sun from Hawaii’s Mauna Loa Observatory. The webcast has a live telescope feed to the tune of audio commentary every 30 minutes and…

Tomorrow: Watch Venus Transit the Sun

Tomorrow afternoon, Venus will be visible from Earth for several hours as it transits the Sun. Venus’ orbit differs from Earth’s a mere 3.4 degrees, which is enough to usually keep the planet out of sight. The event is a once-in-a-lifetime event — as the next transits are slated for…

We’re Doomed: Scientists Discover Sweat-Licking Bees

Just in time for the forecasts to hit triple digits and for us all to stock up on deodorant and tank tops, scientists say they’ve discovered and are now analyzing the Lasioglossum gotham, casually called the “sweat bee.” Yes, instead of flowers or melty popsicles, the sweat bee is attracted…

NASA Films Solar Eruption (VIDEO)

Mercury’s not in retrograde and all seems normal on the astronomical charts, but through the lenses of highly specialized cameras, astronomers caught something slightly unusual on the Sun’s surface over the weekend. Described by NASA as “a beautiful prominence eruption producing a coronal mass ejection (CME),” a chunk of matter shot…

10 Favorite Hikes in the Valley

As spring makes a quick appearance in Arizona, the days for camping and hiking are perfect (and numbered). Luckily, there are tons of places in the Valley where you can take advantage of the natural beauty, gorgeous weather, and off-the-beaten path hikes. Here are just 10 of our favorites: 10…

Five Things to Know Before Heading to Mexico for Spring Break

Another Spring Break, another round of warnings from the State Department, your mom, and your agoraphobic friends: Don’t go to Mexico. Lo que sea. You’re going anyway (blame our flowchart). And that’s awesome.Whether this is your first time to Rocky Point or you remember what it was like to camp…

Camelback Mountain Safety Sign & Memorial for Fall Victim Clint McHale

A new sign being planned for Camelback Mountain will likely memorialize falling victim Clint McHale with a picture, but don’t call it a memorial, says one Phoenix official.”It’ll be more like an educational or information sign,” says Kathi Reichert, deputy director for Phoenix’s Parks and Recreation department. “It talks about…

CrossFit: Nine Spots to Check Out the Olympian Workout in Phoenix

All gyms are not created equal. If the high-tech treadmills and state-of-the-art weight training equipment haven’t brought expected results, CrossFit could be the answer.Military special operations and police academies have turned to CrossFit gyms since 2005, and mainstream versions of the workout routine have multiplied to the thousands since 2010. The…

When to Catch the First Meteor Shower of 2012

The Quadrantids meteor shower will be shinning bright (for anyone willing to roll out of bed) with a maximum rate of about 100 meteor per hour, according to NASA. While most of last year’s showers were hard to see because of full moons, Tuesday night/Wednesday morning’s shower will have little to…

We’re Doomed: Scientists Discover Jumping Cockroach

Yes, friends, this week scientists announced the discovery of the newest, scariest addition to the already dream-haunting 4,000 species of the sewer bug — and this one jumps. The leaproach, scientific name saltoblattella montistabularis, is noted as an “evolution” of the cockroach with “extreme” bulging eyes to pinpoint landing spots, more aerodynamic antenna sockets…

When to Catch Tomorrow’s “Impossible” Total Lunar Eclipse

If you can drag yourself out of bed tomorrow morning, you’ll want to look up to get a glimpse of a total lunar eclipse — the last one until 2014. The moon passes through the southern part of the Earth’s shadow, which gives the “eclipse” effect, (fortunately not of the vampire…

“Team Thrashers” Takes Kids to Higher Levels in Rock Climbing

Few things are as humbling to an athletic adult as failing to reach the top of a tough wall at the rock-climbing gym — then watching a 12-year-old do it without breaking a sweat.And for the 12-year-old, that’s just cool.This happens all the time at one of our favorite haunts,…