The Lite - Wed, June, 24, 2015 - 22:00 GMT

1- Most nine-year-old kids are happy playing with toys, but this bubbly girl is proving otherwise. American, Hailey Ford is actually using her free time to build homes for the homeless and provide them with food. Hailey's incredible act of kindness is affecting the lives of many in an inspiring way. When Hailey was five, she asked her mother if they could buy a homeless man a sandwich. This simple gesture got her thinking, and she realized that she wanted to do more in terms of providing food for the homeless. So she came up with the idea of starting a garden to grow and donate fresh produce. She even wanted to do more by giving the homeless a place to sleep. That’s when she started building tiny mobile homes for them. Hailey does all of the work herself with the guidance of her mum.

2- A fisherman in Australia gets the surprise of his life when he comes across a rare basking shark. That’s the second-biggest fish on the planet. Scientists believe this can provide them with vital information of its past. The shark measures a whopping 6 point 3 meters. It took a crane to lift it out of the boat and another five hours to cut into small enough pieces to carry. The rare specimen has been donated to a museum where scientists plan to use the body to research the shark's genetics, diet and life history. Basking sharks are slow-moving species which can grow up to 12 meters long. Unlike other sharks, their teeth are tiny and they feed by trapping tiny plankton and jellyfish in their huge mouth.

3-  From dogs to horses, they're being used by innovative therapists to calm, motivate and teach kids with special needs. More Australian schools are using assistance dogs to help children with physical disabilities, mental illnesses and a range of other conditions. Molly is a silky terrier service dog that is trained to help twins Hannah and Olivia Cottell in this school. They both have type one diabetes and anxiety. Molly is there to keep an eye on their health and alert the teacher to any problems. Molly has been specially trained to detect when either of the girls' glucose levels becomes unstable, and to calm them down when they become anxious. Interestingly, more people are seeking out dogs to alert them to medical emergencies and treat anxieties, as well as for companionship. The concept for assistance dogs originated in the US and the service is now in use across all the states and territories of Australia.

4- Researchers in Hong Kong have developed an innovative way to test the safety of food and cosmetics, using fish embryos. The researchers explain that the fish used in the study have a DNA structure very similar to humans, and they respond to toxicants in a similar way as all humans do. Therefore, they put the fish embryos in a dish containing the product which is supposed to be tested, and leave them for 24 hours. If the product is contaminated or not safe, the fish embryos will react by changing their color or shapes. Researchers believe this new testing process could speed up the product’s safety-checks and help companies, from drug-makers to food manufacturers, to identify any health hazards.

5- Researchers are building an army of drones to catch mosquitoes. Microsoft is developing a high-tech drone network that autonomously collects mosquitoes to prevent the outbreak of deadly diseases like malaria. A team of scientists then analyzes the winged insects to see if they are carrying deadly or previously uncategorized diseases. Currently, scientists use traps hung from trees to catch mosquitoes, and then they have to collect the insects by hand. But Microsoft’s new plan could greatly speed up this process, by sending out portable drones that are able to cover far more distance and come back to base with bigger samples.

6- Visitors to an animal breeding center in China are amazed as they see two little panda cubs, only one day after they were born. The female cubs are the world’s first set of giant panda twins born this year. The breeders say the cubs can only eat about one milliliter of milk for each meal. Both of the babies are in good health, with good appetite and normal temperature. Giant pandas are native to south-central China. They are one of the endangered species in the world, with only about 16-hundred of them remaining in the wild.

7- If you’ve ever been surfing, you know that it’s tough enough with one person on the board. Imagine bringing 66 people along for the ride. Check this out. Surf champions and local heroes were among those balancing on this custom-made 12 meter long board at Huntington Beach in California. They were attempting to break the world record for most people riding a board together. And they managed to do so by riding on the board for 12 seconds. They broke the previous record set in Queensland, Australia, about a decade ago when 47 surfers rode a wave for 10 seconds.

8- Researchers in the U-S are conducting a study to learn how the human brain works when we engage in social conversations. Researchers at Yale Brain Function Lab in the state of Connecticut map the brain activity of participants through a specially designed cap. The scientists show some pictures to the participants and ask them to talk about the images as they appear on the computer screen. After that, another participant should listen to the speaker. Then, the scientists carefully observe the participants’ brain waves. They believe similar waves of both the speaker and listener can result in better interactions. The researchers hope the study can help improve social and inter-personal skills.

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