The stars came out in the middle of the day, zoo animals ran in agitated circles, crickets chirped, birds fell silent and a chilly darkness settled upon the land Monday as the US witnessed its first full-blown, coast-to-coast solar eclipse since World War I. Millions of Americans gazed in wonder at the cosmic spectacle, with the best seats along the so-called path of totality that raced 2,600 miles (4,200 kilometers) across the continent from Oregon to South Carolina.

Total solar eclipses occur every year or two or three, often in the middle of nowhere like the South Pacific or Antarctic. What makes Monday’s eclipse so special is that it will cut diagonally across the entire United States. The path of totality — where day briefly becomes night — will pass over Oregon, continuing through the heartland all the way to Charleston, South Carolina. Those on the outskirts — well into Canada, Central America and even the top of South America — will be treated to a partial eclipse.

If you can’t witness the total solar eclipse in person, you can still see it online or via TV. Here are some of the viewing options: (All times EDT) — NASA will offer hours of coverage online and on NASA Television beginning at noon. It plans livestreaming of the eclipse beginning at 1 p.m. with images from satellites, research aircraft, high-altitude balloons and specially modified telescopes.

The year 2016 broke records for our warming planet, and climate expert Deke Arndt says it won t be the last. He tells DW that access to water - having too much or not enough - will be increasingly important. An Indian man walks over the parched bed of a reservoir on the outskirts of Chennai (Getty Images/AFP/A. Sankar)

There s a lot to read in the data from solar eclipses. Some of it reads like clockwork. Other bits might seem odd. But total solar eclipses, like the one on August 21, are the raw rhythm of nature up close. It s uncanny how good the data on solar eclipses is, stretching all the way back to 2127 BC and even further. Granted, some of it is based on anecdotal information, some of it is based on references "in the literature," or on advanced reverse calculations and amazing projections into the future. In fact, we can see so far into the future of eclipses that we know they won t occur forever - but more on that later. First, let s head into the past!

When a cosmic event starts appearing in ad campaigns, you know it s something big and on everyone s mind. The total solar eclipse on August 21 has a cameo in an advert for Apple s virtual assistant Siri. Here s why. "Hey, Siri, take a selfie," commands actor and wrestler Dwayne Johnson, known also as The Rock, as he floats in a space. And click goes his phone, before he muses, "Hope I don t cause an eclipse." Excuse me, Mr. Rock? Hope you don t cause a what? There s no time for nonsense like that, me ol mate. You re due back at a studio … And boom! There he is crashing through the roof of a film set in a capsule of some kind. He steps out, poses and says, "This one is for Earth!" and then plods on with his day, chatting casually with his dithering human assistant. All that s left of the director on the make-believe film shoot, meanwhile, is a bewildered Brit, muttering "cock a doodle doo" over and over again.

The web hosting company GoDaddy said on Sunday it had given The Daily Stormer 24 hours to move its domain to another provider after the extremist web site posted an article denigrating the woman who was killed at a white nationalist rally in Virginia.

NASA s recruitment drive for a new Planetary Protection Officer was too good for headline writers to resist this week. "Frequent travel may be required," the vacancy posting on the US government s jobs website advised. There were no mentions of first contact or Hollywood action heroes, but retired NASA astronaut Mark Kelly took the conversation there on everybody s behalf. He nominated Bruce Willis, perhaps in reference to films like Armageddon or The Fifth Element.

Medics first discovered noroviruses in 1972 using an electron microscope. Since then, they ve found a large variety of different noroviruses, several of which are contagious to humans. Where are they? Noroviruses can be found all over the world. They re responsible for roughly half of all non-bacterial cases of diarrhea. Children under five as well as the weak and elderly are most vulnerable. That s why epidemic waves of infections often hit child daycares or senior living facilities. There s a risk of infection anywhere that people are confined to a space over a long period of time. At theAthletic World Championships in London, for example, there s an ongoing epidemic. And in 2012, there was a case in Germany where a medium-sized cruise ship had to be put under quarantine in Wiesbaden after 67 tourists fell ill, or roughly every second guest.

As President Donald Trump touts new oil pipelines and pledges to revive the nation s struggling coal mines, federal scientists are warning that burning fossil fuels is already driving a steep increase in heat waves, droughts and floods. It is the latest example of collisions between Trump s environmental policies and the facts presented by his government s experts.

Facebook is continuing its quest to crack down on fake news. The social network on Thursday began rolling out “Related Articles” that provide additional perspectives and information on stories shared on News Feeds These articles will appear below the link for topics many users are talking about on Facebook(FB, Tech30). They will also include articles fact-checked by third-party sites such as Snopes and PolitiFact, which employ editors.

Sico Technology, an Egyptian-based company, recently announced that it will receive equipment to produce the first Egyptian-made smartphone in November. The company, which partnered with China’s Megane on the project, is set to begin the assembly lines in October, and hopes to launch at an annual production capacity of 1.8 million devices a year, head of SICO technology, Mohamed Salem, said in a statement on Sunday.

Head of the New & Renewable Energy Authority Mohamed Mousa announced on Sunday that Egypt will begin to manufacture solar panels soon, saying that the project will pave the way to launch other initiatives. According to the state-run newspaper, Akhabr Al Youm, the solar panels will be attached to buildings that are being already established in Egypt’s New Administrative capital.

In the hilly outskirts of sunny Barcelona, Spanish scientist Sergi Santos looks proudly over what appears to be five busty women in tiny shorts and tank tops perched around his living room. But look a little closer and it is clear they are not women but silicone sex dolls with wigs and artificial brains that Santos believes will not only earn him money, but may also be used to staff brothels and help combat sex trafficking.

Who will be watched and by whom? The test phase will take place at Berlin s Südkreuz train station. It will include only selected participants and be conducted by the German federal police, Federal Criminal Police Office and the Interior Ministry in conjunction with Deutsche Bahn, the station operator. More than 250 people have volunteered as test subjects. They submitted their names and two photos of their faces, which have been saved in a database so cameras can compare them to surveillance footage. How does the technology work?

We ve been trained to believe that Silicon Valley is nerd central. But that s a bad faith that s snowballed out of reality. Because most of the world s true nerds don t run cloud-based-data-sucking-app-a-ma-jigs. On the contrary, you will find them scattered around the world, holed up in attic studios, with a soldering iron in one hand and a PCB (printed circuit board) in the other. These are the guys and gals making DIY – sometimes boutique – synthesizer modules for electronic music. You know, the stuff that goes bleep. And what makes them geekier than thou is that they seldom do it for the money. It s for the love of it.

It’s almost eight months into 2017, and humanity’s demand for ecological resources has already exceeded what the planet can replenish annually, as Earth Overshoot Day is marked as August 2, reminding humans of the enormous toll they take on the Earth, World Wide Life Fund and Global Footprint Network said in a report. Earth Overshoot Day marks the point when humanity’s demand for ecological resources exceeds what the planet can renew in a whole year. Each year, the Earth regenerates an enormous amount of environmental resources – water, soil and clean air – that humans use up. In the last few decades, however, humans began using substantially more of these resources than can be replaced in a year.

Apple is removing virtual private network (VPN) services from its app store in China, VPN service providers said on Saturday, accusing the U.S. tech giant of bowing to pressure from Beijing to comply with stringent cyberspace regulations. VPNs allow users to bypass China’s so-called “Great Firewall” aimed at restricting access to overseas sites. Beijing has shut down dozens of China-based providers and it has been targeting overseas services as it bids to tighten its control over the internet, especially ahead of the Communist Party congress in August.

The Ministry of Environment has provided the Environmental Affairs Agency (EAA) with 34 exhaust gas/CO analyzer devices as a part of the ministry’s plan to inspect the levels of vehicles’ exhaust emissions in all governorates in Egypt.

Scientists are sucking carbon dioxide from the air with giant fans and preparing to release chemicals from a balloon to dim the sun s rays as part of a climate engineering push to cool the planet. Backers say the risky, often expensive projects are urgently needed to find ways of meeting the goals of the Paris climate deal to curb global warming that researchers blame for causing more heatwaves, downpours and rising sea levels. The United Nations says the targets are way off track and will not be met simply by reducing emissions for example from factories or cars – particularly after US President Donald Trump s decision to pull out of the 2015 pact.

Four international companies are set to compete to establish a wind farm in the Gulf of Suez. The farm will output 250 MW. Sources at the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) said that the companies include Vestas and Siemens, as well as Enercon and Ray Power. The consortium comprised of Power China and Goldenwind has been excluded, as their bid did not include European certificates. The new bids will be received from companies by the middle of August.