(Flickr photo by General Wesc)

Hello everyone,

Yahoo! Answers is undergoing some essential planned maintenance on Tuesday, September 13 starting at 1pm, and lasting several hours. Answers will be unavailable during that time. The Suggestion Board will not be affected by this.

Meanwhile, please check out these Yahoo! pages and:

• Upload your photos on Flickr.
• Search for awesome travel deals at Yahoo! Malaysia Travel.
• Read about the latest news at Yahoo! Malaysia News.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

We’ve seen a lot of questions being asked about the major humanitarian crisis in East Africa.

As you’ve probably heard, thanks to a severe drought and rising food prices, millions of lives are being threatened — and it is, unfortunately, the children who are the most vulnerable in this dire situation.

In the fight against hunger Yahoo! supports the initiative “Save The Children” and the Bob Marley family.  Please check out the link below to find answers to many unanswered questions about the crisis and detailed instructions on how you can donate.

Donate to Save the Children

Also, check out this powerful short film — featuring Bob Marley & The Wailers’ 1973 track, “High Tide or Low Tide” — which was created by Kevin Macdonald (award-winning director of “The Last King of Scotland”) to raise awareness for this very important cause.

Let’s all do our part so that this tragedy will not remain silent.  I encourage everyone to also share your suggestions on how else we can help the starving in East Africa and to spread the word about the cause through social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Many thanks.

Flickr photo by Yodel Anecdotal

Hi everyone,

A common question asked on Yahoo! Answers is: How come you never forget how to ride a bike? Most people grow up riding their bikes around their neighborhoods, but as soon as you get your driver’s license you graduate from two to four wheels. There are a quite a few blogs dedicated to this common phrase. People who haven’t ridden in 10, 15, 20 years, hop on the two-wheeler as if they were 10-years-old again.

So how come you can never forget how to ride a bike? Have you ever wondered how after years of not doing something you’re able to pick up the skill with little practice?

It has everything to do with muscle memory. According to some research published in Nature Neuroscience scientists have “identified a key nerve cell in the brain that controls the formation of memories for motor skills such as riding a bicycle, skiing or eating with chop sticks.” Our brains are designed to recover memory movements.

Maybe that’s why we say “it’s like riding a bike, you’ll never forget”. Turns out there are truths to that phrase. So what are some other things that we never forget? And why do we forget so many other types of things so easily? Please leave a comment below.

Thanks for reading!

Flickr image by mobile247

Almost everyone know that Starbucks has become synonymous to coffee, but have you ever wondered how it got its name? This really interesting guest post below from one of our official Yahoo! Answers contributors, Chad Upton (editor-in-chief of Broken Secrets), answers this question.

**Secret Revealed**

In 1971, an English teacher, a history teacher and writer started a coffee roasting business in Seattle.

It’s not surprising that such an intellectual group would have an affinity for classics like Moby Dick. In fact, Starbucks was nearly called Pequod, the name of the whaling ship in Moby Dick. Thankfully, one of the partners rejected the name. Instead, they went with Starbucks, the name of Pequod’s first mate.

Although Starbuck was a fictional young quaker from Nantucket, there were a number of real sailors from that era with the name “Starbuck.”. Naming a coffee company was’t the first time the name was borrowed either. There is an island in the South Pacific, a popular region for whaling, called Starbuck Island.

Starbuck Island was heavily mined for phosphate in the late 1800s and many ships were wrecked there. The high frequency of shipwrecks was probably caused by the reefs that surrounded the island, but there is a mythical explanation too.

In Greek Mythology there are seductresses who lure sailors to shipwreck on the coast of their islands. These mythical creatures are called Sirens and the Starbucks logo contains one.

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2″ marks the end of a magical movie franchise that are all based on the equally successful “Harry Potter” novels by the British author J. K. Rowling.

According to news, hundreds of die-hard fans waited patiently outside London’s Trafalgar Square last Thursday, July 7, at the movie’s world premiere to catch a glimpse of the actors that brought the characters to life.

The movie opens in some countries on July 13, and in the key British and U.S. markets on July 15.

As we celebrate the end of this amazing series, let’s go back and think of our favorite moments in the films. Particularly, I want to ask this question:

If you can own one magical object from the Harry Potter series, what will it be and why?

Share your answers now. You can also quickly choose from the five items mentioned in the poll below. And for more Harry Potter news, check out http://my.news.yahoo.com/theharrypottermania/.

(Flickr photo by Stitch)

The year’s first total eclipse of the moon happens this week, Thursday, June 16, early morning, around 3:22am.

The good news is we will have a front seat view of this lunar spectacle because it will be visible from eastern Africa, central Asia, the Middle East and Western Australia (of course, if the weather permits it).

If you’re confused and can’t tell the difference between a solar and lunar eclipse, a quick answer to this is “a solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun” while “a lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon.”

Unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses occur more often and it’s not always a total lunar eclipse. There can be a partial lunar eclipse or a penumbral lunar eclipse.

Another cool thing about this upcoming eclipse is that the period the Earth’s shadow completely blocks the moon (referred to as “totality”) will last for 1 hour and 40 minutes. According to the news article, the last time the moon was covered that long was July 2000 when it lasted 7 minutes longer.

If you plan to wake up really early to watch the lunar eclipse, I suggest you take photos and share it on Flickr. Because that’s how I plan to “watch” the eclipse, by viewing photos shared on Flickr. Thanks for reading!

(Flickr photo by Jem Seow)

Today, June 1, is “International Children’s Day, an event that is celebrated around the world to honor children. It’s the time to think and talk about children’s rights and promote the well-being of all children.

According to Wikipedia, it was in 1925 in the World Conference for the Well-being of Children in Geneva, Switzerland when June 1 was proclaimed to be International Children’s Day.

In celebration of International Children’s Day, we ask the Answers community to answer this queston:

What lesson—big or small—has a child recently taught you?

Share to us and to everyone what you’ve learned from a little kid. You’ll be surprised how much we can learn from them. We also encourage everyone to check out Yahoo!’s How Good Grows initiative and see how people are learning from kids around the world. Spread the word, and watch How Good Grows on Yahoo!

Many thanks!

Just when we thought Facebook couldn’t impact our lives anymore, it found another way.

An Israeli couple has named their baby Like, after the Like button on Facebook. We’ve heard some unique names in our time, but this one is a bit silly. The couple claims they thought the name sounded “modern and innovative.”

Facebook did not pay the couple, obviously, but this incident shows how large a role social media play in our lives. Next thing you know, parents will start naming their children, Facebook. Wait, that actually happened earlier this year! A man in Egypt named his daughter Facebook to express “his joy at the achievements made by the January 25 youth.”

Now we turn to our community. What do you think of these names? What’s the most unusual name you’ve ever heard of?

Thanks for reading!

We apologize for any inconvenience.  Thanks so much for your patience!

Now back to your regular asking and answering.

(Flickr photo by General Wesc)

Hello everyone,

Yahoo! Answers will be unavailable Monday, 16 May, from 3:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., due to planned maintenance. If there is any change to this schedule, we will update the information here.

Meanwhile, please check out these Yahoo! pages and:

• Upload your photos on Flickr.
• Check out the cool movies to watch at Yahoo! Malaysia Movies.
• Read about the latest news at Yahoo! News Malaysia.
• Discover new friends and places around you through Koprol.

We apologize for the inconvenience.