This New Year's Eve, A Blue Moon

China and the rest of its time zone, with its more than 1B people

(NEWSER) - If you're looking to celebrate New Year's Eve with a whole bunch of other people, head to China. The time zone that includes China plus Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Timor, and parts of Siberia, Indonesia, and Australia must have at least 1.5 billion people in it, NPR concludes. It wins the most-populous honors. More»

Extra-full moon put on a pretty good show around the world

(NEWSER) - For those stuck under cloud cover, or those of us who grumpily didn't think it looked that different, last night's "supermoon" yielded some pretty spectacular images from around the world—including moonrise over Libya. Click through the gallery, and for even more images, go to Space.com's gallery . More»

Police not sure yet if alcohol was involved

(NEWSER) - An Illinois man got a little too excited about the new year, and paid for it with his life. Robert Freund, 31, decided to celebrate by lighting a large firework shortly after midnight this morning, reports Chicago Breaking News . It went off, injuring him in the head and chest, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators are waiting on results of a drug and alcohol test. More»

The celebrations have begun...

(NEWSER) - You may be just waking up, but it's already 2011 somewhere—namely Australia and New Zealand, the first major countries to see the new year. Sydney celebrated with what's been touted as the world's most sophisticated New Year's fireworks display, the BBC reports. So, while you're waiting for your own clock to hit midnight, enjoy these shots of the festivities. More»

A love for bad champagne and mini hot dogs will help

(NEWSER) - Ahh, New Year’s Eve. A holiday filled with inappropriately sparkly dresses and unnecessarily large quantities of tiny, tiny appetizers. On the Huffington Post , Alida Nugent lists 10 things you’ll need to get through “this sloppy and not-really-monumental occasion”:

• That cocktail dress: In addition to the sparkles, it must be really, really short. “Because it’s winter!” And who doesn’t want to “keep pulling [it] down because it’s freezing and the dress doesn’t fit but the style is right on!”
• An affinity for the cheap champagne hangover: “I’ve never met one person who has ever said ‘Yes, I drank a bottle and a half of champagne and the next morning I hopped out of bed joyously and ran around and did splits.’”