A boy stands in the ruins of the leveled a neighborhood in Tacloban. Food and water supplies were almost nonexsistent in the days immediately after the storm. David Gilkey/NPR hide caption

Is that a cross? A ship with a figurehead? What future do you see in these lead shapes? In one New Year's tradition, fortune-seekers drop molten lead into cold water and guess what the shapes portend. Deena Prichep for NPR hide caption

Mountain lion 38F perches in a tree before getting a tracking collar from the Santa Cruz Puma Project. Peter Lollo/KQED hide caption

Eating black-eyed peas and rice is a New Year's tradition. iStockphoto.com hide caption

Joe Biden has a light-hearted moment in the Old Senate Chambers in January. The vice president has not ruled out running for president in 2016. Cliff Owen/AP hide caption

The wildfire in Yarnell, Ariz., last June destroyed homes and killed 19 firefighters. Experts say expansion into wildfire-prone areas has created new challenges for firefighters. Andy Tobin/AP hide caption

The sea ice that polar bears use as a platform to catch seals is shrinking, threatening the species' existence. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Serivce/AP hide caption

The most abundant meteorites found in Antarctica are called chondrites. They are some of the oldest objects known in the solar system. Katherine Joy/Antarctic Search for Meteorites Program / Case Western Reserve University hide caption

The Pleyel piano factory, which once supplied instruments to Frederic Chopin, will close its doors at the end of the year. Francois Guillot /AFP/Getty Images hide caption

Ernie "Ghoulardi" Anderson on the set of his show at WJW-TV. Chuck Schodowski/Courtesy of Western Reserve Historical Society hide caption