Photograph from BBC News

Volunteers who have participated in the Lake Merritt Institute clean up project, have scooped up litter and other items, from the lake over the past 15 years. However, a 6th grader, from St. Paul's Episcopal School, Oakland, CA, recently found something more exciting than the shorts, tops,cell phones,wallets, tennis balls and other junk scooped up in from its murky water. She found sunken treasure. The girl,11, whose name has not been released, saw two canvas bags in 2 ft. deep water. Weighing about 10 pounds,the bags were too heavy to lift so she asked for help. The bags, one with the words "Wells Fargo,contained silverware, antique rings, necklaces, coins,brooches,and bracelets! Thought to be stolen property that was thrown into the lake, the treasures were turned into the local police department where the items may hopefully be returned to its original owner.Photograph from SF Gate

4/6/12:Using sonar scanning technology, five engines from the Apollo 11 space rocket which sent Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins on their historic flight on July 16, 1969, have been found resting about 14000 ft under the Atlantic Ocean. You may remember that this mission brought man to the moon for the very first time. The amazing underwater find was discovered by Amazon owner, Jeff Bezos,who is also a space enthusiast. Bezos said the F-1 engines delivered "one and a half million pounds of thrust, 32 million horsepower, and burned 6000 pounds of rocket grade kerosene and liquid oxygen every second." Bezos said his personal passion for science began when he was five years old watching the televised Apollo 11 mission.He isn't sure the condition of the engines, which have been sitting on the ocean floor for over 40 years but it is his hope to retrieve the engines. Since the rockets are NASA property, he hopes that one of the them could join the Apollo command module on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. and that perhaps NASA would allow one of the other engine brought up from the ocean depths,to go on display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington, Bezos' hometown.

< <

4/1/:12Update: Director and amateur oceanographer James Cameron has succeeded in reaching the deepest point on earth, the Mariana Trench. It took two hours to reach the nearly seven miles depth(35, 756ft) early Monday morning, local time. During his six hour expedition, Cameron will take video and bring back samples, from the area which is a mile deeper than Mt. Everest is high. Cameron is only the 3rd person to travel to such depths. Back in 1960, Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh traveled down in the Trieste into the Mariana Trench. Their descent took five hours and they only stayed for 20 minutes,seeing little due to very thick quartz windows and sand that was kicked up from the ocean floor. Scientists say that the pressure at such depths is like having 3 SUVs sitting on your toe!

Read more at this link:

National Geographic News

Photograph from News National Geographic

The famous Clock Tower in London,England,is more commonly named Big Ben,for the bell that chimes the quarter hour found inside. The tower is in the news as a number of British lawmakers would like to rename it Elizabeth Tower in honor of Queen Elizabeth who is celebrating her Diamond Jubilee(60th year as monarch of Great Britain)in 2012. Only one other monarch of Great Britain, Queen Victoria , celebrated a Diamond Jubilee. Did you know that the four- faced chiming cock inside the Clock Tower is the largest in the world?

Earth Hour is coming. Here is a way to participate in developing environmental responsibility and awareness that climate challenges facing our planet need to be global. In its 6th year, people around the world are being asked to shut off electric lights and other electrical devices for one hour on March 31st. Begun in New Zealand, it is estimated that over 135 countries around the world will take part this year.Landmarks such as the leaning Tower of Pisa, the Vatican, the Eiffel Tower, the Empire State Building and the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalikfa, Buckingham Palace, and many other places around the world will go dark during the 8:30-9:30 PM time period. And, why stop with being aware of electrical consumption for one hour a year? Do you shut lights off in rooms or unplug electrical devices when you aren't using them?Check out the official site,Earth Hour to learn more about the event.

Photograph from Earth Hour.Org

Photograph from Daily Mail.com

3/15/12L

Most of us have flown a paper airplane but nothing like the Arturo's Desert Eagle. Believed to be the world's largest, the paper airplane weighed 800 pounds and was 45 ft.long. The whopper of a paper airplane was inspired by Arturo Valdenegro,12, who won a regional paper airplane contest earlier in the year.As the winner of the paper airplane contest, whose plane flew the farthest, Arturo participated with engineers who designed and built the mammoth paper airplane. The project was part of the Great Paper Airplane Project, at the Pima Air and Space Museum,Tucson, Arizona. Attached to a chain, the Arturo's Desert Eagle, made of materials similar to that used in pizza boxes, was lifted by a Sikorsky S58T helicopter. At 2703 ft, the paper airplane was release and glided about 7-20 seconds, at 98 mph until crashing in a heap in the Arizona desert.See a video of the flight of the paper airplane at this link:

Pima Air and Space Museum

A new world's swimming record was made...across the Pacific Ocean, a distance of 3200 nautical miles, taking four months. The four "swimmers" were actually robots which left from San Francisco and just arrived in Hawaii, using only the ocean's waves to generate energy for their movement. The robots were two sections, an upper part which looked like a small surfboard and a lower section attached by a cable that worked as fins and a keel. Solar panels on the top section of the robots powered the sensors which collected data on fish levels and acidity in the ocean water. The swimming adventure is not over. Two of the robotics will now head to the Mariana Trench and the other two will journey on to Australia, with hopes to complete their swim by the end of 2012(or early 2013)The previous record for a swim by an unmanned device was 2500 nautical miles.

A sign of the times that more and more people are reading e-books. Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc., which has published their encyclopedias for more than 200 years, has announced that they will cease publishing their print editions, focusing on their digital versions of their encyclopedia, instead.

2/28/12:Iditarod Update:Completing the approximately 1,000 mile race in 9 days, 4 hours, 29 minutes and 26 seconds, Dallas Seavey, 25, became the youngest musher to ever win the Iditarod Sled Dog race in it's 40 year history. Second place Aliy Zirkle, came in a little over an hour later.

A Virginia girl named Lori Anne Madison has qualified for the famed Scripps National Spelling Bee. At only 6 years old, Lori, is the youngest to ever qualify for the spelling tournament. She beat 21 other elementary and middle school students in her regional competition by correctly spelling the Spanish word for cowboy,"vaquero". The Scripps National Spelling Bee competition has been held since 1925. This year's event is scheduled for May 29-June 1 in Washington, DC. Lori will be one of 277 participants from the United States, U.S. territories and several other countries trying to become this year's spelling bee champion.

Ratatouille loves shredding snow with his snowboard. And, like many, has his very own ski pass(with photo ID) for Liberty Mountain Ski Resort in Carroll Valley,Pennsylvania. What makes Ratatouille unique is that he's an oppossum! The marsupial wears a bright yellow and green sweater as he shows of his snowboarding form and uses his tail to help make balance and make his turns.See Ratatouille in action at this link:

Lehigh Valley Live

Photograph from News.com.au

James Cameron, most famous for directing the movies Avatar and Titanic, hopes to become the first person to descend to the bottom of Challenger Deep, the deepest section of the Mariana Trench.The trench is the deepest on Earth.This week, he did a test dive in the Deepsea Challenger,and reached 5.1 miles down, a record for a solo dive in a submersible. In the coming week, Cameron hopes to reach the record depth of 6.8 miles(Mt. Everest could be submerged in the trench). Back in 1960, Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh became the first humans to reach this depth in a bathyscathe called the Trieste.

In its 40th year, the famous trail sled dog race, the Iditarod, began on Sunday, March 4th. Sixty-six mushers are in the 2012 race also called the "Last great race on Earth". The race involves a distance of 976 miles from Willow, Alaska(after a ceremonial start in Anchorage) to Nome. and takes about 11-16 days.This year's race will be additionally challenging due to the record snowfall.

A new section of the Great Wall of China has been unearthed in the country of Mongolia. An expedition discovered the 62 mile long section last August with a lead from Google Earth. It is thought to be the first section of the Great Wall to stand outside of the country of China. Made of mostly dirt and shrubs, the wall which stands mostly shin high, is thought to dates back to the 11th or 12th centuries.

2/20/12:Planting a seed and watching it grow isn't newsworthy until you learn that the seed that grew into a plant,dates back 30,000 years. Found frozen under 125 feet of permafrost in Siberia, Russia, scientists think that the seeds were collected and stashed away by a squirrel.The seeds were of a plant species, Silene stenophylla,and the blossomed plant which grew is thought to be the oldest plant material ever brought back to life. The previously record was a 2000 year old date palm.

A detailed sketch of a sailboat on faded paper is making news. Could it be the work of a ten year old George Washington? If the 270 drawing is actually the work of our first President, it would be very valuable. Dated and signed by "Geo Washington", tests have determined that the paper and ink used dates back to the his time period. Signatures of George Washington have similarities with those of the person that signed the postcard sized sketch of a two-masted sailboat.However,George Washington had other cousins named George Washington and George wasn't known to have ever signed his documents using "Geo". Little is known about the childhood of the "father of our country" and if the sketch was done by George Washington, the founder of our country, it would be the earliest such document. Read more at this link:

History Channel

How can humans learn more about Stellar Sea Lions and maybe figure out why so many of the sea lions are dying out? Canadian Marine biologists at the Vancouver Aquarium are asking the seals for help in their research. With lots of patience and training time, four sea lions have been trained to understand hand and voice commands, thought to be the first time this has been accomplished. The seals, including one named Hazy, are starting some very cool research. Wearing tracking devices and cameras, the four seals are diving in the deep waters of the Pacific to share how they search for food. Sensors record the energy required to hunt and catch their food and the cameras show the sea lions in action.The research will hopefully give scientists information on how to protect the future of the Stellar Sea Lion. Learn more about the Steller Sea Lion:

National Geographic

2/15/12:If you really like eye watering hot peppers, then the scorching hot Trinidad Moruga Scorpion pepper is for you. The golf-ball sized pepper is being called the hottest pepper on the planet.According to the New Mexico State University's Chile Pepper Institute Chile,the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion pepper tips the Scoville heat scale, a measure of fire-hotness, at 1.2 million units.The previous Guinness World Record hot pepper is the Bhut Jolokia. At first bite,the pepper doesn't seem fire-alarm hot but it builds and builds,causing the body to sweat, face to turn red,eyes to tear and the nose to run.The sensation of heat as it travels down the throat lasts for over ten minutes. Capsaicin is the ingredient that causes the hotness in peppers such as the newest record holding hottest pepper,the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion!

2/10/12:A teeny tiny lizard has been found on the island of Madagascar. The new species of chameleon may be the world's smallest. A baby can stand on the head of a match. The Brookesia micra,which grows to about 1 inch in length, lives under leaves on the forest floor during the day and takes its night snooze in low branches.

Picture from BBC News.

Love roller coasters? If, so, the design for a proposed zero-gravity coaster, may be the ultimate thrill ride. A southern California company has taken the idea of the Vomit Comet, the KC-135 astronaut training simulator, and hopes to create the first-ever roller coaster where riders can experience about 8 seconds of weightlessness! Passengers would be seated inside an enclosed cabin. The riders would travel 100 mph down a straight track that then makes a sudden 90 degree turn straight upwards. Next, the coaster will come to a rapid slowdown and with loose safety restraints ,passengers will come out of their seat, suspended in air. Drains will be in the cabin floor for those that might "lose their lunch". Also each rider will have a ball, gyroscope and a cup filled with water so they can see how each items works under zero gravity.It is hoped that zero-gravity coaster will find a home in a park in the USA by 2013.

Those that know me know I love the color purple. Thus, seeing a purple squirrel in the news certainly caught my attention.The uniquely colored grey squirrel was found wandering around a birdfeeder in Jersey Shore,PA. The owners baited a trap with peanuts and captured the purple squirrel.They have since released it back into the wild. Officials aren't sure what caused the squirrel to become brightly purple(including inside its ears).Unlike birds who can absorb coloring into the feathers, mammals have not been found to do so.One idea is that perhaps the squirrel found itself in a Port-a-John and the disinfectant used in the toilet may have stained his fur purple.

Photograph from CSMonitor

Basejumper Felix Baumgartner is planning an amazing skydive-from the edge of space down to planet Earth. The 23 mile free-fall will also set a record by his breaking the sound barrier,something no human has done without being inside an aircraft.To attempt such a plunge, Baumgartner will wear a special space suit,weighing 28 pounds, one that can protect him from bone-chilling temps of minus -94F. The suit will also have to be strong enough to withstand the speed he will experience and protect him from decompression sickness.His helmet also will provide Baumgartner with oxygen.Working with Red Bull Stratos since 2005, the Australian adventurer is on route to Roswell, New Mexico, where he will soon attempt the skydive. Baumgartner will reach 120,000 ft. inside a pressurized capsule attached to a stratospheric balloon. He will then jump out of the capsule down toward earth,reaching the speed of sound in about 40 seconds. Baumgartner's parachute will be released at about 5000 ft from earth. The entire mission will last 15-20 minutes. Developing a special space suit such as Baumgartner will use may give future astronauts an escape option in an emergency so that they can return safely to earth. See animated video of the jump:

1/30/12:Five year old Champis is doing a hopping great job sheepherding his owners' flock of sheep. What makes Champis unusual is he's not a sheepdog...he's a rabbit.The bunny lives on a farm in northern, Sweden. His owners, Nils-Erik and Greta Vigren, says the beige mix-breed Champis must have learned his skills from watching the sheepdogs. The sheep seem to respect the little rabbit as Champis rounds t...hem up, stops them or herds them to a particular area.The pint sized sheepherder has also become an internet sensation with close to 1 million hits watching Champis in action. Watch the video clip:

Rap music, Rock music, country music,Tree music?If you look at the rings of a tree, you may see how its growth patterns resembles old 78 vinyl records(kids-you might wish to ask your parents what a "record"is). A German artist has created music using tree rings! Bartholomaus Traubeck put very thin slices of tree wood into a special recording device. Shining light onto the tree rings, the recorder translated the patterns of the tree rings into piano sounds.Depending on the age of the tree, different melodies were created.

Ebb and Flow, are two space probes,that have reached the moon. Ebb has just sent back video of something earthlings have never seen-the dark side of the moon! We have never seen the "other" side until now because the moon doesn't rotate. The video reveals lots of rugged terrain and craters made by the impact of asteroids. Some of the craters are really big. Mare Orientale,is the name for a 560 mile wide hole that can be seen on both the near and far side. Another, Drygalski Crater, is 93 mjiles wide and has a star-shaped formation in its center.The video of the "dark side" of the moon covers an area from its North Pole to its South Pole. As part of Nasa's GRAIL project(Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory), a mapping of this side of the moon will be created.Middle school students will be able to study some of these never before seen lunar areas filmed by the probes. Learn more another interesting space program for kids called EarthKam at this link:EarthKam

1/25/12:Scientists have discovered the fossil of a prehistoric super-sized crocodile that once roamed the earth. Discovered in the country of Morocco, "Shieldcroc", is the name being given to a 30ft. long, crocodile that had a huge armour-plated head.In comparison, today's crocs average about 16 ft. in length. Scientists think the creature,that lived 95 million years ago, used its long head to catch fish.

Two teens,Matthew Ho and Asad Muhammad,from Canada successfully sent an unusual astronaut into space.They sent up a plastic Lego Man! Working for several months and on most of their weekends, they developed a plan, purchased their supplies and made a styrofoam capsule. The 17 year old teens stuffed 4 cameras inside, along with a GPS-equipped cellphone and attached their Lego Man.A tiny parachute was also attached to the capsule. Checking weather forecasts for the best launch date,the teens set off to see if their capsule could go into orbit. It did! The teens captured the entire journey of Lego Man soaring to heights of 80,000 feet(twice the height of most commercial airplanes)tethered to a weather balloon. The odyssey lasted 97 minutes before the weather balloon burst. The GPS enabled the teens, to locate their Lego Man still intact, about 70 miles from where it had launched. Lego Man,holding the Canadian flag, had made it into orbit and returned safely back to earth.

Boston Globe

You may have folded up a lawn chair but a car?An electric two-seater has been designed by Boston's MIT-Media lab,that does just that. Without any doors, and a motor located in the wheels, the Hiriko(a Basque word for "urban")will make city parking such a 5 ft. vehicle lots easier. Shown this week, the car, which can go 75 miles without recharging, will be available for purchase in 2013. Note: Spain is an area which is part of the European country of Spain.

Picture from Boton's IT-Media Website

1/20/12:The world's oldest dinosaur nursery has been found in Golden Gate Highlands National Park, South Africa. Each of the dinosaur nests(clutches) had up to 34 eggs, extremely delicate, about the width of a human hair.The complete nests had eggs with embryos still inside. Dating back to 190 million years, there are also baby dino footprints as well as skeletons of some of the mother dinosaurs. Scientists say the dinosaur is a Massospondylus(relative of the sauropods), a long necked plant eating dinosaur. It is thought that there are many more clutches still embedded in the cliffs. See photograph and read more at this link:

Imagine, knowing that your birthday would always fall on the same day each and every year. Would it be helpful if you knew that all holidays would also be celebrated on the same day? Our current calendar, called the Gregorian calendar, has been used for 450 years. Two professors at John Hopkins University think we need a new calendar. Their calendar would eliminate all leap years, which are added ever 4 years to keep our 365.2422 day year from getting our calendar out of sorts. With the Hanke-Henry Permanent Calendar, named for the two professors who have developed it, there wold be two 30 day months followed by one 31 day month. Every five or six years, there would be an "extra week" at the end of December.The professors also would like to see an additional change, Universal Time. They suggest all the world should be on the same time, Greenwich MeanTime, no matter WHERE you live. What do you think of this new calendar? What types of problems would Universal Time create? How might an "extra week" in the year be celebrated?

1/15/12:Love to snowboard? Seems a crow in Russia does, too. Caught on video, a hooded crow found a round plastic jar lid, perched it on a slope of the roof and repeatedly slide down. He didn't fly above the lid, he planted his feet on the lid and off he went, displaying play-like behavior.Scientists say crows are very intelligent and have great memories. On one run, the crow realized that he just didn't get any slide on a patch of roof without snow so it moved in search of better sliding conditions. Catch a look at the crow in action at this link:

A golden colored scarf and cape might not seem newsworthy, until you learn that they took seven years and...one million spiders, from Madagascar, to create! Unlike most silk fabric, made from the silk cocoons of worms, this scarf and cape were spun from the silk of the female Golden Orb weaver spiders. See photographs at this link:

Peter Treadway has a "wheelie" cool idea-motorized shoes.Treadway showed off his SpnKix at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. His SpnKix are strapped onto your shoes. There is a small motor on the inside of the SpnKix, and a rechargeable lithium battery. A large red reflector is on the outside of the shoe for safe night "walking". The motorized shoes have a hand operated remote control for speed control. The motorized shows will help you get to your destination lots faster...as long as you are going only about 2-3 miles,the life of the battery before it needs recharging. At speeds of up to 10 miles per hour, the SpnKix will sell for around $650 when they go on sale in a couple of weeks.

Three orangutans at the Milwaukee County Zoo have been using donated IPads for a couple of months. Their keepers hold the IPads,since the lifespan of the IPads with orangutans holding them might not be very long. The hairy orange primates have been watching video,playing video games and using other apps such as creating music.An organization called Orangutan Outreach,now plans to use IPads to introduce a kind of on-line penpal program for orangutans. Using Skype,the orangutans will be able to watch one another at different zoos around the country. Since orangutans love to see themselves on videos, it is thought that they will go "ape" over the idea of video-chatting via Skype.

1/4/2012: By summiting Antarctica's Mount Vinson Massif, over New Year's Weekend, 15 year old Jordan Romero, became the youngest person to climb the Seven Summits-the highest mountains on each continent. At the age of 13, Jordan, his dad and stepmom reached the world's tallest mountain summit, Mount Everest. The previous record for the youngest to summit the Seven Summits was George Atkinson, 16, of Great Britain.He completed his ascents last May. Learn more about Jordan's climbing journey at his website:

Do you like riding a bike? Seems that Helen Skelton does as well. The 28 year old, from Great Britain,left today, January 4th 2012, biking...to the South Pole!Skelton will use a specially built bike, the Hanebrink "ice bike" for her 500 mile trek,called the Polar Challenge. The bike weigh 40 lbs(compared to most mountain bikes that weigh about 30 lbs) and has fat, tubeless tires.The back wheel is set back slightly further than a usual bike,giving it a lower center of gravity. This will make the bike more stable and better climbing ability.Designed like a golf cart, Skelton's bike will be "green", leaving little damage to the surface that she travels.For parts of the trek, Skelton will also walk and snowkite, hoping to succeed in her quest within 20 days. Skelton hopes to travel 14 hours a day, battling frigid air temps(-13F to -58F) and wind speeds that can reach up to 125 mph, for charity. She will endure blinding snow,snow blindness and,possible altitude sickness.Additionally, the route is uphill all the way and will reach altitudes of 9840 Ft.! A sledge carrying her supplies and equipment will be dragged behind as she hopes to become the first person to ever bike to the South Pole and setting a record for the longest bicycle ride on snow. Skelton, who works for BBC's Blue Peter, a children's program in Great Britain, is also first person to solo the length of the Amazon in a kayak.

Moving time? That's what the island nation of Samoa is doing on December 29th. They will skip a day ahead to December 31st. The time traveling is being done to align their calendar date with trading partners such as Australia and New Zealand who currently are on the other side of the international dateline. By doing the time change, the island of Samoa will become one of the first to see the morning sunrise instead of being the last place on earth to see the sunset. Another area, Tokelau, will also make the change.Learn about the International Dateline:

Can you name the most annoying word? For the third straight year,the winning irritating word is..."whatever". A poll conducted by Marist College Institute for Public Opinion said that 4/10 people responded that "whatever" is the most annoying word to hear in a conversation. Close runners up for disliked words included "you know" and "like".Can you think of other words used in conservation that you dislike hearing

12/24/2011:A Spanish town is very,very blue...not sad,but actually blue!The villagers agreed to have their entire community of white-washed buildings, painted blue for filming of "The Smurfs 3D" movie. Now, six months later,with the movie filming complete, the residents have voted to keep their vividly painted blue town. The reason is an increase in tourism. People are flocking to the town of Juzcar, to see the Smurf blue town where even the gravestones and the village church are painted blue. All together, approximately 1056 gallons of the Smurf Blue were used.Seems being blue can really make people... happy!

Photograph from Daily Mail

12/19/11:Early Sunday morning, December 19th, a convoy of military vehicles carried the last US soldiers out of the country of Iraq,ending a nine year war. The remaining soldiers crossed the border of Iraq into the country of Kuwait bringing to an end a very costly war-nearly 4500 U.S.soldiers killed and,tens of thousands more U.S. soldiers permanently maimed.

Alexander Graham Bell, famed for his invention of the telephone,is in the news.Recordings he made back in the 1880s have again been played at the Library of Congress, our nation's library, located in Washington, DC, for the first time in 130 years. Made on discs and cylinders, six of his fragile recordings were brought to life thanks to advances in technology that enabled the sound to be recovered from tiny grooves with light and a 3D camera.Some of the recordings included the reciting of Shakespeare's verse, "To be, or not to be", counting 1-2-3 and a trill of the tongue. For more than 100 years, the recordings have been housed at the Smithsonian Institution... thought to be forever silent. It is hoped that retrieving these early sounds of communication will help shed more light on the history of communication. You might wish to have your students read the folllowing story on Alexander Graham Bell:

Have you ever done jumping jacks?First Lady Michelle Obama helped organize a record setting jumping jack effort. To promote physical fitness and healthy eating habits, she asked children from around the world to participate in a world record attempt at jumping jacks. On October 11th, the first lady,along with 464 children in elementary and middle schools in the Washington, DC, area, as well as thousands of other kids , from around the world,joined in the activity of doing jumping jacks during a 24 hour hour period of time. Guinness Book of World Records said that a total of 300,265 kids participated, crushing the previous jumping jack record of 20,000! Mrs. Obama's program to promote healthy eating and physical fitness among young people is called," Let's Move!"

Photograph from CNN

Sixteen year old Amelia Hempleman-Adams,of Great Britain, went out on a ski trek and ended up in the record books. She has become the youngest to ski to the bottom of the South Pole. Along with her dad,Amelia completed the two-week, 97 mile adventure,unofficially breaking the record of Canadian Sarah Ann McNair-Landry, who at the age of 18, completed the journey, back in 2005. Along with some homework, Amelia brought along a photograph of British explorer,Ernest Shackleton,whose expedition tried to reached the bottom of the South Pole in 1907.Amelia hopes to have Guinness World Records verify her achievement in the coming weeks.

Picture from Ameliahempleman.com

12/2/11:Name the world's largest coral reef. Did you answer with the 1250 mile long Great Barrier Reef of Australia? Scientists are concerned with the rising water temperatures of the Pacific Ocean,that many diverse coral species that make of the Great Barrier Reef may be lost. To protect the species, scientists collected 8 billion coral cells and have frozen them in a "bank" at the Taronga Western Plains Zoo, in Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia. It is hoped that these cells, being kept at temperatures of -196 C,will never have to be "withdrawn" from the bank. However, if needed,these frozen coral cells can be thawed out and reintroduced to help preserve the reefs for future generations to enjoy.Learn about the Great Barrier Reef at this link:

Unesco

Yves Rossy, also known as Jetman, has done it again. The man who has flown across the Grand Canyon, the English Channel, and over the Swiss Alps...without a plane,has completed another amazing feat! Wearing a specially made jetsuit, with wingspan of about 6.5 ft. for balance,and strapping on small jet engines,Rossy recently flew in formation with two regularly sized jets, at speeds of 125 mph and more!Flying like a bird,using only his body to maneuver,Jetman Rossy was able to stay in formation with the jets for eight minutes before parachuting to the ground, when his fuel ran low.

A very rare baby albino dolphin was recently found by Brazilian biologists.The calf, white with pinkish fin, was spotted swimming with its mom, is a member of the pontoporia blainvillei species,(more commonly called Toninha, La Plata or Franciscana dolphins). This species of dolphins don't usually jump out of the water making for the spotting of an albino in their group, extremely unusual to find. The dolphin species is found off the southern coast of South America.Lack of melanin pigment is the cause of albinism causing very white skin color and hair.

A space probe, as large as a car has blasted off to Mars. The biggest and most equipped probe is 10 ft. long, 9 ft. wide and 7 ft. tall and is actually a nuclear-powered and mobile laboratory. Nasa is calling the probe, "the monster truck of Mars", and should arrive next summer(August 6,2012) on the red planet, after traveling the 8 1/2, 354 million mile trip. It will be lowered to the planet's surface with a jet powered crane and tethers.Called Curiosity, the one-ton probe has one arm and six wheels, has a jackhammer drill as well as a laser machine that will be able to zap through rock, in its search for microscopic life forms.

Has proof of aliens visiting earth been found in Peru? A mummified body found in the city of Andahuaylillas, Peru, is very unusual. It has a very elongated skull. In fact, the skull is almost the length of the entire body! And, the skull has very large eye sockets. Some scientists think it may be the remains of an alien! The teeth in the mummified body have two very large molars, yet there is a soft spot in the skull which would suggest it could be the body of a child. Others say the body is that of a child...from planet earth. Some cultures, such as the ancient Mayans,encouraged large heads by stretching the head of newborns for about six month. Scientist plan to test a sample of DNA found in the eye socket to determine if the mummified remains are human or ...out of this world. See a photograph at this site.

DogoNews

In the Atacama Desert near Opiapo, Chile, a "whale" of a discovery has been made. Fossils of at least 83 whales, about the size of buses(25 ft long),have been discovered. The whales fossils are estimated to be 7 million years old and are mostly baleen whales. The discovery was made as a highway expansion project was about to pave over the area. The highway construction is on hold so paleontologists can study the fossils. It is thought that the whales, traveling near the Pacific Ocean, may have beached themselves in the area and then became trapped.The whale fossils, many of which are completely preserved, include a family of a mom dad and baby whale. Scientists say there are an estimated 120 additional whale fossils as well as other marine mammals in what is being called one of the world's best-preserved sites of prehistoric whales.

11/25/11:Canada has recently introduced new currency...made of plastic! The bills, currently in $100 denominations,cost about twice that of paper money, but are more long-lasting and,have security features that will hopefully prevent counterfeiting. Next year, a $50 plastic bill will be introduced and by 2013, other plastic bills in $20,$10 and $5 denominations will be in circulation.

Sadly, scientists of the International Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN),have announced that wild black rhinos can no longer be found in West Africa. It is now extinct...no more walk the planet. Also, the last Javan rhino is gone. And, the white rhino of central Africa is very close to extinction. Did you know that 1 out of 4 mammals are at risk of also becoming extinct? Loss of habitat and poaching are the main causes. Learn more about the rhino at this webquest.Rhino Webquet

11/18/11:Garrett McNamara has surfed into the record books this week(November 8th) by hanging ten on what is being called the "largest wave ever surfed".The monster sized wave was 90 ft. tall! The previous record was a 77 ft. wave. Mcnamara, raised in Hawaii, caught a ride on this mountainous wave in Praia do Norte,Nazara, Portugal. McNamara used a tow-in to get into the area of Nazare Canyon, known for its giant waves. Such extreme waves are caused by ideal wind patterns over one the deepest water canyons in the world.The record took place during the ZON North Canyon Show 2011. On a mission to explore the biggest waves in the world, McNamara is also working on a three year project with the Portuguese government to study the wave phenomenon of Nazare Canyon.

Picture:Garrett McNamara's Website

Astronauts who one day travel to Mars, will have a very long journey. It will take 18 months for such a round trip to Mars and back to Earth. To test extended space travel on humans, six men participated in an experiment, a "pretend" trip to Mars and back. After 520 days,the men, part of Mars500 Project, have just returned home. The men, who left in June,2010, spent their time in five small containers(with no windows), simulating a space vehicle, at a facility in Russia. At the half way point, several of the men entered one of the containers made to look like Mars and "walked" the red planet Afterwards, the men returned to their "space ship" and began the trip back to earth. The six men will undergo medical tests to review how their bodies copied with such long confinement.

10/31/11:October 31st is not only Halloween but marks our planet reaching 7 billion people! If you lined up all the people in the world, they would reach a distance of eight times to the moon and back! China is the most populated country in the world but scientists that study population say that India will be the most populated country in the world by 2030.

10/28/11:Imagine all the people walking along a busy street on any given day. What if all those footsteps could be harnessed to generate energy?A company, PaveGen, has developed a tile that can do just that.Made from recycled rubber and fit into existing flooring, the tiles harvest kinectic energy from the impact of a person stepping on the tiles. Each burst of electricity can generate enough energy to power a LED-powered street lamp for 30 seconds. The generated footstep power can are stored up to three days in a battery.And, as people walk over the energy producing tiles, a light glows in the tile showing the person that they helped produce 2.1 watts of electricity per hour.A recent test of the Pavegen tiles, got over 250,000 footsteps and created enough power to charge 10,000 cell phones! With the 2012 Olympics to be held in London, Great Britain, there are already plans to set up the Pavegen tiles on a nearby sidewalk. It is estimated that people's footsteps will generate enough energy to supply half the outdoor lighting for a nearby shopping center.

Photograph from PaveGen.com

It's coming....5-20 million tons of Japan's tsunami debris is heading toward the USA, specifically the state of Hawaii. Researchers at the University of Hawaii are tracking the massive garbage of appliances, furniture, tires,remains of homes, cars,fishing boats and other trash. Currently,the massive floating trash pile is about 2000 miles from Japan, having passed the Midway Islands. At its current rate of travel, the debris will reach the west coast of Hawaii within the three years.

Picture: U.S. Navy/ Specialist 3rd Class Alexander Tidd

10/18/11:The first fully intact Viking boat has been found on the United Kingdom mainland.Found in the Scottish Highlands, in an areas called Ardnamurchan, the Viking boat contained the remains of a Viking, buried with a decorative sword, axe, spear and shield. Archaeologists say the Viking ship and its occupant(called the Ardnamurchan Viking) date back about 1000 years. Other items found on the boat included a bronze tip(perhaps, a drinking horn), a knife, dozens of pieces of iron, pottery, a ring pin from Ireland and a whetstone from Norway. Although a small boat, about 16 ft long and 5 ft. wide, archaeologists say the Viking's artifacts suggest that he traveled the stormy waters around Scotland, Ireland and Scandinavia.See a photograph of some of the artifacts at this link:

CBBC NewsRound

10/14/11:Seems that even penguins of the Adelie penguin colony, on Ross Island, Antarctica, have to watch out for thieves among them.Each year, the male penguins, about 250,000 of them, build nest out of gathered stone in hopes of having the best nests to attract a female mate.It takes lots of effect for such large numbers of male penguins to search the area for just the best stones.One male Adelie penguin found a much less effortless method of gathering stones. He was caught on tape stealing the stones gathered by another penguin! Several times when a unsuspecting penguin went off in search of another stone to build his nest, the thieving penguin just waddled over to the nearly nest, placed a stone in his beck and waddled back to his nest where he dropped his stolen item.See the thief in action at this clip:

BBC

Jean Beliveau, of Montreal, Canaada, went off for a walk... and just came back 11 years later! Beliveau pushed a three-wheel stroller, with his sleeping bag, some clothes,and a first aid kit, for 4077 days, walking a distance of 46,602 miles(75,000 km)across 64 countries. Back in 2000, Beliveau decided to run to Atlanta, Georgia, and from there, continued the trek of the longest uninterrupted walk around the world. Along the way, Jean, went through 54 pairs of shoes and almost gave up on his walk in Ethiopia, when he reached a point of feeling very alone. Plodding on, Beliveau slept in homeless shelters, under bridges and was befriended by at least 1600 families that gave him a place too sleep and food. He crossed mountains, and deserts, facing a wild puma in the desert of South America. He endured sizzling temperatures and blizzards and ate insects in Africa and snakes in China. Beliveau used the walk to promote non-violence and peace and returned home with what he said was a "wealth of knowledge and understanding".

From: Jean's Facebook page

10/1/11:Wearing milk?Sure, we've all had some dribble onto our clothes but a German designer has created a fabric...made from milk. Called Qmilch, Anke Domaske has created a man-made fabric made from milk protein. All natural, QMilch is made from milk that would have been thrown away. Casein, the milk protein is extracted from dried milk powder. Heated with other natural ingredients, the result is a fiber that can be spun into yarn. The milk fabric feels like silk.It takes about 1 1/2 gallons of milk to make enough fabric for an entire dress. In addition to clothing, the milk fabric is being considered for use for upholstery by several car manufacturers.

Mt. Everest may be the tallest peak on the earth, rising 29,035 ft. in the Himalayan Mountains of Asia, but a much larger mountain has been found on Vesta. Vesta is an asteroid in the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter. A NASA spacecraft, Dawn, has begun photographing the asteroid and has found a mountain in the southern polar region to be three times taller than Mt. Everest(or Chomolungma which means "Mother Goddess of the Earth")!The peak of the Vesta mountain rises 13 miles above the surface of the asteroid. A whopper of a mountain, it still is not as tall as Olympus Mons, found on the planet Mars. Opympus Mons, with a peak of 15 miles above the surface of Mars,is the highest mountain and volcano in our solar system.

9/29/11:One of the most famous landmark in London, England, is sinking. Known as Big Ben for the bell housed in its tower, it is tilting about 1 1/2 feet off center. Big Ben, which stands 3i5 ft. tall,has a long way to go before it looks like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy. Experts say it will take several thousands of years to equal this other famous landmark. And, at this time, there are no plans to do anything at this time to help straighten up Big Ben's lean.

9/25/11:The hairy ape-like creature known as the abominable snowman, or yeti, has been rumored to live in the Himalayan Mountains and Siberia,for many years.A team of American and Russian scientists are going to search for the the existence of the elusive(hard to find)creature, the first such expedition since 1958. Sighting and evidence to date have yet to confirmed the existence of the human like hairy creature. However, in 2008, a very large footprint was discovered in the snow on Mount Dhaulagiri, Nepal. Could this print be from the abominable snowman? Many more sightings have also been reported in the Siberia region of Russia,in the past 20 years. Recently, a woman in Siberia said she came upon a tall creature, covered with long brown-grey hair that wasn't a bear, walking like a human.Scientists think it's time for another search for the legendary creature!

Hawaii,the Aloha State,is the birthplace of surfing and to show this heritage, Hawaii will be come the first state to make surfing an official high school sport.Gov. Neil Abercrombie and education officials made the announcement by the statue of Kananamoku, known as the father of modern surfing. Beginning in 2013, surfing will make a total of 19 different sports offered to students in Hawaii's public school system. Other school sports include football, basketball, bowling, air riflery, swimming and volleyball. Catch a wave and "hang ten"!Learn more about Hawaii at this link:Hawaii

Would a talking garbage bin help people more responsibly dispose of their trash? Seems that it has been working in the country of Sweden, where talking garbage bins have collected more than three times the trash than ordinary cans. Great Britian is placing talking bins around its capital city of London and several other cities in the coming months. The talking bins say "thank you for the rubbish" for properly disposed of trash or may break out in song. Some talking bins even make applause sounds and... burp! It is hoped that such garbage bins will encourage people to not litter when it comes to their trash.

9/10/11:If you like biking and you like sailing, then the whike is for you. An 18 year old teen in Great Britain has invented a windsurfing tricycle that can be ridden on the road. A Dutch company will be manufacturing the whike created by Ned Aufenast. Aufenast got the idea when while cycling,the wind halting his progress.He said he thought it would be fun to use wind power to sail on the road. His unusual bike, made from scrap parts, makes this possible. The whike,has 18 gears and a rear and front hand brake, lights,reflectors and a 5 sq. ft. sail! As you pedal the whike, the wind makes you go faster.It can reach speeds of up to about 36 mph. Whike riders can ride the roads of Great Britain but not the highways.And, although it helps if you have some sailing knowledge, Aufenast says it is fairly easy to pick up the skills needed to whike.

Photograph from Whike.Com

9/6/2011:Scientists have unearthed what is believed to be the oldest woolly rhino fossil ever found.The animal called Coelodonta thibetana,lived about 3.6 million years ago and was discovered in the foothills of the Himalayas,in Tibet. Dating more than one million years older than previously discovered wooly rhinos, the rhino's complete skull and lower jaw are preserved,although just a bit crushed. The species is thought to have been extremely covered in long hair and used its long forward leaning horn as a snow remover in its search for food in the snowy Himalayan Mountains. Read more at this link:

Discovery News

If you've ever seen pictures of the Netherlands it's pretty flat. In fact, the highest point, Vaalserberg,is only about 1000 ft. high.That may be changing with an idea to build a mountain in the country and not just a hill, but what would be the world's highest man-made building, proudly standing about 3200-6500 ft. tall. At first, the idea was kind of a joke, but now people are adding to the chorus that creating a mountain in the country would be a great idea. It would provide skiing, cycling, bobsledding tracks, hiking trails and more.And, with all the sand and soil from the sea,they have the materials in which to bring a mountain to the Netherlands.

A living and breathing watergun...that's what has brought fame to a octopus at the Weymouth Sea Life Park, in Great Britain. The octopus liked to get its handle on its surroundings and taught itself to lift part of its body above its tank so it could check out what was going on. An octopus takes in water to absorb its oxygen and releases the water through tubes near its beak.While surfaced, he released water and strayed a passer! Derek Scales, curator at the park, says its become common for the octopus to regularly drench anyone that wanders passed his tank.Maybe, that's why the octopus has been giving the name...Squirt!

Researchers at the University of Leeds,in Great Britain, have developed a treatment for cavities that is drill free and...regenerates your tooth to "pre" cavity levels. A mixture of amino acids(called P 11-4) is applied to the decayed area. This mixture flows into the decayed areas of the tooth creating a protective gel. Then, and this is really cool, the gel attracts calcium to repair the area. And, the procedure is pain-free-no drilling needed! Dentists won't be putting down their drills just yet, but it is hoped that within 3 years,they just might be offering this new technology to those whose pearly whites need some TLC.

8/27/2011:

8/25/2011:Twelve year old Beau is very good in math. Might not seem that newsworthy until you learn that Beau is a dog. Beau's owner, David Madsen, has taught the black labrador retriever to add and subtract. Skeptics say that Madsen gives Beau signal when he is asked questions such as "If there are six dogs in the park and three dogs leave, how many are left?"However, when Madsen is not in the room, and someone else asks questions of Beau, or places numbers on a piece of paper, Beau can still manage the correct response in proper numbers of woofs, with an accuracy of 85%.Madsen, has also taught Beau to count in Spanish. The pooch's math skills were learned using dog biscuits as a reward. And, today, if Beau doesn't see his biscuit rewards, he will quickly lose interest in math. The canine calculator lives in Montana.

Applying a satellite radio-tag to a 1 ton walrus? That's exactly what villagers and scientists in Point Lay, Alaska, are doing for a USGS study. It is hoped that 40 walruses will be tagged to study how they are responding to less sea ice,in the Pacific Ocean,which has been shrinking the last few years. With less ice, the walrus are moving toward more shallow areas where they can search for food. Wearing the radio-tags will hopefully give scientists information on their eating patterns as they move throughout the Chukchi and Bering seas. Cool fact about walrus: The Latin name for walrus, Odobenus rosmarus means "tooth-walking sea-horse".

Update: Happy Feet, the nickname given to the Emperor penguin that found itself on the shores of New Zealand, is going home. A scientific research vessel will give it a ride back to the waters near Campbell Island, next week. Happy Feet received lots of TLC after it became ill from munching on sand and sticks. Plenty of fish milkshakes to help it regain its weight and nutrients were fed to Happy Feet, who will also be given a satellite tracking device so that New Zealanders can keep track of his status.

8/5/2011:A space probe, Juno, has rocketed off toward Jupiter(today 8/5/2011). Aboard the first solar-powered space craft-three tiny Lego passengers. Made of aluminum, instead of the classic yellow plastic, the Lego trio will have a trip of a lifetime, traveling in the outer solar system before coming back toward Jupiter.The figures include one of Jupiter(the ancient Roman chief god),Juno(Jupiter's wife) and Galileo,(famed scientist who discovered the planet's four main moons).The space mission to Jupiter will take until 2016, where the craft(with the three mini Lego figurines) will orbit Jupiter for a year. Sadly, the lego figures, aboard the craft, will give their lives for science, when the space craft crashes onto the planet's surface, on completion of the mission.Why Legos on the mission to Jupiter? NASA and LEGO hope to spark an interest in children about science. Follow the Lego figurines' journey at this link:

Lego Space

7/30?30:Do you like doing crossword puzzles? David Steinberg,14,does and he's now creating his very own. David just had one of his crossword puzzles published in the New York Times,becoming the third youngest to ever accomplish this feat,in the history of the paper. The newspaper, famous for its crosswords, has also purchased 3 additional crossword puzzles that David has created. David says in addition to crossword puzzles, he used to enjoy playing Scrabble quite a bit but his parents say they can't play with him any longer-David always wins. The New York Times starts easy on Mondays with each day the puzzles getting a bit harder. Sunday is the hardest puzzle of the week. The paper pays $200 for each published puzzle with $1000 for their Sunday edition. David says creating a puzzler for the Sunday edition is his ultimate goal!

Look up in the sky...it's a bird, it's a plane-it's an amazing amount of bats! Scientists say there are so many bats flying around Austin, Texas, during the daytime that they can been spotted on weather radar! What's the cause for the estimated one and a half million of these normally bats to be swarming around in the sky when they are usually nocturnal? Scientists say the "batty" behavior is due to the extreme drought that it currently happening in this part of the country. Dried out crops and less bugs to munch is causing them to come out earlier to find a bite to eat! Here's some trivia-Texas has the largest bat colony in the world, with a whopping 20 million calling home in a cave northwest of San Antonio! But there are even more if you count ALL the winged creatures living in the state of Texas-about 100 million bats!

<

7/25/11:At 4700 ,Egypt's oldest pyramid, Djoser, was damaged by an earthquake back in 1992,making it too dangerous for scientists to go inside to repair it.Fearing the famous step-pyramid could collapse,experts from Great Britain came up with the idea of deploying giant airbags to prop up the ceiling of the pyramid!

< p>7/20/11:Carissa Moore, 18, became the youngest-ever world surfing champion(female or male). Moore is also the first woman surfer from Hawaii to win a woman's title in 30 years. Carissa has long had the goal of winning this championship, having been surfing since she was a little girl. In fact, the goal of becoming Number 1 was listed on her back door, hoping to one day cross this goal off her list...guess she will be doing this next week!

Photograph from Red Bull Website

Elephants and farmers, especially in Kenya, have not had a friendly relationship because the elephants trample their crops.A new idea may be a win-win for both. Farmers are setting up bee hive fences because the elephants are real scaredy cats when around the buzzing insects! Such barriers are working to keep the elephants from the farmers' fields and, provide an additional benefit for the farmers-honey.

The dwindling world population of snow leopards has gotten a boost. Researchers using hidden cameras have discovered a previously unknown population of snow leopards in the mountains of northeast Afghanistan. Thirty of the big cats were found in the remote area. It is estimated that between 4500-7500 snow leopards remain in the wild. Learn more about the snow leopard and see photographs at this link:

San Diego Zoo

7/15/11:The Transition is a most unusual car. Not only will you be able to travel down the highways, you can soar into the sky with this hybrid vehicle. Made by the Massachusetts Terrafugia company,The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration has given the green light for the Transition to "take off". That's provided you have a driver's license AND a sport pilot license, if you wish to go up, up and away. Aside from the wings in an upright position, the Transition has heavier rubber tires for take-offs and landings and it's windows are made with shatterproof clear plastic, lighter and less dangerous with possible bird collisions. And, if you think you can just fly above the traffic and land at your favorite location, the NHTSA says the Transition will only be allowed to take off and land at airports. If you'd like one of these Jetson type flying cars, they are expected to be on the market by 2012. The highflying price tag will set you back about $250,000!

If you could wear your favorite video on your shirt, would you want to do it? Inventor David Forbes has developed the world's first video coat, that allows a video to be displayed on clothing. What's more, the specially made fabric allows the video to be show on the front and back.Wearing the LED television involves using a 12v battery plugged into an IPod or DVD and a circuit board placed on the hips and shoulders. A switch allows you to adjust the color. Move over Joseph's Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat -will people in the not so distant future be walking around wearing their favorite video?

Another country has joined the world map as of 12:01 AM, July 9th.Breaking away from the Sudan, after years of civil war, the capital of this new country is Juba. The president of South Sudan is Salva Kiir. With the addition of South Sudan, there are at least 196 countries on the planet. There are 192 countries which belong to the United Nations with Vatican City and Kosovo not included in this count.The actual number can also be 197 as Taiwan is not always included as an independent nation.

7/11/11:Another country has joined the world map as of 12:01 AM, July 9th.Breaking away from the Sudan, after years of civil war, the capital of this new country is Juba. The president of South Sudan is Salva Kiir. With the addition of South Sudan, there are at least 196 countries on the planet. There are 192 countries which belong to the United Nations with Vatican City and Kosovo not included in this count.The actual number can also be 197 as Taiwan is not always included as an independent nation.

Begun in 1981, NASA will end its space shuttle missions in a final lift off today, weather permitting, from the Kennedy Space Center, in Florida. The Atlantis, will made it's final journey, the 135th space shuttle mission, to the International Space Station. The four astronauts, aboard the Atlantis will take supplies to the International Space Station,for its final 12 day mission. The very first space shuttle mission, in 1981, was the Columbia. Since then, the fleet of space shuttles carried 355 astronauts, performing scientific experiments, worked on satellites, built the International Space Station and traveled about 1/2 a billion miles in space. On a personal note, I grew up with the start of the space race and was in awe when the first space shuttle LANDED on an runway after years of space capsules landing in water-it was an amazing thing to witness!

6/15/11:Ever see an Australian wombat? Australian paleontologists have found a whopper of one-the size of a SUV vehicle! Not an actual living a breathing one today, but one that lived about 50,000-2 million years ago. Called a diprotodon, the giant wombat, as it's being described ,tipped the scales at about 3 tons and stretched out about 14 ft. in length.What is most exciting to paleontologists is the discovery is the first complete skeleton of such an ancient marsupial(has a pouch used to carry their young). Scientists say may it be the largest marsupial ever to walk the planet. Learn about the wombat at this link:

National Geographic

Imagine a world where printers don't just use ink but...chocolate. That's just the type of printer recently developed at the University of Exeter, Great Britain. Using the printer, 3D delicious designs of chocolate can be created. It works somewhat like a regular printer, starting with a flat image. As one layer of chocolate print hardens, the printer resumes and prints another, until the image is complete. People will be able to design their very own chocolate to feast their eyes upon before plopping the delightful treat into their mouths. Restaurants and food preparation industries have already expressed interest in such a chocolate printer. Most likely the average family won't have a need for their very own chocolate printer, but...who knows?

With more than 5000 pillars and 450,000 tons of steel, the world's longest bridge over water, has opened in China. Called the Jiaozhou Bay Bridge, it spans 26.4 miles and joins the city of Qingdao to Huangdao island. It is estimated that 30,000 cars will use the newly opened bridge each day. The previous record holding longest bridge over water,is located in the state of Louisiana, Lake Pontchartrain Causeway bridge. The Jiaozhou Bay Bridge is 2.5 miles longer. The world's longest bridge, however, is the Danyang-Kunshan Griand Bridge, also in China. It is 102 miles long and stretches over land on the Shanghai-Beijing railroad route.

Photograph fromNPR

The city of Juzcar, in Spain,recently hosted the world premiere of movie,The Smurfs. To celebrate the opening, the residence agreed for painters to come in and paint the entire town....blue. About 1000 gallons of paint were necessary to get the job done. The town's will be repainted white in the coming weeks.

From: CNN

A sheepdog in Great Britain has a "baaaad" case of ovinophobia(fear of sheep).Seems that Ci is more than a bit sheepish when around the 100 sheep on his family farm.The boarder collie is fine, chasing his charges, from behind. However, when the sheep turn to face him, Ci turns tail and runs for the hills! His owners says that the fear started when Ci was a puppy and first placed in a field with the sheep. Caught on tape and uploaded to You Tube, four-year old Ci has been dubbed the "Worst Sheepdog in all of Great Britain". Then, too,faced with 100 four-footed balls of wool stamping their feet and charging, might make most humans have a bad case of the "woolies", too."

6/16/11:Scientists have found the oldest piece of art in the Americas. It's an engraving of a walking mammoth carved... into a mammoth bone. Found near Vero Beach,Florida, the artwork dates back to at least 13,000 years ago when paleontologists say the mammoths disappeared from the east coast of the United States. The engraving on the mammoth bone was discovered when the bone was being cleaned. Old for this part of the world, decorative pieces of art dating back to 120,000 years have been discovered in the Middle East and Africa with paintings found dating back more than 300,000 years old.See a photograph and read more at this link:

National Geographic

6/10/11:The world's record holder for the highest-flying bird goes to the Bar-headed goose. During it's high-altitude migration from their winter home in India to Central Asia's breeding ground,the Bar-headed goose travel over the highest mountains in the world, the Himalayans to heights of over 21,000 ft. Nicknamed the "rooftop of the world", the Bar-headed goose make the trek over the mountains, into heights where the air is so thin, even helicopters have trouble flying.AND, the high soarers don't wait for tailwinds to assist in their long journey, preferring to fly in early morning when there are less winds!

What's sky blue and the size of a football field? The world's large t-shirt. Unveiled in Nashville, Tennessee, in Centennial Park, at the Country Music Festival,the t-shirt it is about the size of a football field. Measuring 180 ft. wide and 281 ft.long and weighing about 4,400 pounds,the t- shirt was made by the Gildan Activewear, Inc. and took about 6 weeks to put together. 100 volunteers were needed to unfold the shirt. After measuring the t-shirt from armpit to armpit and from shoulder to hem,Guinness World Records officially verified it's world record status. The world's largest t-shirt will be recycled into 12,000 t-shirts, to support the charity, "Keep the Music Playing", an organization to keep music education in Nashville Public School.

Photograph from http://www.newschannel5.com/

Called the Ashdown maniraptoran, the newly discovered dinosaur could be the world's smallest. Recently discovered in the United Kingdom, the new species of carnivorous non-avian dinosaur may have weighed a scant 7 ounces and lived during the Lower Cretaceous period(about 145 million to 100 million years ago). Paleontologists think the little dinosaur had a long neck, short tail with long skinny hind legs and feathers.

6/16/11:The Harlem Globetrotters,famous for their amazing basketball performances, have announced six players for their 2011 draft class. One is Jordan McCabe. What makes Jordan so unique, is that he is only 12 years old. The middleschooler , from the Seattle, Washington area, has amazing basketball abilities(like being able to dribble two basketballs at the same time). Of, course, Jordan can't actually join the team just yet. He has to finish school high school and college but the Globetrotters's selection states they have the right to sign him at a future date. Pretty cool!

Trivia question. Where can you find penguins in the wild? The answer is usually Antarctica...until now. Seems a wayward Emperor penguin swam thousands of miles and ended up on the beaches of New Zealand. The marathon distance swimmer was spotted by a woman walking her dog,along Peka Peka, on New Zealand's North island. The lone Emperor penguin, of the tallest and largest of all penguin species, is thought to have taken a wrong turn while searching for food, finding itself over 2000 miles from home. See a clip of the penguin at this link:

CBS News

Called the Centennial Bulb, the little bulb is about to celebrate a milestone. It's been shedding light in a firehouse in Livermore, CA, for 110 years and counting. Yes, 110 years! It was installed back in 1901.The lightbulb holds the record for being the oldest known working lightbulb by Guinness Book of World Records Take a peek at the world's famous lightbult at the BulbCam:

BulbCam

What can you do with 1.6 million pounds of sand and water? Ed Jarrett built the world's tallest sand castle. Taking 2000 hours and 1500 volunteers, Jarrett's sand castle stands 37 ft. 10 inches tall. Built at Winding Tails Recreation Area in Farmington, CT, Jarrett's medieval castle includes a two-headed fire-breathing dragon and has no frame underneath the sand making, just like the castles you might build at the beach(just a lot bigger). This castle was built with "sharp" sand,fresh out of the ground, with more "sticking" ability than beach sand, having been smoothed by waves over the years. Guinness World Records officially certified Jarrett's castle as the world's tallest on June 8. Rain makes the sand wet but the biggest fear during construction is thunder as the vibrations can cause the sand to collapse. Originally, 38 ft. 75 inches, a blue bird decided to perch atop the castle's spire, taking a bit off the height! The previous record holder ,six ft. shorter, was also constructed by Ed Jarrett ,back in 2007.

Photograph from Jarretscastle.com

6/5/11:Sukanya Roy, of Pennsylvania, is this year's Scripps National Spelling Bee champ,correctly spelling the word, "cymotrichous". And, if you don't know what this word means, it's an adjective meaning wavy hair.Sukanya, who has competed in two prior bees,finishing 12th and 20th, says that she "went through the dictionary one or twice and that she guesses some of the words really stuck. The 14 year old won more than $40,0000 in cash and prizes and a pretty cool looking trophy.Some of the other words used in the spelling bee included cheongsam, opodeldoc , capoeira and abhinaya. Any idea what these words mean?

You can do a lot with the click of a mouse and now a computer mouse can save the lives of frogs! Rancho Verde High School in California is the first school in the United States to move away from dissection in their biology classes.No more scalpels, scissors, smelly formaldehyde or queasy stomachs. The school is opting to use free anatomy software to learn about frogs...virtually. Students can still make incisions, remove organs and restore them all ,with a virtual blade.A study by George Mason University says that Digital Frog 2.5 teaches more effectively and in a more timely manner than traditional dissection methods. Opponents to virtual dissection says simulations aren't the same as holding a real frog and its organs.What do you think?

6/1/11:A kiwi named Manukura(Chiefly One)born at the Pukaha Mount Bruce National Wildlife Center, in New Zealand, is a very special bird. The tiny chick is an all white kiwi. The usually brown flightless kiwi are native to New Zealand.Manukura is thought to be the first white kiwi born in captivity.Learn more about the kiwi bird at this link:

San Diego Zoo

True or False: You can cry in outer space. The answer....no. You may get teary eyed but tears will not run down your face. That's because of lack of gravity in space. Seems astronaut Mike Fincke recently found this can be a problem. Something got into his eye while on a space walk. Some of the anti-fog solution(basically dishwashing soap) placed on his helmut visor, got into his eye. It really stung as his eye got all watery. Unfortunately, because tears don't escape the eyeball, the tears just gathered in Fincke's eye. Fortunately, Fincke was able to withstand the sting, finishing up his space walk.

Archaeologists have a new tool to help them search the earth for past civilizations...satellites! American archaeologist Sarah Parcak and her team using satellites with high powered infra-red cameras, spotted 17 previously unknown pyramids, tombs and over 3000 ancient settlements under thousands of years of sediment from the Nile River in the country of Egypt.

5/25/11:You may know that Mt. Everest is the highest mountain in the world but do you know the Nepalese national park from which most climbers begin their ascent? 13 year old Tine Valencic, of Texas, knew the tie breaking answer to win this year's National Geographic Bee. As the 2011 winner, Valencic won a $25,000 scholarship, a trip to the Galapagos Islands and a lifetime subscription to the National geographic Society(sponsor of the annual bee).

Can you answer the following questions? In which country are Soba noodles popular? The headwaters of the Amazon River are located in which country? On an isthmus southwest of the state of Campeche, is one of the world's largest wind farms. In which country is this farm located?

Who owns the North Pole? No country has claimed ownership...until now. According to the Copenhagen Post, the government of Denmark plans to claim the North Pole as part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Why now? The reason is with melting ice, new trade routes are opening as well as business opportunities(fisheries and mining). Additionally,estimates are that 30 percent of the world's gas and 90 billion barrels of oil are thought to be in the Arctic seabed. Other countries have claimed the region including Canada, Norway, Russia,and the USA so Denmark's claim will most certainly cause some debate. Do you think a country should own the North Pole? Does anyone own Antarctica?

Two Girl Scouts, Madi Vorva and Rhiannon Tomtishen, were working on achieving the highest Girl Scout award, the Girl Scout Bronze Award, when they made an interesting discovery. The orangutan that they were working to save, were endangered, in part, to something for which Girls Scouts have become famous-their cookies!  Seems that all but one of the 17 different Girl Scout cookies, such as Peanut Butter Patties,are made with palm oil, an ingredient that is linked to rainforest destruction, home of the orangutan. The teens decided to ask that the cookies use a more environmentally friendly oil, canola. When the girls contacted Girl Scouts USA asking for the recipe to be changed, removing palm oil, they were not met with much success. Now, along with Change.org and the Rainforest Action Network, the girls are asking people to sign their petition to asking for another ingredient to replace palm oil and thus, help save the orangutans! Go to this site for more information on making Girl Scout Cookies, Rainforest safe!TakeAction And, yes..Madi and Rhiannon DID receive their Bronze Award!

Scientists have offered a look at a 49 million year old spider-in 3D. Using a fossilized arachnid,found in the 1800s, X Ray technology created a vision of the Huntsman spider, including its eyes, feelers(pedipalps) and fangs! A member of the Eusparassus group of arachnids,still found in southern Europe, the spider,can grow up to 1 foot in size. 3D makes the amber fossil look up close and personal!

Photograph from DailyMail

5/10/11Many countries set their clocks ahead or back an hour, depending on the season.The island of Samoa did more than that...they set themselves into the future, by changing an entire day! Near the International Dateline(in the Pacific Ocean), the Polynesian island decided that it wanted to be on the same day as its Asian trading nations, such as China, New Zealand and Australia. It isn't the island's first move- 119 years ago, it agreed to stay a day behind so it could be aligned with the United States. In addition to changing it's day, Samoa now loses a claim to fame it's held for a long time. It can no longer say it is the last place on Earth in which you can see the day's sunset.

Canadian scientists have developed a paper phone. Just as the name suggests, it's as thin as a piece of paper. Despite its look, the paperphone can do all the different functions of phones in use today-internet, play music and make and receive calls. To get the phone to do the different functions, the uses needs to fold or bend the "paper" phone.

About twenty-five years ago,the California condor was declared extinct in the wild. And in captivity, only 27 of the largest flying bird in North America remained. It didn't look good for the bird's survival on the planet. But, fast forward to 2011. It was just announced that the bird is once again flying in the skies over California, Arizona, and Mexico. With breeding programs and conservation awareness, there are nearly 400 California condors with 200 in the wild. The condors, with a wingspan of up to 9 1/2 ft. weigh about 29 pounds and can live for 60 years.Great news! Read more about the California condor at this link:

4/19/11:The nations first offshore wind farm has been approved for the waters of Nantucket Sound, off the coast of Massachusetts. It is estimated that the proposed 130 wind turbines would produce enough energy for 200,000 homes. Opponents to the wind farm project argue that the beauty of Nantucket Sound will be harmed by such a project. What do you think of wind farms as a way to produce energy in our country?

4/12/11:Did you hear that this year's winner of the Boston Marathon, the world's oldest annual marathon, had a world's record time? Geoffrey Mutai,of Kenya, completed the race in 2 hours, 3 minutes and 2 seconds. It may be the fastest time, but neither the Boston Marathon or the New York Marathon are the COOLEST of all marathons.That title goes to the North Pole Marathon. Recently 27 runners , from around the world, wearing goggles, gloves, thermal clothing ran the annual race, battling temperatures as cold as -25 F. Started by marathon runner, Richard Donovan, in 2002,this year's winner,Istvan Toth, from Hungary, ran the icy course in four hours and 54 minutes.

Most people throw away empty eggshells. Not Ron and Betty Manolio, of Lyndhurst, Ohio!For more than 50 years, the couple has been using eggshells to decorate their front yard, for their annual Easter celebration.It all started in 1957, when the couple decided to decorate their front yard with a 50 ft. cross and a huge Easter Bunny, all made from colored eggshells. That first year, 750 eggshells were used.Today, Eggshelland, as it has come to be known, has really grown, with this year's display using 40,180 real eggshells!Just where do the Manolio's get so many eggshells? At first, eggshells were collected throughout the year, but eventually, so many were needed, that a local restaurant offered to give the Manolio's their eggshells. Eggs are saved in cartons in the family basement, 250 per box, sorted by color.On average 1500 eggs are broken each year but there have been some years when there have been lots of cracked eggshells due to hailstorms or spring snowstorms. Although the yearly display takes months to get ready, it is only up from the week before Easter until the Monday or Tuesday after the holiday. Each of 24 different colored eggshells are gently set onto a wooden peg, to keep the eggshells in place. When, done, it's time for the thousands of visitors to view their "eggcelent" display.

Have you ever heard the nursery rhyme,"Baa Baa Black Sheep, have you any wool"? A farmer in Britain may have a variation on this rhyme since he's dyed his flock of sheep... a bright orange! Seems sheep thieves have been stealing his sheep that graze the countryside.Over the years, he's lost about 200 sheep to sheep rustlers. Using a bright orange non-toxic dye has stopped such thievery as it's pretty obvious if you have one of John Heard's sheep! And, by the time it's sheep shearing season, the dye will be grown out from their fleece.

Sir Richard Branson will soon be rocketing space tourists into space for the trip of a lifetime. Now, Branson has his sights on another "frontier", the deepest depths of our oceans! Virgin Oceanic's one seater submersible,the DeepFlight Challenger, will travel down more than 6 miles(deeper than Mt. Everest is high), exploring the Marina trench, in the Pacific Ocean, later this year.In the next two years, the DeepFlight Challenger will explore and map all five oceans including the Atlantic's Puerto Rico Trench,the South Sandwich Trench, the Diamantina Trench,and the Molloy Deep.Branson, hopes that eventually, a larger submarine, will enable deep sea tourists an opportunity to get up close and personal with the wonders of our oceans.

4/1/11:Did you ever hear the nursey rhyme,"Hey diddle diddle,the cat and the fiddle, the cow jumped over the moon. The little dog laughed to see such sport and the dish ran away with the spoon."? Well, Luna, a cow in the Bavarian town of Traunstein, Germany, isn't actually jumping over the moon, but she IS jumping. Her owner ,Regina Mayer,15, loves horse jumping but had a problem. She didn't have enough money for a horse BUT she did have lots of cows on her family farm so Rachel did the next best thing, trained her cow, whose name means "moon", for show jumping competition!Training her cow took lots of effort, beginning when Luna was just a calf. Today, Luna and Regina are two peas in a pod, riding, and jumping up to 3 ft. high hurdles.

You may have heard the expression,"It's raining cats and dogs", but worms? Seems that kids during PE class at a school in Galashiels, Scotland,Great Britain were outside with their teacher ,when they began getting plummeted by...slithering worms. Dozens of the slimy creatures came thudding down to the ground as the students covering their heads, ran for cover. All told, about 120 worms showered the playground. Although very rare, such freaky weather has happened before. In Louisiana, in 2007, a clump of worms dropped from the sky. And,in 1924, it rained worms in Halmstad,Sweden. Meteorologists says the occurrence may be caused when strong winds picked up the worms from a nearby river...but, in this case,it was a sunny, calm day, when it rained worms!

What planet has daytime temperatures of 800 degrees F. and -300 degrees F. night and is the closest to the sun? If you answered Mercury, you'd be correct. After a very long six year journey, covering 4.9 billion miles, NASA's Messenger spacecraft, has begun sending the first photographs of the smallest planet in our solar system's surface. More than 15,000 images were transmitted back to NASA in just the first week.The first glimpse shows a planet, like our moon, with lots and lots of crater pock-marks covering its surface. And, the planet's dark, south pole was also photographed showing what looks like a big blue like spot, which scientists think may be ice. See photographs of Mercury at this link:

Have you ever placed a message in a bottle and tossed it out into the sea,hoping that someone would find it and respond? Frank Uesbeck, 5, did just that. While on a boat trip to Denmark, Frank, asked in his message that if someone finds his letter, to please write back. That was... 24 years ago! Recently,Daniil Korotkikh,13,of Kaliningrad, Russia, was walking the beach, when he came upon a bottle sticking out in the sand along the Curonian Spit, a sandy area between Russia and the country of Lithuania. He found Frank's message and responded to the address in the letter. Frank's parents still live at the address and sent the message along to him. In addition to a letter response, the two have corresponded ...online!Read more at this link:

3/28/11:Frenchman Alain Robert,is called the human Spiderman and for good reason. He's climbed over 70 skyscrapers(including the Empire State Building). Robert has now successfully climbed the world's tallest building, the 2,717 ft. tall Burj Khalifa! Located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates,(near the Persian Gulf), it took Robert six hours to make the climb. For safety,"Spiderman" used a rope and harness, something he hasn't used on many other climbs, but climbed much of the building like rock climbers do, gripping the structure with his hands and feet. Read more and see photographs at this link:

3/26/11:"Tiger, Tiger, Burning bright, in the forest of the night"..there's good news for the endangered Indian tigers! For the first time in decades, their dwindling numbers are on the increase. About 100 years ago, more than 100,000 tigers roamed the forests of India. However, by 2002, there were less than 3600 and in 2007, less than 1500! A new survey has found there are about 300 more tigers than in 2007. Tigers are in trouble because of the loss of their habitat and due to illegal poaching(killing of the tiger for its body parts). It's hoped that with efforts to save the tiger, their numbers will continue to tick upward.And, a meeting of 13 countries last year,hopes to do just that. They set a goal to double the tiger population by 2022. Learn about the Bengal tiger and other tigers with this free download:

Ever hang 10? Panama surfer,Gary Saavedra, recently completed a really awesome ride. He rode a 2 ft. wave(thanks to a wavesurfing boat) 41.3 miles, along the 48 mile length of the Panama Canal. His feat got him two Guinness World Records, one for the greatest distance surfed in open waters and another for the longest time surfing on a wave in open waters. Saavedra averaged 10.6 miles per hour(top speed of 13.5) and rode the wave for 3 hours, 55 minutes and 2 seconds. The previous wave riding record was 1 hour and 6 seconds. Saavedra faced choppy waters from the ships passing through the canal,fatigue and heavy winds.Saavedra is the first person allowed to surf the Panama Canal!

3/20/11:On the island of Minorca, off of Spain, scientists have discovered the fossil of the world's largest known bunny. Living 3-5 million years ago, it weighed over 26 pounds(or six times the size of modern day European rabbits). The prehistoric Flopsy, called Nuralagus Rex, or "The Minorcan King of the Rabbits",didn't have long ears like rabbits of today. Scientists also say that the fossil shows its hind legs to be very short so the rabbit probably didn't hop along the bunny trail! Read more at this link:

A horrific earthquake has hit the island country of Japan. On the Richter scale of 1-10,used to measure the power of an earthquake, the Japanese quake measured 8.9. It is the worst earthquakes Japan has ever had, and one of the worst in recorded history. Occurring on the eastern coast of the island of Honshu, it caused buildings to shake 250 miles away!Following the earthquake, a deadly tsunami occurred.Powerful waves washed away anything in its path, killing many hundreds of people. Estimates are that it was 23 ft. tall! Additionally, a tsunami warning was issued for other areas in the Pacific, including Hawaii and western coasts of the United States, South America and Canada.Japan is located in what is called the "Ring of Fire", a section in the Pacific Ocean where 90% of all the world's earthquakes occur.See a map of Japan at this link:

Did you see the movie,"Up", where balloons were used to float a house away? Seems this isn't just make believe. Using 300 colorful helium filled weather balloons,(each 8 ft. high) a team of engineers, scientists and balloon pilots launched a 2000 pound yellow colored house. The balloons carried the flying house(about 10 stories high) for about an hour, soaring to about 10,000 ft, across the California's High Desert.The experiment also made the record books for the largest number of balloons used in one flight. And, just like the movie, there WERE people inside as it floated across the sky!See a video at this link:

3/15/11:Dumbo the Elephant is certainly not a proper name for an elephant. Elephants are very smart!Twelve Asian elephants in Lampang,Thailand, were recently "put through the ropes",in a series of tests and passed with flying colors. Scientists say the tests show that elephants have the abilities to solve problems and displayed teamwork!Food rewards were placed on a platform connected to a rope. In order to get the food, a pair of elephants had to each pull the ends of two ropes at the same time to have the food drag forward to them. If only one elephant pulled the rope, the food didn't come!The elephants also were tested to see whether they'd try pulling a rope when one end was coiled. The elephants didn't even try, recognizing it wouldn't work with only one "lending a helping trunk"!

3/11/11The annual Iditarod Sled Dog Race,known as the Last Great Race on Earth,is underway. Starting this past Sunday,this year's approximately 1100 mile race, the longest sled dog race in the world, has 62 teams. Each musher has a team of 16 dogs and sleds have global positioning systems to help stay on course. Along the way, the teams will encounter frigid temperatures, frozen rivers,steep mountain climbs,lack of sleep, and hazardous visibility from blinding snow and winds and... darkness. One of the mushers is Lance Mackey, who is hoping for his 5 consecutive win. Last year, Mackey had the second fastest race in the Iditarod's history. He finished in eight days, 23 hours, 59 minutes.Begun in 1973, the race honors dog drivers that traveled 674 miles from Nenana to Nome,in 1925,to deliver medicine to help a diphtheria outbreak. They arrived five days later saving many lives. Learn more about the Iditarod at this link:

It's time to count the birdies. February 18-21st is the annual Great Backyard Bird Count. Here's what you do. Go out in your yard,a nearby park, your school playground or just look outside your window. Count the number of birds species you see for a least 15 minutes. Then, go to the website listed at the end of this news story to record your findings. Scientists use the information gathered each year to learn about winter bird populations, their migration patterns, how winter's snow and cold temperatures effect the bird populations, etc.Go to this website to learn more and to record your findings:

Are you ready to celebrate world Math Day that begins on March 1st? There aren't any World Math Day cards to be mailed or chocolates in the shape of numbers to give to your friends. It's a huge online math game to play,lasting 48 hours! And, it's free. Kids from 5-18 from around the world can compete in real time answering math questions at different ability levels. Each game takes 60 seconds and you can test your brain for up to 500 different math challenges. Those kids answering the most questions, get honored in the World Math Day Hall of Fame. Organizers say the goal of World Math Day(226 countries have participated) is to unite young people around the world in numbers. They are hoping that this year's World Maths Day(begun in 2007)sets a Guinness World Record for correctly answering 1 billion math questions. If you wish to try your math abilities in the online math competition, sign up by February 28th at this site:

Palaeontologists think they have discovered a new species of the ornithischian or bird-hipped dinosaur, found under ice in Antarctica. About 4-5 feet in size, the fossils were found on Mt. Kirkpatrick, part of the Central Trans-Antarctic mountains. It was here, too,that the very first Antarctic dinosaur was discovered in 1990, a meat-eating Cryolophosaurus(frozen crested reptile). While excavating the fossils of this dinosaur, the new dinosaur, about 190 million years old, was also discovered.

Two artificial toes were discovered in Egyptian tombs. One,found in 1881, called the Greville Chester toe, was made out of a paper-mache material, painted to look like the color of skin. There was even a false toenail! Another, called the Cairo toe, was made mostly from wood, and had a hinge to act like a toe joint. Both artificial toes had eight lacing holes to fasten the toe to the foot or shoe. For years, the two artificial toes, were packed away, one in the British Museum,the other in the Egyptian Museum of Cairo,thinking they were just ornamental. Recently, an Egyptologists, Jacky Finch, decided to take a closer look. She wondered about the wear and tear. Were they early prosthetics worn to help those missing toes? Volunteers strapped on the toes and found they were able to walk with the "toes". This suggest that these fake tootsies are the earliest known artificial limbs. Prior to these toes, an artificial leg, made of bronze, dating back to 300BC, and made by the ancient Romans, was the oldest known prosthetic. Seems the Egyptian toes walk over the Roman's record by about 400 years!

2/18/11:Could you say goodbye to your friends and family, sunlight and simple things like riding your bike ...for 16 months? That's exactly what six volunteers have been doing and they've just reached the halfway point of 257 days! Why would anyone agree to be locked away in windowless steel tubes for such a long time? The answer: for science. Scientists want to learn whether humans can be confined to a space craft for that length of time, the amount it would take to reach the planet Mars (and then return back to Earth). Being conducted at the Institute of Biomedical Problems in Moscow, Russia, scientists want to know how the mind and body could endure such a long flight to the planet Mars, confined to a living space the size of a large bus. This week,two of the men will put on spacesuits and "walk" onto the sandy surface of a "pretend" Mars. While on the "Red Planet",the men will perform a number of simulated experiments, including planting a flag and taking soil samples. The men will also send a message back to "earth", delayed by 20 minutes, which would be the time needed to transport a message back to Earth. And,if you are wondering, should any of the volunteers need medical attention or say they wish to stop the Mars 500 Project, they can get out...an option real astronauts rocketing to Mars will not have! Read more at this link:

The game show "Jeopardy" will be having an unusual contestant testings his knowledgeable skills. Beginning on Monday, Watson will join Ken Jennings(who holds the record for 74 consecutive wins) and Brad Rutter, (who's the all time money winner) for three matches. What makes Watson different is that he's... a computer! Developed by scientists at IBM, Watson isn't the first computer to compete against humans. In 1997, Deep Blue, a computer which was also developled by IBM, defeated Garry Kasparov, the chess champion. Watson will show off his artificial intelligence and has been programed to understand word games and puns.

Wander Matrich spent three months and used 84,000 pennies to make an amazing penny, all made up of...pennies! Her penny is 8 ft. in diameter and 10 ft. tall, and weighs about 12000 pounds. Matrich used 22 tubes of glue to stick her stash of pennies to the frame to create her artwork. Old pennies and new helped to create the highlights. Ripley's Believe It or Not recently purchased it-for more than a penny!

2/8/11:Studying what lies beneath a lake might not sound that unusual, until you learn the lake is buried under 13,000 ft. of ice. Named Lake Vostok, the sub-glacier lake is located under the thick ice of Antarctica. Scientists discovered the lake while reviewing satellite images taken from space. The Russian scientists have been drilling 24/7 through the ice, to reach the lake and are only about 100 ft. from reaching its depth.Why the rush? The reason is that Antarctica's brutal winter is about to begin and the lake is located where record cold temps have been previously recorded.(the coldest temperature ever recorded-129 degrees below zero o July 21, 1983). The goal is to retrieve a sample of the lake's water to study. Scientists are very excited to see what, if any, ancient life forms may be found in the lake. One scientist involved in the project,Valery Lukin, told Reuters,"It's like exploring an alien planet where no one has been before. We don't know what we'll find." Read more at this link:

2/14/11:What can you do with lots of snow, some old black racing car tires, part of an old pool and an orange and white traffic cone?Vern Scoville, near Syracuse, NY, used these items to build a snowmongous snowman that stands 35 ft tall!The old pool was used for Frosty's hat, the traffic cone for his nose and the tires...buttons. It isn't the first gigantic snowman, Scoville and his buddies have built. Last year, Scoville and his helpers build a 25 ft. snowman. The giant bundle of snow also has oil barrel lids for eyes and took about fifty people to help build the snowman that was named B.A.See a video at this link:

2/1/11:Do you like listening to the twitter of birds? The mayor of Lancaster, CA,in the Mojave Desert,thinks that everyone would be happier if they heard the music of birds so he's suggesting that recorded bird songs be broadcasted through loudspeakers on the main street of town.

Any idea where the famous bust of ancient Egyptian Queen Nefertiti can be found? No, it's not a trick question and no it isn't found in the country of Egypt.Like many artifacts of ancient Egypt, the statue, dating back to the 14th century BC, was taken from the country of Egypt.The Egyptians are requesting that the 19 inch painted limestone statue of the queen of pharaoh Akhenaton be returned from a museum in Germany. Currently, officials for the German museum say the artifact was legally obtained back in 1912 and,they are refusing its return to Egypt.Other countries including Greece are also requesting the return of treasures that once were part of their important heritage that are on display in museums in other countries. What do you think? Should Germany give back Nefertiti? Why, why not? See a coloring sheet on Nefertiti at this link:

Expected to open this year, the final section of China's Qingdao Haiwan Bridge was set into place. The bridge is a record breaker and will become the world's longest bridge over water, a 26.4 miles in length. The sea bridge spans the Jiaozhou Bay connecting the cities of Qingdao in eastern China's Shandong Province with Huangda. The bridge is about three miles longer than the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in Louisiana, the current record holder. The Qingdao Haiwan Bridge won't hold the title for long. That's because another bridge,in China, set to be completed in 2016, connecting the island of Hong Kong and Zhulai, in southern Guangdong Province, will be 31 miles long!

Have you ever used chopsticks? Did you know that over 5.7 billion pairs of disposable chopsticks are made each year, just for the people of China? It is estimated that 3.8 million trees are cut down each year to make those chopsticks. Greenpeace, an environmental activist group, decided to make people aware of this by making trees out of chopsticks. Volunteers collected 80 million pairs of chopsticks from restaurants around Beijing, the capital city of China. The chopsticks were then turned back into four, 5 ft. trees and placed outside a mall in Beijing. Greenpeace hopes people will rethink the use of disposable chopsticks and instead save trees by using re-usable chopsticks.See photographs at this link:

Remember the Jurassic Park movies where dinosaurs were cloned and roaming an island? Scientists are getting closer to being able to use technology to try and clone extinct creatures such as the Woolly Mammoths, which died out about 12,000 years ago. Taking tissue from a frozen mammoth carcass found in Siberia(Russia), scientists hope to get needed DNA from the retrieved cells. If, successful, the cells will be placed in the egg cells of a relative of the mammoth,the elephant, which, hopefully, will result in the birth of a baby mammoth!The team of scientists, from the United States, Japan and Russia say that it will take about 5-6 years before a wooly mammoth may be born. If this procedure is successful, what do you think of bringing back extinct creatures? What might be an extinct creature you'd like to see cloned in the future? Learn more about the wooly mammoth at this link:

1/12/11:Quiz Time. Do you know how many countries there are in the world?(see the end of the paragraph for the answer) The birth of a new country is taking place in Africa. People in the southern part of the country of Sudan are voting to secede, or separate. Most of the people that live in the northern part of Sudan are Arabic speaking Muslims. The land is mostly desert, with some fertile areas near the Nile River. Those in the southern part of the country of Sudan are either Christian or practice traditional religions of the area. This area of the Sudan has swamps, grasslands and tropical forest. It is also in the south where 75% of the nation's oil reserves are located. Currently, Sudan is the largest country in Africa. The country has suffered a long civil war ,(50 years)that has cost the lives of an estimated 1.5 million people. If, the vote to secede passes(and it looks like it will), the new country formed, would be Africa's 54st country! It's creation would official begin on July 9, 2011. At this time, a national anthem and flag have already been selected but the name for this new country has not been determined. Can you think of other countries in the world which have separated over the years? And, for the answer to how many countries are in the world. As of 2009, the United Nation recognizes 192 member countries, but there are there others, not part of the United Nations for different reasons:Vatican City, Kosovo and Taiwan(which the UN still considers part of China).

Scientist think that something they've been doing to "help" the king penguins may actually be harming them. In a study to monitor the king penguins and to see how climate change may be changing their habitat, 1/2 the king penguins had tags placed on their flipper. The other 1/2 of the penguins had electronic tags placed under their skin. French scientists studying the king penguins on Possession Island off the coast of Antarctic, found that those tagged on the flippers have fewer babies and died younger. The thought is...could it be the tags? Some researchers think that the metal bands, placed around the top of the flipper, might effect the swimming efforts of the penguins, wasting energy in looking for food. More study is underway.

1/8/11:Norwegian Composer and percussionist, Terje Isungset ,uses some really cool instruments ...they are made from glacier ice! Isungset recently gave a performance in London, Great Britain, where he played his composition,"Ice Music", His instruments included an iceophone, an ice horn, an ice didgeridoo, ice guitar, ice bass drum , an ice harp and other"icestruments" made from the Jostedalsbreen glacier,found in Norway. Isungset says using glacier ice makes the best instruments, free of any air bubbles and that although ice-making machine ice blocks look good, they don't make good instruments. In addition to the instruments being made of ice, so are the tables, supports and stands. Isungset has been chillin' with his ice instruments for a few years. Go to this link to listen to samples:(go to sound samples)

9/9/10:A new species of dinosaur has been found in central Spain. The nearly complete skeleton shows a distinctive hump, like a camel of today. The "hunchbacked dinosaur" measured about 20 ft. in length and was named concavenator corcovatus-the hunchback hunter from Cuenca. Paleontologist, people that study dinosaurs, think the camel-like dinosaur,that lived about 125 million years ago, was a strong runner, meat eater and had spiky feather-like shafts on its arms. Read more:

Humongous elephants are no match for...ants. Seems that African elephants are scaredy cats! Seeing ants crawling around on one of their favorite species of acadia tree will gets them going in a different direction. Elephants don't like the creatures crawling up their trunks which are very sensitive due to its many nerve endings. Almost like a David and Goliath kind of story, teeny ants are protecting the trees from the the hulking elephants. Without the ant bodyguards, the giant herbivores(plant eaters)would destroy the tree's bark. But, ants still need to worry. Towering giraffes aren't afraid of ants and simply use their long tongues to swipe them away from the trees!Learn more about African elephants at this link:

9/2/10:Andy Keller has created a unique way to draw attention to all the plastic bags we use in our lives. As the Bag Monster, he is traveling around the country, visiting states specifically where legislation is being proposed to ban plastic bags. Wearing 500 plastic bags, the number the average person uses in a year, he is trying to educate people that plastic bags don't easily decompose in a landfill(each bag takes about 1000 years),and, on average, each of us will use 45,000 in our lifetimes. Keller hopes to create an awareness toward using more reusable cloth bags. Why, the plastic monster look? Keller says it gets people to interact with him more than if he just wore his regular clothes.