Author: Lisa Mungovan

The 5-day celebration of Diwali begins today. It’s the Hindu Festival of Lights, marked by oil lamps and candles, fireworks, feasts, and gifts. Do you have any friends that are Hindu? Ask them to tell you about their family traditions. Make foods like samosas or sweet gulab jamun, for a taste of the festivities.

A 9-year-old boy named Tutankhaten became pharaoh, about 3300 years ago in Egypt. He took the name Tutankhamun, and became one of the most famous Egyptians ever. Today is King Tut Day, when King Tut’s tomb was discovered in 1922. It’s also Use Your Common Sense Day. You should know better than to do that!

Roads in Madrid Spain, were clogged with a different kind of traffic . The streets were filled with sheep! Shepherds have the right to use traditional migration routes, to herd their sheep from northern Spain, to warmer southern pastures for the winter. Centuries ago, the pathways would have crossed quiet countryside, instead of city streets.

Aztronauts on the International Space Station, enjoyed a special space food last week. They ate tacos, made with chile peppers grown in space! The crew had planted pepper seeds 4 months ago for the Plant Habitat-04 study, and they were finally got their first harvest. They were the best space tacos ever.

Does your dog ever tilt its head, when it’s listening to you say words like leash, stick, or ball? Researchers think it’s because they’re trying to match a word, with an object. After testing many dogs, they found the especially smart ones tilted their heads, when concentrating on commands to go get different toys.

Today is Jellyfish Day, so start out by watching these amazing creatures. Search for “world jellyfish day,” on NOAA.gov, to see how jellies swim, and glow in the dark. Most jellyfish have stinging tentacles, and some can reach 100 feet long. Jellyfish don’t have brains, and they eat and poop from the same opening!

Today is Eat Smart Day. It’s not only about eating foods that are good for your brain, like blueberries, pumpkin seeds, broccoli, dark chocolate, and nuts. It’s also making healthy eating choices, a habit for life. Invent a super-nutritious and tasty sandwich, named after yourself, for Sandwich Day. Serve everyone your specialty for dinner!

In California, police were called to rescue a fur seal pup, near a highway intersection. The baby seal, nicknamed Ivy, should have been 600 miles out at sea, where fur seals usually live. The Marine Mammal Center took Ivy in, to care for her until she’s ready to go back to the ocean.

Vertical farms are usually indoor hydroponic systems, that use artificial lights. Plants don’t need acres of soil to grow, but the farms do need electricity, to keep the lights and heat running. Shockingly Fresh is a vertical farm in the UK, that uses only sunlight to grow their crops. They take going green seriously!

An Italian company called Floating Motors, is making people look twice, at their vehicles. They make pontoon boats, that look just like classic cars. You could see a VW bus floating on a lake, a Lamborghini cruising along a canal, or a Mini Cooper meandering down a river. They’ll even take custom orders!