Author: Lisa Mungovan

Hillside Australia, was hit by a hairy panic. People became trapped in their homes, when the town got covered in tumbleweeds! The dry brush rolled in on 68 mile-per-hour wind gusts, piling as high as 14 feet. The fronts of some houses were completely covered by dried grass and tumbleweeds. Cleanup could take a while!

The Ruko Community Wildlife Conservancy, in Kenya, is tackling a big problem. Endangered Rothschild’s giraffes, are trapped on an island, while the surrounding lake rises. Flooding is causing the land area to shrink, and the water is full of crocodiles. Park rangers built a giraffe-raft, to ferry the giraffes to the mainland, 1 by 1.

Humans are pretty smart. They’ve come up with lots of medicines to treat illnesses, and vaccines to prevent them. But other animals also use preventive medicine. Russet sparrows in China, build their nests with wormwood leaves, because they keep parasites away, and help their babies grow bigger. Do you think there are sparrow scientists?

COVID-19 is still spreading rapidly, especially as people spend more time indoors. Opening a window can help. Don’t forget to wash your hands often, and always use a mask in public. You can easily make your own, or order KN95 masks online, for more protection. Stand far away from people, so everyone stays safe!

Today is Pretend To Be A Time Traveler Day. If you could visit any period in time, would you go to the past, or the future? Pretend you went to prehistoric times, and eat like a caveman! But before you go time traveling, celebrate Brownie Day, just in case brownies weren’t invented yet.

J R R Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings, and The Hobbit. The home where the author created his famous stories, is up for sale, in Oxford England. Actors from the films, who played characters like Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf, are raising money to buy the house, for fans to enjoy forever.

China switched on a nuclear fusion reactor today, that’s nicknamed the artificial sun. The HL-2M Tokamak reactor, is a research device. Scientists hope it will help them find a source of powerful, clean energy. Using a magnetic field to fuse hot plasma, it heats to 150,000,000 degrees Celsius. That’s 10 times hotter, than the Sun’s core!

There’s a hotel in Tennessee, where ducks are treated like royalty. Twice a day, the Peabody Memphis Hotel’s Duckmaster, leads the Peabody Ducks on a parade through the hotel. They come down the elevator, then waddle down a red carpet, to the tune of King Cotton. Their destination, is the Grand Lobby’s marble fountain.

Today is Walt Disney Day. He started out as an illustrator, introducing the world to Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. Later, Disneyland opened, and Disney movies like Snow White and Mary Poppins, became popular. Now, the Disney corporation makes Star Wars movies, has its own TV channel, and works with National Geographic. They’re everywhere!

Today is Cotton Candy Day! Spun sugar has been around since the 15th century. It’s also known as fairy floss, or candy floss. Maybe that’s because confectioner John Wharton and dentist William Morrison, invented the first cotton candy machine. Don’t floss your teeth with cotton candy, or you’ll need to see a dentist!