Author: Lisa Mungovan

Lightsabers look cool in Star Wars movies, but they’re all special effects. James Hobson, and his team at Hacksmith Industries, decided to make a real lightsaber. They designed a retractable plasma lightsaber, attached to tanks of propane and oxygen. A video shows the blade cutting through metal, and demonstrates how to change the colors.

Apple Dog Accessories, makes leashes for your poochies, that are stronger than leather. They almost sound good enough to eat, because they’re made from apple skins! The waterproof material is better for the planet. The company also plants a new tree, for every sale it makes, to help stop deforestation. Wanna take a walk?

We live in the Milky Way galaxy, orbiting our Sun on one of its spiral arms. Astronomers recently mapped 3,000,000 new galaxies, using Australia’s CSIRO telescope! Our solar system has 8 planets. Our Milky Way galaxy has 100 to 400 billion stars, each with their own solar system, which means 800 to 3 trillion planets. Think any have alien life?

The Hayabusa2 space probe, successfully delivered its package of asteroid dust yesterday. The capsule entered Earth’s atmosphere like a fireball, landing in the Australian outback. Samples were taken from the asteroid Ryugu, 300,000,000 miles away. While scientists study the precious specimens, which is likely unchanged since the universe began, the probe will explore more asteroids.

Today is Put On Your Own Shoes Day. I think most of you already do that. If you have a baby in the house, give them a chance to put their own shoes on; they might surprise you! It’s also Microwave Oven Day. Have you ever microwaved a marshmallow? It’s really neat!

The Wangarru, or yellow-footed rock wallaby, is an endangered species in Australia. After nearly 3 years of drought there were only about 60 individuals left. It finally rained in March, bringing back lots of plants, and the wallabies started breeding again. Now there are 75 Wangarru wallabies, happily hopping around New South Wales!

The Hayabusa2 spacecraft, will drop its shipment of alien space rock, into the Australian outback today. The Japanese mission collected dust from the asteroid Ryugu, before returning 5.5 million miles back to Earth. The treasure box of asteroid samples, will look like a fireball streaking through the sky. Watch the JAXA livestream on YouTube.

Have you ever tried to pick up a box, while wearing gloves? It’s hard to get a grip on the smooth surface. That’s why we have fingerprints. The ridges on your hands and feet hold moisture. Sweat glands underneath, release extra sweat when you touch hard surfaces, and close up before things get slippery!

Ireland is not known, for its dinosaur bones. Fossils are often found in sedimentary rocks, which have eroded away or become buried in Ireland. The only 2 dinosaur fossils found on the island, have finally been identified. One is from an herbivore called Scelidosaurus, and the other is from a carnivorous neotheropod. They’re 200,000,000 years old!

Let’s celebrate earth today. Not the planet Earth, but dirt. It’s World Soil Day! After you play in the dirt, you can celebrate Bathtub Party Day. Make it nice and bubbly! It’s also International Ninja Day. Move silently, and see if you can slip around unseen.