Author: Lisa Mungovan

Some people have an unusual talent. They can relax the muscles around their eyeballs, and make them protrude from the sockets. William Martin Sanchez Lopez broke the world record, for farthest eyeball pop. He can pop his eyeballs out .74 inches, making him look like a shocked cartoon character. He loves to surprise people.

There’s a volcano in Antarctica, with a special talent. Along with volcanic bombs of molten rock, Mount Erebus spews out plumes of gas and steam, filled with flecks of gold. Scientists estimate it ejects about $600 worth of gold, every day. Gold dust has been found more than 600 miles away!

Today is We Jump The World Day, celebrating Parkour. Also known as free running, it requires impossible-looking jumps and catapulting off walls! It might be easier to celebrate International Dance Day, by dancing all day long! It’s also Zipper Day, so use your jacket zipper to create a funky rhythm.

Scientists working in techno-agriculture, find ways to combine technology and farming. They’ve been experimenting, by covering fields with canopies of translucent solar panels. The red light plants need for photosynthesis has longer wavelengths, and can pass right through. The blue light, with shorter wavelengths, is absorbed by the panels, and creates solar energy.

Did you ever forget, where you hid something? Mountain chickadees don’t have that problem. The tiny birds only have brains the size of a pea, but they have extraordinary memories. Chickadees stash thousands of pieces of food, in pine cones, tree bark, or dead leaves, then come back and eat them all winter long.

A chain of kindness, once grew 900 cars long at Dairy Queen. Someone at the drive-thru paid for the order of the car behind them, and the following customers kept paying it forward for 3 days, by taking care of the next car. Start your own chain of kindness, for Pay It Forward Day.

Today is Superhero Day. Wear your favorite superhero costume, or create your own secret identity. Don’t forget an outfit. Then read something by Shakespeare or Dr. Seuss, Maya Angelou or Shel Silverstein, or another favorite poet. It’s Great Poetry Reading Day! And we can’t forget Blueberry Pie Day! Don’t stain your super-clothes with blueberries.

Have you ever been on a plane, and seen rivers or fields from high in the sky? Sometimes things look like letters. NASA has a neat app called Your Name In Landsat, that shows your name in satellite images of the Earth. My name is spelled using rivers, mountain ridges, and an ocean swirl.

Today is World Tapir Day. Tapirs are animals that look kind of like a pig, with a short trunk like an elephant. There are 4 different types, living in South and Central America, and in Southeast Asia. Tapirs are herbivores, and use their prehensile snouts to pick leaves and berries. That’s a talented nose!

Once upon a time, there were hundreds of thousands of whales in the ocean. People started hunting them, and the oceans got more polluted, causing them to become endangered. How will the story end? You can decide, for Tell A Story Day. Since it’s also Marine Mammal Rescue Day, I hope it’s a happy ending!