Tag: Archive

A popular Christmas gift for kids years ago used to be a chemistry set. But those sets could be dangerous! They contained poisonous cyanide to dissolve gold, blowtorches to make glass test tubes, radioactive uranium to practice measuring radiation, and carcinogenic asbestos to dust for fingerprints. Now some chemistry sets don’t even contain chemicals!

Today is Christmas, a festival celebrated by billions of people to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. We don’t know the date Jesus was actually born, but Christmas has been December 25th since the year 336. It is marked with gift giving and Santa Claus, Christmas trees and lights, church services, songs and gatherings.

The Hudson Valley in New York, is the site of the oldest trees in the world. They’re 386,000,000-year-old fossils! Evidence of a forest of Archaeopteris and Cladoxylopsid trees from the Devonian era, has been found in an abandoned quarry. The forest had been wiped out by a flood. The quarry also has fish fossils!

The University of Helsinki in Finland, offers a course on Artificial Intelligence. The country decided it was so important, that the course is now offered online, free to everyone! It’s been translated into 4 languages so far, with more to come, so that AI won’t “be left in the hands of a few elite coders.”

Under many Christmas trees, you’ll find a Nativity scene, with baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and the 3 Wise Men. But there’s also a Hipster version! Mary and Joseph are taking selfies, there are 3 Delivery Men on Segways bearing packages, the sheep is wearing a sweater, and the cow is 100% organic.

Most of the time NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, is in charge of aerospace and maritime warning and control. But on Christmas Eve, NORAD tracks Santa Claus! They use radar, satellites, jet fighter escorts, and Santacams to get some pictures. Visit the noradsanta.org website to follow Santa’s travels around the world today!

Today is National Eggnog Day. Also known as egg milk punch (which I think sounds kind of gross), eggnog is a drink made from milk, cream, sugar, spices and eggs. It’s also good in coffee! Sometimes it’s served spiked with liquor, so make sure you ask before you drink some!

Did your mom ever tell you to eat your Brussels sprouts? Wayne Sherlock broke a world record in a British pub, when he ate 33 Brussels sprouts in 1 minute! He was required to pick each one up with a toothpick. Wayne said his technique, was to chew like a pig while looking for smaller sprouts.

In the past, the Sapporo Snow Festival in Japan has featured epic Star Wars scenes. In 2015, 7000 pounds of snow became a 50-foot-tall Darth Vader, Stormtroopers, Death Star, and TIE fighters. 2017 featured Kylo Ren, BB-8, R2-D2, and C-3-P-O. The droids and the Millennium Falcon were carved last February. Maybe Baby Yoda will be next!

Researchers have been exploring a safe and easy way, to treat people who suffer from frequent migraine headaches. Patients just look at a green light! In experiments, people who looked at green lights or wore glasses with green lenses, had fewer migraines. It could be why spending time surrounded by trees, also relieves stress.