Posted: November 27, 2020

Utah’s red rock desert already looks like Mars. But a strange, shiny pillar makes it look even more like an alien landscape.

A team was counting bighorn sheep from a helicopter. One team member spotted a gleaming object from the air. The group decided to land and check it out.

The three-sided metal object is about as tall as two men put together. It stands between 10 and 12 feet high. The object’s discoverers looked around. They found no clues about who might have driven it into the ground or why.

What they know for sure: The pillar didn’t come from outer space. “This thing is not from another world,” says Lieutenant Nick Street. He’s part of the Department of Public Safety.

Still, it clearly took planning and work to construct the pillar and embed it in the rock. Most likely, the column is an art installation.

Officials are not revealing the object’s location. It is remote and difficult to reach. They worry that people might get lost or stranded trying to find it.

Many are referring to the pillar as a “monolith.” But a monolith is a massive stone. This object appears to be made of stainless steel.

It’s illegal to place art objects on federal public land without authorization (official permission). The Bureau of Land Management issued a statement reminding visitors of that, “no matter what planet you are from.”

Officials are exploring how long the pillar has been there and who might have created it. They’re also considering whether to remove it.

While no human authority seems to know who set up the pillar, God knows. Proverbs 15:3 says, “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.”

Aaron Bott works with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. According to the New York Times, he says the team’s original job was successful.

“The sheep are doing well,” he says.

Posted: November 25, 2020

Heavy storm winds forced a ferry to run aground. It got stuck on some rocks in the Aland Islands of Finland. The Baltic Sea ferry was filled with people. Thankfully, there were no injuries.

Ferries taxi people back and forth across stretches of water. The ferry Viking Grace was carrying 331 passengers and a crew of 98. Finnish officials reported that there were “no lives in immediate danger” after the crash. Divers inspected the vessel. It wasn’t leaking. Passengers spent the night onboard. They evacuated to shore the next day.

Viking Grace transports people between Finland and Sweden. It hit ground just off the port of Mariehamn. That’s the capital of the Aland Islands. These 6,700 islands belong to Finland. But many Swedish people live there. The vessel was en route (on its way) from Stockholm, Sweden, to Turku, Finland. It had a scheduled stop in Mariehamn. It would have been a whole lot easier if the ferry floated into the port as planned––rather than crashing into the shore!  

Viking Line CEO Jan Hanses told the Finnish public broadcaster YLE that a strong gust of wind likely “pushed the ship to shore” close to the Mariehamn port. In September, a different ferry also ran aground in the Aland Islands. (No one was hurt.) Shallow waters surround these islands. Narrow passageways make it even harder for ships to navigate. 

Acts 27 describes Paul’s shipwreck on an island called Malta. Verses 14 and 15 say, “But soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, struck down from the land. And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along.”

Posted: November 24, 2020

Artist Elke Lemmens is a storyteller. How does she tell her tales? She squeezes art into tiny spaces in Belgium. The artist gives new life to old boot scrapers. These dusty cubbies make the perfect spot for miniature figurines. They tell the stories of the people living in her city. 

Boot scrapers were common on old city streets. A quick kick on a boot scrapers keeps mud outside rather than indoors. People don’t use boot scrapers like they used to. But the little gadgets are still mounted on Belgian streets.

Ms. Lemmens will fill at least 50 boot scrapers with tiny art. “So many people have so many stories behind their doors,” she says.

She uses tweezers to set the miniature figurines. “Finding the figures is sometimes difficult,” explains Ms. Lemmens. “I often need to paint these myself.”

The finished boot scrapers hold itty-bitty scenes of everyday life. They show families traveling together, children playing, and friends exploring the city.

Ms Lemmens has been creating since she was a child. “I always played with LEGO. I would put together a bakery, but then mold the croissants and breads and cakes out of clay myself and paint them different colors,” she says.

Where will a new tiny scene pop up next? “Soon, there will be a walking map so people can find these boot scraper scenes,” explains Ms. Lemmens.

Art is a gift God gave people to share with others. Exodus 35:35 says, “He has filled them with skill to do every sort of work done by an engraver or by a designer or by an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, or by a weaver—by any sort of workman or skilled designer.”

Posted: November 23, 2020

The telescope at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico broke. No one can fix it. The National Science Foundation (NSF) made a hard decision. It decided to close the massive radio telescope. This is sad news for scientists around the world. They depend on this telescope for a good look into space.

In August, a cable broke and tore a 100-foot hole in the telescope. It also damaged the dome above it. Then, on November 6, one of the telescope’s main steel cables snapped. This caused more damage.

Ralph Gaume is a director at the NSF. He says the entire structure could collapse. That makes it too dangerous to keep using it.

The telescope worked for 57 years. It survived hurricanes, high humidity, and strings of earthquakes. Scientists used it to track asteroids, conduct research, and look closely at planets. The gigantic telescope even starred in a couple of Hollywood movies!

People from all over the world visit the Arecibo Observatory. The telescope is one of Puerto Rico’s main tourist attractions. Every year, nearly 90,000 visitors stop by to see it. Officials plan to keep the visitor center open, even though the telescope is beyond repair.

God created the universe and filled it with all kinds of interesting things for mankind to study and enjoy. Telescopes help us do that! Psalm 147:4 says, “He determines the number of the stars; He gives to all of them their names.” 

Posted: November 20, 2020

A worker at the Rockefeller Center in New York City found a holiday surprise. It wasn’t a partridge in a pear tree. It was an owl in a Christmas tree!

The little bird was discovered on Monday. The owl had hitched a ride on the huge tree all the way from Oneonta, New York, to the Big Apple. The trip was two days and 170 miles long.

The owl was thirsty and hungry. But he was not hurt. Rescuers took him to Ravensbeard Wildlife Center in Saugerties, New York.

The little bird isn’t a baby. He’s an adult male Saw-whet owl. That is one of the tiniest species of owls in North America.

On Wednesday, the owl visited a veterinarian. He got a clean bill of health. He was also given a name: Rockefeller!

The center plans to release the owl back to the wild this weekend. Ellen Kalish is the director and founder of the wildlife center. She says, “He's had a buffet of all-you-can-eat mice, so he’s ready to go.”

Putting up a large Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center has been a tradition since the 1930s. This year’s tree is a 75-foot-tall Norway spruce. It weighs 11 tons. Workers brought it to Manhattan from Oneonta in the central part of the state. Each year, the chosen tree is put in place using a crane. People decorate it over several weeks. Then the tree is lit for the public in early December.

Many joked about the tree’s looks after it was set up. After the long journey, the tree appeared scraggly. But it still needs to be fluffed out and decorated. After that, the tree should be splendid.

Like a bird that strays from its nest is a man who strays from his home. — Proverbs 27:8

Posted: November 19, 2020

A massive chunk of ice is floating toward the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia. The giant iceberg is the size of the state of Delaware. It’s almost as big as the island itself! Officials worry that if the iceberg collides with South Georgia, young wildlife will lose their food source.

The frigid island of South Georgia is nothing like the state of Georgia in the United States. That southeastern state is sunny and warm. It is rarely icy there. South Georgia has the opposite climate. The British territory lies close to Antarctica. That means it is extremely cold and icy on the island.

How far away are fish? That matters to young wildlife. These little ones depend on their parents to provide food. This is the time of year when seals and penguins are tending young pups and chicks. If the iceberg crashes into South Georgia, it could disrupt (damage) fish habitat. And that means less food for those other animals.

“If they have to do a big detour, it means they’re not going to get back to their young in time to prevent them from starving to death,” says Professor Geraint Tarling. He’s an ecologist with the Antarctic Survey.

The British Antarctic Survey pays close attention to ice. The name of the giant iceberg on its way to South Georgia is A68. It broke off from the Larsen C Ice Shelf in July 2017.

By the breath of God ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen fast. –– Job 37:10

Posted: November 18, 2020

Skip the hassle of airports and traffic jams. Soon you may soar through the sky in a car! A hub (central location) for “flying cars” is going up in Florida. In five years, the Lake Nona Vertiport will be ready to send cars into the sky.

Flying cars could offer a quick way to travel. In Florida, the vehicles will be able to take passengers from Orlando to Tampa in a half hour. By car, that trip would take about an hour and a half.

Use your phone to get a ride. That’s how ride-share companies like Uber and Lyft work. It’s also how people can reserve a lift on the nation’s first flying cars.

The Tavistock Development Corporation says it is constructing a Jetsons-like facility in Orlando. The Jetsons is an old cartoon TV show about a family that lives in the space age. The Jetsons have robots, cool gadgets, and of course––a flying car.

Lilium is a Germany-based aviation company that will supply flying cars to Orlando. The company makes five-passenger “electric vertical takeoff and landing” aircraft. These vehicles can travel 185 miles on a one-hour battery charge!

Orlando’s flying cars will carry four passengers and a pilot. Seats won’t be cheap at first. They’ll cost about the same as a first-class ticket on an airplane. But over time, officials say the price should drop.

There are some very important details to work out. How big must the cars’ batteries be? How will air traffic control direct flying cars? And how can several of the vehicles load, lift off, and land safely at the same time?

The Lake Nona Vertiport is applying for approval from the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Transportation. The flying car hub is preparing for the next five years to fly by! 

Imagine viewing God’s world below from inside a flying car. Might it feel like you could “mount up with wings like eagles”? (Isaiah 40:31)

Posted: November 17, 2020

SpaceX is a private taxi company––for space travel! Over the weekend, the company launched four astronauts to the International Space Station. This was the first space taxi flight by the private company started by Elon Musk.

The Falcon rocket powered three American and one Japanese space sailors beyond the Earth’s atmosphere. They named their spaceship Resilience. That means “toughness.”

“By working together through these difficult times, you’ve inspired the nation, the world, and in no small part the name of this incredible vehicle, Resilience,” said Commander Mike Hopkins, right before liftoff.

This is SpaceX’s second launch. Read a re-cap of the first test flight here: SpaceX Splashdown. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) hopes SpaceX can help taxi more crews between the United States and the space station.

There were cheers and applause at SpaceX Mission Control when the capsule reached orbit. Vice President Mike Pence watched the launch. “I didn’t start breathing until about a minute after it took off,” says Pence.

The three-men, one-woman crew rode out to the launch pad in shiny Tesla cars. (Tesla is another Elon Musk company.) The Dragon capsule that took them to space is high-tech, like the Tesla cars. Resilience is spacious, sleek, and has plenty of room for science experiments and supplies.

In the next 15 months, SpaceX plans to fly about seven Dragon missions for NASA. That means that NASA can stop buying seats on Russian Soyuz rockets. The last trip on one of those cost $90 million!

Posted: November 16, 2020

For decades, this building has loomed over the Russian city of Kaliningrad. Its bulging balconies look like two eyes and a mouth. The 21-story structure resembles the head of a robot. The building’s unusual looks earned it the nickname “The Buried Robot.” Next year, demolition crews will bury the Buried Robot for good.

The structure’s real name is the House of Soviets. It was never occupied. In 1985, the Soviet Union was struggling. Its economy was not good. The government stopped construction on the building. There wasn’t enough funding (money) to finish it. Years passed by. Construction couldn’t resume because the massive building was no longer structurally sound. It was not safe to complete.

The Buried Robot became one of the city’s most widely known landmarks. Its greatest fame came during the 2018 World Cup soccer matches in Kaliningrad. The building was right next to the World Cup fan zone.

Demolition of the odd-looking building will begin early next year. But it won’t be completely forgotten. The Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper reports that officials may make bits and pieces of the building available as souvenirs.

Posted: November 13, 2020

Last week, Ariel Cordova-Rojas went to the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in New York City. She was celebrating her birthday. But she ended up rescuing Bae, a sick female swan. They made the journey to a clinic by foot, car, and subway.

Ms. Cordova-Rojas is trained to rescue wildlife. She worked at the Wild Bird Fund clinic in New York City for five years. (Don’t try to rescue animals by yourself! Get an adult to call someone who can help.)

At the refuge, she spotted the mute swan alone in the grass. It couldn’t walk or fly. Ms. Cordova-Rojas carried the 17-pound bird a mile to the refuge entrance.

She called animal rescue services and the ranger stations. But she couldn’t find help right away. Then bystanders agreed to drive her and the swan to a subway station. A Wild Bird Fund employee met them and helped them get to the clinic.

The clinic cared for Bae. She was treated for lead poisoning and infections. She has made a new swan friend at the clinic. When she gets better, she will return to the wildlife refuge.

New Yorkers loved the story. “Even though we live in a concrete jungle, we are surrounded by nature and wildlife if you just take a second to look around. The wildlife are just as much New Yorkers as we are, and it is our duty to keep each other safe,” says Ms. Cordova-Rojas.

Mute swans like Bae have orange bills and graceful, curved necks. They aren’t native to North America. The species was imported in the 1800s.

God cares for birds too. But He cares for you even more. Matthew 6:26 says, “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”

Posted: November 12, 2020

It all started with a layup. Nathan Bain’s buzzer-beating basketball layup won the game. It also rebuilt a home, a school, and a church. The game-winning layup impacted the lives of hundreds of Bahamians.

Nathan’s last-minute layup gave his Stephen F. Austin State University team an unexpected win over Duke University last year. (Duke was the number one team in the country at the time.) “It was a game, and it became a bigger cause,” says Nathan.

The Bain family lost their home in the Bahamas when Hurricane Dorian slammed into the islands on September 1, 2019. Their belongings washed away. The church and school that Nathan’s father operated were badly damaged. School officials at Stephen F. Austin set up an online fundraiser to help the Bains. After the game-winning layup, donations poured in. Donors gave $151,740. Nathan’s layup was worth much more than two points!

The Bains used the money to reconstruct the church building and their home. Just about a year after the game-winning shot, the projects are complete.

“Without these people, there’s be no way in the world that we’d be back in our church building,” says Norris Bain, Nathan’s father. “The ball ends up in the hands of the kid who has a story to tell about a country ravaged by a storm.”

As for Nathan, he says, “Sometimes, you just have to understand there’s a bigger plan.” He’s right. God’s plan for us is so much bigger and better than we could ever imagine. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.’”

Posted: November 11, 2020

The compact track loader was a gift for United States Army veteran Andrew Long. It came with a framed photograph of the machine and all 45 of the Bobcat employees who built it. The Doosan Bobcat North America company and the Wounded Warrior Project wanted to thank Mr. Long for serving America.

“Giving away a new Bobcat T76 compact track loader is just one way we can thank someone who has given so much to our country,” says Mike Ballweber. He’s president of Doosan Bobcat North America.

Veterans Day is November 11 every year. It’s set aside to honor all people who served in the United States military. Some cities and towns have Veterans Day parades to thankfully celebrate those who served. People visit cemeteries to place flowers or flags on the graves of veterans. Many companies offer free gifts and discounts to veterans and their families on Veterans Day.

In New York, everyone can fish for free without a license on Veterans Day. At 7-Eleven stores, veterans get free coffee, and Dunkin’ Donuts gives each former service member a free donut (to go with that coffee!). IHOP celebrates with free Red, White, and Blue Pancakes for veterans on November 11. Publix grocery stores offer a 10 percent discount off groceries to military families on Veterans Day. Great Clips wants to thank veterans with free haircuts for the day.

Many Veterans Day activities will be socially distant or virtual this year. The annual wreath-laying ceremonies at the United States Navy Memorial and at Arlington National Cemetery will still take place in person.

The men and women who serve our country in the military are brave. They work to protect our freedom. Veterans Day is a day to remember their sacrifices and say, “Thank you!”

Posted: November 10, 2020

It’s a tricky time for turkey farmers. They need to figure out how much turkey people want for Thanksgiving this year. Millions of Americans plan to have smaller celebrations because of the pandemic. That leaves turkey farmers and grocers scrambling to stock different sizes of turkeys.

Kroger is the nation’s largest grocery chain. It has purchased more turkeys than usual––in all sizes. Walmart will carry whole turkeys, but it’s also stocking extra turkey breasts. That’s in case people don’t want to cook a whole bird. Many grocers are also offering chickens and ducks for households that won’t host a crowd.

Angela Wilson owns Avedano’s Holly Park Market in San Francisco, California. Ms. Wilson thinks this Thanksgiving might be busier because more customers are staying home for the holiday.

Turkey farmers are trying to guess what people want. Do they want big birds or smaller ones? Farmer Dede Bois decided to harvest her turkeys earlier. That’s in case customers want smaller birds. She’s spent months trying to figure out how the coronavirus will impact the holidays. “We’ve invested so much time and energy and love into these birds, and the whole point is that they . . . are celebrated with people for these great meals. We’re just really hoping that still happens,” she says.

Many companies worry that their biggest birds won’t end up on Thanksgiving tables. Butterball usually sells 30 percent of America’s 40 million Thanksgiving turkeys. The company will have its usual stock of large and smaller turkeys. “Don’t be afraid to go big,” says Rebecca Welch. She’s the senior brand manager for seasonal at Butterball. “It’s just as easy to cook a large turkey as it is a smaller one, and it means more leftovers.”

Posted: November 9, 2020

The votes are in. The National Toy Hall of Fame has three new members. These top toys will be on display at the famous toy museum––forever! (Drumroll please) And the winners are: Baby Nancy, sidewalk chalk, and the wooden block game Jenga.

Good toys last a long time. They make play fun and help kids learn. The winning toys are creative and popular. Kids have loved them for years! A panel of experts picked the winners out of 12 finalists. Toys like My Little Pony, Lite-Brite, Risk, Breyer Horses, and Sorry! were competing for the top toy spots. 

Baby Nancy was the very first doll created by Shindana Toys in 1968. The doll was immediately popular. It showed toymakers that there was a big need for ethnically correct black dolls. Baby Nancy was the first black baby doll to have an Afro among other realistic features.

Sidewalk chalk has been around for a very long time. It traces back to ancient cave art. “There are few limits to what kids can do with chalk. Every sidewalk square, patio, and driveway holds the potential for a work of art,” says museum chief curator Christopher Bensch.

Jenga is simple. Anyone can play it. Players take turns removing wooden blocks from a rectangular tower until it collapses. “It is one of the rare games that’s equally fun for two people or a bigger crowd,” says curator Nicolas Ricketts.

Other toys in the Toy Hall of Fame include Barbie, the Hula Hoop, and the plain old backyard stick. Top toys have earned spots in the museum every year since 1998.

Toys are gifts God gives us to enjoy. Thank God for good gifts!

Posted: November 6, 2020

Gorillas like hanging out with other gorillas—as long as they don’t get too crowded. Scientists looked at how mountain gorillas in Rwanda behaved over 50 years. If too many gorilla families are in the area, the groups fight more.

Mountain gorillas spend most of their time sleeping, chomping leaves and wild celery stalks, and grooming each other’s fur. These large apes are generally peaceful—unless you’re a rival gorilla.

Damien Caillaud worked on the study. “Males will fight to protect the females and infants in their group and to acquire new females,” he says. The clashes can be violent.

Sometimes gorillas are killed in the fights. That shrinks the number of the endangered animals.

Mountain gorillas live in protected, forested parks on volcanoes in Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. They almost went extinct in the 1970s.

Conservationists (people who protect wildlife) normally think about how food availability, habitats, and hunting help or hurt gorillas. But it turns out that gorillas’ behavior and social groups change the population size too.

“Everyone wants to know how many gorillas can live inside the protected habitat area,” says Tara Stoinski. She also studied the apes. The answer to that question depends on how the groups of gorillas are organized.

When the leader of a group dies, the family often splits into smaller groups. More groups in the same habitat mean more fights. More gorillas may die. And that’s a problem for protecting the mountain gorillas from extinction.

God tells us to take care of His creation. Some of the rules He gave the Israelites also helped keep species from dying out. Deuteronomy 22:6-7 says, “If you come across a bird’s nest in any tree or on the ground . . . you shall not take the mother with the young. You shall let the mother go, but the young you may take for yourself.”

Posted: November 5, 2020

Everyone’s eyes are on Tuesday’s election results. It may take a few days for the last poll counts to roll in across America. But two tiny New Hampshire communities tallied their votes right away, early Tuesday morning. They voted for president just after the stroke of midnight on Election Day. This year marked 60 years since the tradition began.

Dixville Notch is in New Hampshire. Former Vice President Joe Biden won the town’s five votes. Millsfield is 12 miles away from Dixville Notch. President Donald Trump won 16 out of 21 votes there.

Normally, reporters and others turn out to watch these little polling places. Not this year. The coronavirus pandemic prompted changes. There wasn’t the usual food to munch on. The media didn’t crowd together to watch residents vote. “Sixty years—and unfortunately, we can’t celebrate it,” says Tom Tillotson. He’s the town moderator in Dixville Notch.

A third community in New Hampshire usually holds midnight voting too. But Hart’s Location stopped the tradition this year. The White Mountains town put early morning voting in place in 1948. Opening the polls just after midnight let railroad workers vote and then get to work on time. The tradition stopped in 1964 but began again in 1996.

Election Day 2020 looked different this year. The polls were open all day on Tuesday, November 3, as usual. But millions of Americans decided to vote by mail this year. Those mail-in ballots take longer to count. That means we may not know who won the election for a few days. While we wait on the final results, we can remember that God has the whole world in His hands!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. –– Proverbs 3:5