Posted: June 27, 2022

This hound has a reason to toot his horn.

A bloodhound named Trumpet won the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show last week. That’s the first time the breed has ever snared the Best in Show prize. In 146 years, a bloodhound has never won before.

Trumpet trotted around the finalists’ ring. He has a poised and powerful stride. He beat a French bulldog, a German shepherd, a Maltese, an English setter, a Samoyed, and a Lakeland terrier.

“I was shocked,” says handler and co-owner Heather Helmer. The competition was stiff. “Sometimes I feel the bloodhound is a bit of an underdog.”

After his victory, Trumpet posed patiently for photos. Eventually, he started to do what bloodhounds do best—sniff around.

Bloodhounds are an old breed. During the Middle Ages, Catholic Church officials bred them. The name comes from the breed’s blooded ancestry. Blooded means purebred.

The dogs are expert smellers. Police use them to find people, like a criminal or a lost child. That’s how they got the name “sleuth hounds.” According to the American Kennel Club, humans haven’t yet invented any scenting device as accurate as a bloodhound’s nose.

Some people think these pooches look lazy. But they can follow a scent for hours. They won’t give up until the trail ends.

A poet named Francis Thompson wrote “The Hound of Heaven.” In the poem, God chases after a sinner, not as a criminal, but to show His love. Like the bloodhound, God will not give up on His chase after His children.

Posted: June 24, 2022

Look out, Virginia! A factory of fun is heading your way.

LEGO has plans to build a new factory in Richmond, Virginia. It will cost about $1 billion. That’s a lot of LEGOs. 

LEGO hasn’t always been in the United States. The company didn’t even begin with making building sets. LEGO got its start in Denmark. In fact, the name “LEGO” comes from the Danish phrase “leg godt.” That means “play well.” And the company’s first toy? A wooden duck!

The famous plastic bricks wouldn’t show up until about 1947. That’s 15 years after LEGO began. But once the bricks were introduced, the company would never look the same. Today, you can buy LEGO building sets of just about anything: houses, spaceships, Star Wars, Disney princesses. You name it, LEGO probably makes it. There are even LEGO theme parks and feature films. Just don’t step on one of those tiny bricks. Ouch!

The new Virginia facility marks LEGO’s first factory in the United States. Nobody could be mad about more LEGOs.

Right?

Wrong. People in Connecticut worry about the new factory. That’s where LEGO keeps its North American headquarters. Many people in Connecticut work for LEGO. If LEGO builds its new factory down South in Virginia, will they keep their officers up North in Connecticut? If not, what happens to all those jobs?

LEGO says not to worry. The company doesn’t plan on closing the Connecticut offices anytime soon. Connecticut’s government agrees. Government officials say it’s normal for big companies like LEGO to work in multiple states.

But business experts have their doubts. Most companies keep their headquarters close to their factories. LEGO’s new factory will sit over 450 miles from its headquarters! Connecticut also has higher taxes than Virginia. The Northern state has some transportation troubles too. Simply put: Virginia is cheaper. Why would LEGO keep its offices in a faraway, expensive state? Hmmm…

LEGO plans to open its new factory in 2025.

For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? — Luke 14:28

Posted: June 23, 2022

What a snake!

A team of biologists hauls the snake out of the woods to the field truck. She’s the heaviest Burmese python ever captured in Florida. She measures almost 18 feet long and weighs 215 pounds!

Florida has a python problem. The gigantic snakes slither through the Everglades, devouring other wildlife as they go. The scientists found hoof parts inside this snake’s belly. Her last meal was an adult white-tailed deer.

You can read all about the snake catchers in Florida in Python Pickup. The ones who caught the record-breaking snake attached radios to male snakes. And sure enough, the males led them to a female.

Ian Bartoszek is a wildlife biologist. He asks, “How do you find the needle in the haystack? You could use a magnet.” A male named Dionysus was the “magnet.”

Pythons multiply fast. So it’s extra helpful to capture females before they lay eggs. This big snake was holding 122!

Why get rid of pythons? Because they eat everything. Scientists have found dozens of white-tailed deer inside Burmese pythons. They’ve also found 24 other species of mammals, 47 species of birds, and two reptile species.

Since 2013, people have removed over 1,000 pythons from approximately 100 square miles in southwest Florida.

Do you know someone good at catching snakes? The state’s python removal program runs for two weeks in August. Participants compete for prizes, including $2,500 for capturing the most pythons.

You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the Earth and all that is on it. — Nehemiah 9:6

Posted: June 22, 2022

A powerful earthquake struck Afghanistan early Wednesday. Nearly 1,000 people died in the quake. As many as 1,500 more were hurt.

Stone and mud-brick houses collapsed. Now residents pick through rubble.

The disaster also turns out to be a test. Afghanistan got a new government 10 months ago. A terrorist group called the Taliban took over. People watch to find out: How will the Taliban handle the tragedy?

Rescuers rush to the area by helicopter. But things will likely get complicated. When the Taliban took control of the country, many other nations stopped dealing with Afghanistan. That means many international aid agencies (helpers) have left the country. Normally, nations would send help right away in a situation like this. But most governments think twice before tangling with the Taliban.

Afghanistan was facing plenty of trouble even before the ground began to shake. People were going hungry. The earthquake happened out in the country. The area is hard to reach. Afghanistan is landlocked. It can’t be reached by sea. It has a rocky terrain. Rutted mountain roadways may be damaged.

The powerful quake had a magnitude of 6.1. Quakes that strong can cause serious damage—especially in a place where buildings are not well constructed.

“Because of the mountainous area, there are rockslides and landslides that we won’t know about until later reporting,” says Robert Sanders. He is a seismologist—an earthquake studier.

We don’t know everything about the quake yet. It’s too early to tell just how much damage it has caused. But it’s not too early to begin to pray for God’s help.

And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. — 1 John 5:14

Posted: June 21, 2022

Somebody in Cambodia pulled in a big fish. The biggest one ever.

The world’s largest recorded freshwater fish was caught in the Mekong River. It is a giant stingray.

Just how giant? Measure from snout to tail. The stingray comes in at 13 feet! And don’t bother trying to pick it up. It weighs 660 pounds.

The big ray was snagged by a local fisherman. He alerted a nearby team of scientists from the Wonders of the Mekong project.

The scientists got the call after midnight. They arrived within hours. What they saw amazed them.

“When you see a fish this size, especially in fresh water, it is hard to comprehend,” says Wonders of the Mekong leader Zeb Hogan.

What’s a freshwater fish? A fish counts as one only if it spends its entire life in fresh (not salt) water. Giant fish such as bluefin tuna and marlin don’t count. Neither do fish that migrate between fresh and salt water.  

The stingray catch was not just about setting a new record. “The fact that the fish can still get this big is a hopeful sign for the Mekong River,” says Mr. Hogan.

Why? Because the Mekong is in trouble—and has been for years. The river runs through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Many freshwater fish species make homes there. But people build dams. Some fish lose their spawning grounds (spots for laying eggs). Others are overfished. Especially big fish face especially big problems. If they get caught before they’ve had a chance to grow up—which takes a long time—they don’t get a chance to reproduce.

And what about Mr. (or Miss!) Biggest Fish Ever? The catchers didn’t keep it. They inserted a tagging device near its tail. Then they let it go.

The device will send back information about the traveling fish. At last! Scientists have wondered about this mighty species for a long time. But they don’t know about its life history. How does it migrate? That’s a mystery too.

Local residents nicknamed the stingray “Boramy,” or “full Moon,” because of its round shape and because the Moon was on the horizon when it was freed on June 14. The fisherman went home with about $600 as a reward.

Posted: June 20, 2022

Yuliia Paievska is free. She’s a Ukrainian medic. She had been captured by Russian forces. Three months later, Russia released her.

Mrs. Paievska is well known in Ukraine. She is a star athlete. She also trained many volunteer medics. Over two weeks, she wore a camera on her body. It recorded videos of her team. Medical workers tried to save the wounded—both Russian and Ukrainian soldiers.

In the videos, Mrs. Paievska deals with pain from back and hip injuries. She hugs doctors. She cracks jokes to cheer up ambulance drivers and patients. And she always wears a stuffed animal attached to her vest. She hands it to children she tends.

In one video, a woman asks her, “Are you going to treat the Russians?”

“They will not be as kind to us,” Mrs. Paievska replies. “But I couldn’t do otherwise. They are prisoners of war.”

In another video, a young Russian soldier seems surprised that Mrs. Paievska is helping him. “We treat everyone equally,” she tells him.

Mrs. Paievska shows mercy to the enemy soldiers. Does that remind you of something Jesus said? “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” (Luke 6:27-28)

Mrs. Paievska gave the video clips to reporters. They smuggled the footage out of Ukraine on March 15. The next day Mrs. Paievska was captured.

Mrs. Paievska’s nickname in Ukraine is Taira. That’s a name she chose while playing a video game.

Vadim Puzanov is Mrs. Paievska’s husband. He is happy and relieved that his wife is free. Mr. Puzanov says he spoke to her on the phone. She was on the way to a Kyiv hospital.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Taira’s release in a national address.

“I’m grateful to everyone who worked for this result. Taira is already home. We will keep working to free everyone,” he says.

Posted: June 17, 2022

Polar bear, polar bear, where is your home?

You probably know that polar bears like it where it’s cold—near the North Pole. That area of the globe is called the Arctic. Polar bears don’t just live on land there. They also spread out on great stretches of frozen ocean water called sea ice.

In recent years, Arctic sea ice has been shrinking. Very small increases in the temperature of ocean water cause some of the ice to melt. It turns back into liquid sea water. And polar bears can’t live on the liquid sea!

Polar bear habitat is shrinking right now. Some scientists say this is a big problem. Others think it is just a fluctuation—a temporary change that will correct at a later date. Either way, today’s polar bears are in a fight for survival. The meat-eating beasts need to hunt seals for food. Most polar bears need at least 180 cold hunting days on sea ice each year. In that time, they find enough seals to fatten them up for the other days of the year. They eat much less when there’s less ice to hunt from. If they don’t get enough food during those coldest days, they may starve later.

But there’s good news!

A group of the big white bruins in Greenland found an icy oasis. A few hundred polar bears in Southeast Greenland are surviving with just 100 days each year of sea ice. These creative creatures discovered another solution. They use freshwater icebergs to hunt from.

The icebergs break off from Greenland’s glaciers and ice sheets. Those are frozen masses of fresh water that form on land. When temperatures rise, chunks of ice break off and slide into the sea.

Climb aboard, bears!

A team of scientists tracks this group of polar bears. The scientists are still concerned about bears in other Arctic areas. But this adaptable group gives them hope that the species will survive. The freshwater ice will keep breaking off glaciers for centuries, the scientists say.

Thank God for His provision for polar bears! How much more will He care for you!

Posted: June 16, 2022

Where’s the sugar, Cuba?

Cuba is famous for its sugar cane. But this season, the little island nation produced only about half as much as hoped. Cuban authorities say: We have enough sugar for Cuba. But not enough to sell to other countries.

Cuba is smaller than Pennsylvania. Once upon a time, Cuba was the main source of sugar for a famous chocolate factory in Pennsylvania. Maybe you’ve heard of it: Hershey’s! Founder Milton Hershey built a town in Pennsylvania. Many people who lived there also worked to make his chocolates. He built another town in Cuba to farm and harvest lots of sugar. But when communist leaders took over in Cuba, they stopped the private ownership of most sugar farms. Companies like Hershey’s had to look for other sources to help provide all that they needed.

Still, Cuba makes a lot of sugar in a normal year. The plan was to produce 911,000 tons this sugar harvest.

But this was not a normal year. When the harvest ended in May, farmers had only about 482,000 tons. That’s the smallest amount of sugar produced in Cuba in at least 100 years.

Why the shortage? Farmers couldn’t get enough herbicides and fertilizers for their crops. Sugar mills had delayed starts. When equipment broke, oxygen was needed to repair it. But most of that oxygen was being used in hospitals to help COVID-19 patients breathe. Sugar producers also lacked fuel and spare tires for their work.

And next year? Things may be just as hard or harder. Sugar producers expect to face the same problems. Plus, authorities will close many sugar mills. Only 26 will stay open.

Every year, Cuba sells 400,000 tons of sugar to China. This year, it just doesn’t have enough. Time to make a new deal.

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! — Psalm 119:103

Posted: June 15, 2022

Who would want a bare rock in the Arctic?

Canada would. And so would Denmark.

At last, the nations have learned to share it.

You can find Hans Island near the northernmost part of the world. It sits right between Greenland and Ellesmere Island. Greenland is part of Denmark. Ellesmere Island belongs to Canada. The two nations have been bickering over Hans Island for decades.

In 1984, Denmark’s minister of Greenland affairs raised a Danish flag on the island. He left a note saying, “Welcome to the Danish island.” Canadians then planted their own flag. Both countries sent warships to the island. Were they going to shoot? Not really. It was all just a show. In 2005, both sides decided to find a peaceful answer. And so they did . . . but it took 17 more years!

The solution: Draw a border down the middle. Hans Island measures only half a square mile. Canada will get one half. Denmark will get the other.

The agreement settles another question: Who gets access to the sea around Hans Island? That’s a big, important question . . . because ice is melting. If enough ice melts, the Northwest Passage—a northern travel route—could soon open up. That will make a shortcut from Europe to the Far East. Right now, everyone wants a piece of that shortcut pie . . .  the United States, Canada, Russia, Denmark, and Norway included.

“It’s a win for Canada. It’s a win for Denmark,” Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly says. “We’re showing other countries how territorial disputes can be resolved.”

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. — Proverbs 15:1

Posted: June 14, 2022

In Genesis 15, God asked Abram to count the stars. “Look toward heaven,” He said, “and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then He said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

Could Abram number those zillions of sparkly dots? Nope. Can people do it now? Still no. But they’re getting a bit closer.

This week, the European Space Agency released a trove of data. It tells about almost two billion stars in the Milky Way. The info was collected at the Gaia space observatory. Gaia’s goal: Create the most accurate and complete map of our galaxy.

How are stars born? How do they die? Which stars come from the Milky Way? Which were born in other galaxies and then migrated? Astronomers hope the new data will help answer those questions.

“This is an incredible gold mine for astronomy,” says Antonella Vallenari. She helped lead 450 scientists and engineers. Her team spent years turning the measurements collected by the space probe into usable data.

Gaia detected something else too: starquakes. Starquakes are like large tsunamis that ripple across stars. They appear to make the stars blink!

Astronomers are eager to start writing about Gaia’s finds. There’s already too much to talk about . . . and Gaia has collected information on only one percent of the Milky Way’s stars!

He determines the number of the stars; He gives to all of them their names. — Psalm 147:4

Posted: June 13, 2022

Have you seen this plant?

No one had seen it in Vermont for over 100 years. The small whorled pogonia is a very rare orchid. It is considered threatened.

The orchid is mostly found in Maine and New Hampshire. But it also lives in other eastern states and in Ontario, Canada. Orchids like areas with some sun and some shade. Botanists (people who study plants) usually find them on the edges of forests.

The small whorled pogonia hadn’t been seen in Vermont since 1902. Botanists had searched for the plant. But they were unsuccessful.

Officials confirmed that some small whorled pogonias do grow on Winooski Valley Park District conservation land. Officials won’t say exactly where the orchids were discovered. That’s because they want to protect the plants.

Aaron Marcus is a botanist with the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department. He says two community scientists found the plants. They notified the fish and wildlife department.

The department will keep looking. Are there more orchids on nearby land? Officials will keep tabs on the plants. They will make sure the rare species continues to flourish.

For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations. — Isaiah 61:11

Posted: June 10, 2022

How do you fight a super-sized littering problem? You call a garbage-collecting superhero dog.

Meet Sam. He might look like an ordinary border collie. But he’s helping the country of Chile fight pollution.

Sam and his owner, Gonzalo, live in the capital city of Santiago. They often walk in Parquemet, the city park. They find garbage. Lots of garbage.

Other visitors dump garbage in the park. Sam and Gonzalo have decided to do the opposite. When they visit, they pick up the mess.

Three times each week, Sam and Gonzalo collect rubbish. Sam wears an orange vest with lots of pockets to help carry trash. Sometimes they visit even more often. In April, they picked up 602 masks, 585 bottles, and 304 cans. That’s not counting clothes, helmets, and food wrappers. Sam and Gonzalo collected it all.

Park officials took notice. Watching Gonzalo and his helpful dog gave them an idea.

They turned Sam into a superhero!

Well, not really. But they did create a comic book. They called it Sam: The Parquemet Superhero. In the comic, Sam wears a green cape. The caped canine encourages readers to use the recycling bins around the park.

Just like a superhero, the comic took off. It didn’t stay in the park. It traveled to local schools. People shared it on social media. They loved Sam the super-dog and his helpful mission. Park officials never expected the comic to grow so popular. Sam and Gonzalo’s quiet act of service now inspires hundreds—or more!

God wants people to be good stewards of planet Earth. Sam the superhero dog teaches people to do just that.

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. — Genesis 2:15

Posted: June 9, 2022

The Theater on Podil is in Kyiv, Ukraine. It shut down in February. That’s when Russia invaded the country. But last weekend, the playhouse in the capital city reopened. Tickets sold out!

Movie theaters and the National Opera opened their doors at the end of May. The theater waited a little longer.

“We were wondering how it would be,” says actor Yuriy Felipenko. Were Ukrainians thinking about theater during the war? Would they come see a play?

The answer to both questions was yes! “We were happy that the first three plays were sold out,” Mr. Felipenko says.

The theater is putting on plays with just a few actors, says Mr. Felipenko.

Russia tried to take over the capital city. Ukrainians fought back. Taking over wasn’t as easy as Russian President Vladimir Putin thought it would be. So the Russian army has focused more on the Donbas region. That’s in the eastern part of Ukraine. It is closest to Russia.

Kostya Tomlyak is another actor. He wasn’t sure if performing in wartime was a good idea. But more people have come back to Kyiv. So he decided that he has “to learn how to live during the war, to live with theater, cinema, cafés. You continue living, although you don’t forget that there is the war.”

The Theater on Podil was founded in 1987. It’s one of the most popular in Kyiv. In 2017, it moved to a new modern building. Since the start of the war, the theater has decided to stop showing plays by Russian authors.

Continue to pray for Ukrainians and Russians who are being hurt by the war.

Posted: June 8, 2022

Don’t look now, but your Gatorade is shrinking.

Yep—Gatorade once came in 32-ounce bottles. Now it comes in 28-ounce bottles. No big deal . . . except the 28-ounce bottles cost more.

What gives?

Lately, you may have noticed grownups talking about inflation. (Inflation happens when money loses value.) And you may also have heard them moaning that food and gas prices keep climbing. But have they mentioned shrinkflation?

Shrinkflation is the inflation you’re not supposed to see. Around the world, manufacturers (product-makers) are quietly shrinking package sizes. Are they lowering prices to match? Nope!

In the United States, a small box of Kleenex now has 60 tissues. A few months ago, it had 65. Chobani Flips yogurts have shrunk from 5.3 ounces to 4.5 ounces. In the United Kingdom, Nestlé slimmed down its Nescafé Azera Americano coffee tins. They once held 100 grams. Now they hold 90 grams. In India, a bar of Vim dish soap has shrunk from 155 grams to 135 grams. Check your toilet paper package. Cottonelle Ultra Clean Care toilet paper has shrunk from 340 sheets per roll to 312. These are just a few of many examples of shrinkflation.

Why shrink everything? To save money—not for the shopper, but for the manufacturer.

When money loses value, ingredients become more expensive. So does packaging and labor. It even becomes pricier to ship goods from here to there. Shrinkflation isn’t new. Businesses do it all the time. It especially tends to happen when inflation strikes.

Smart marketers know: A shopper will notice a higher price tag. But he or she might not notice a smaller package.

You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth. — Deuteronomy 8:18

Posted: June 7, 2022

The Iditarod dog sled race had ended. But where was Leon?

The Iditarod race happens every year in March. Dogs and their mushers sprint across Alaska from Anchorage to Nome. But this year, a dog named Leon didn’t finish the race. He disappeared along the way. Three months later, Leon has finally been found.

People searched for Leon with helicopters and snowmobiles. But Operation Find Leon didn’t seem to be working.

At last, the three-year-old sled dog was located. He had traveled 150 miles! People living in McGrath, Alaska, had spotted the pooch near a cabin. The person living in the cabin and another musher left food for Leon, hoping to catch him.

What a relief! Leon was safe. He was skinny, but he seemed healthy. Once people had nabbed him, they worked on getting him home.

Sebastien Dos Santos Borges is Leon’s musher. The two finally reunited. Eventually they will return home to France together—as soon as Leon gets permission from the vet.

Runaways don’t win the race. Do you know who did? Check out this year’s Iditarod winners here.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. — 1 Corinthians 9:24

Posted: June 6, 2022

Age doesn’t stop this adventurer. Kenichi Horie is 83 years old. He just sailed across the Pacific Ocean nonstop—by himself. That makes him the oldest person to complete this voyage.

Mr. Horie left San Francisco, California, in March. Sixty-nine days later, he arrived in the Kii Strait off Japan’s coast.

Home at last! “I just crossed the finish line. I’m tired,” he wrote in his blog after reaching Japan early on Saturday.

Toward the end of his journey, he struggled for three days with a strong tide. He wrote that he succeeded but was exhausted. He took a nap after feeling sure that the yacht was now on the right track to the finish line.

Mr. Horie was alone on the boat. But technology let him stay in touch with family throughout the journey.

On Sunday, Mr. Horie and his boat, the Suntory Mermaid III, were towed into his home port of Shin Nishinomiya. Locals and fans cheered. Banners read, “Welcome back, Mr. Kenichi Horie!”

This wasn’t the first big trip for Mr. Horie. Sixty years ago, he became the first person to successfully complete a solo nonstop trip across the Pacific from Japan to San Francisco. Since then, he’s made lots of other voyages. He’s sailed around the world. He’s also used boats made from recycled aluminum cans or barrels, and solar and wave-powered boats.

Is Mr. Horie ready for retirement? No way. He says he is still “in the middle of my youth” and not done yet. “I will keep up my work to be a late bloomer,” he says.

Even to your old age I am He, and to gray hairs I will carry you. — Isaiah 46:4