Martha the dog is big, ugly, lazy, and gassy. And she’s a world champion!
The World’s Ugliest Dog Contest happens every year in Petaluma, California. Usually, old, tiny, or hairless dogs win. Last year, a 17-year-old Chinese Crested Chihuahua named SweePee won the title. SweePee had a mohawk. Her tongue stuck out. She was blind in both eyes and wore doggy diapers. But Martha is only three. She is a 125-pound mastiff. When she was supposed to be showing off, she plopped down on stage with her droopy face spread across the ground.
Martha won$1,500, a trophy, and a trip to New York. But as far as we can tell, Martha couldn’t care less!
(AP Photo: Shirley Zindler, Martha’s handler, lifts up Martha’s jowls during the World's Ugliest Dog Contest.)
It’s HOT in Arizona—too hot to fly!
Last week, dozens of flights were canceled at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Temperatures there got as high as 118 degrees! People in Arizona didn’t get a break even at night. At 10 pm, the thermometer still said103!
You don’t want to skate on thin ice. You don’t want to fly on thin air either. Hotter air gets thin. As air warms up, it expands. There are fewer molecules to go under a plane’s wing That makes it hard to take off and land. Who knew?!
(AP Photo: Jets sit on the tarmac at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on June 20. It’s too hot for them to fly!)
These crabs don’t belong in Maine. They eat too many softshell clams, a food Mainers are famous for selling. How can people help solve the crab problem? Eat them!
Food scientists at the University of Maine made empanadas out of the green crabs (which turn red when cooked). The empanadas are full of crab, onions, corn, cayenne pepper, and thyme. The scientists asked people to try the new appetizer, and the people seemed to like it.
If people will pay for the crabs, fishermen will have a good reason to catch them. If that plan works, other sea animals in Maine may have a better chance of surviving.
(AP Photo: A fully cooked green crab)
Get a good look at these bugs now, because they may last for just a few hours!
Mayflies are water insects. The females drop their eggs into the water. The baby insects are called nymphs or naiads. They live on the bottom of rivers for three years. Then they rise to the surface—just what they are doing now. The now-adult insects shed their old skins. They take flight. Then they swarm in huge clouds. Sometimes the clouds are so big they can be seen on weather radar! The grownup insects mate and lay eggs on the surface of the water. In just a few hours, the adult insects die. That’s why people call them “ephemera”—a word for things that exist for a short time.
Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow. — Psalm 144:4
(AP Photo: On the River Tisza in Hungary, people call the mayfly surfacing ‘Tisza blooming.’)
