Posted: August 17, 2018

As the Sun sets on the island of Cyprus, tiny turtles make their way to the water. They are about to start their lives in the Mediterranean Sea. They will return to this spot to lay their eggs. But don’t wait around for that. It will take 20 or 30 years!

Not long ago, these Loggerhead and Green turtles were almost extinct. In 1978, only 300 turtle nests could be found on the island’s beaches. But people worked to save the turtles. They guarded against the turtles’ main predator, foxes. They protected some beaches from curious locals and tourists. When people spotted an injured turtle, they called the authorities right away.

The work has paid off. Last year, the beach had 1,100 turtle nests!

(AP Photo: A conservationist holds up a tiny sea turtle that just hatched from its nest on Cyprus’s protected Lara beach.)

Posted: August 16, 2018

Yosemite National Park is open for business! But bring your face masks and eye drops. Smoke still hangs in the air.

The park was closed for 20 days in a row. That almost never happens. But nearby wildfires made it necessary. Fires are still raging across parts of the American West.

There’s never a good time to have a terrible fire. But this time of year is very hard for National Parks. Normally, tens of thousands of tourists from all over the world pour into the park during summer. This year, they say, “No thanks! We don’t want to come breathe in all that smoke!” The missing visitors cost Yosemite and nearby communities millions of dollars.

But some visitors are ready to face the smoke now that the park has reopened. Their cars line Yosemite’s entrance gates. Still, reminders of fire linger everywhere. Smoke hides parts of the park’s famous mountains. And as visitors drive to the parks, they pass fire crews and burned cars and buildings.

(AP Photo: Yosemite National Park employees and a few visitors from France hold hand fans that read #YosemiteNOW. They want to spread the word: The park is open!)

Posted: August 15, 2018

Seven ships set sail from Portland, Oregon. They’re loaded with wheat and headed far away—to the Middle Eastern country of Yemen.

People in Yemen are fighting a civil war right now. More than 8 million need food desperately. So the U.S. Agency for International Development bought wheat from American farmers. They are working with officials from the United Nations to send it to Yemen. Over the past two weeks, they have shipped 176,000 tons of wheat.

Will the huge donation really help? Aid workers in Yemen worry. People are fighting close to a port where most food aid arrives. If it shuts down, food may not get to the people who need it.

Where does your family get food? A lot of it probably comes from nearby farmers or has been purchased by businesses and shipped in from far away. People in Yemen do not have resources like that. Out of every three people in Yemen, two need help from foreign countries to survive.

He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces. ― Isaiah 25: 8

(AP Photo: Justin Waggoner swings his combine into wheat growing outside Condon, Oregon.)

Posted: August 14, 2018

On an old volcano in Turkey, Ali Kemer herds horses into the sunset.  He is a “yilki” caretaker in charge of about 350 wild horses.

Mr. Kemer charges visitors 50 Turkish lira—about nine dollars—to photograph the horses, or yilki. He uses the money to buy the horses hay and veterinary care.

Thousands of other wild horses roam free on the mountains and plains of Turkey's Anatolia region. But the horses’ ancestors weren’t wild. They were abandoned by farmers. The name “yilki” means “left to the wild.” Farmers once used the horses to plow and harvest during three seasons of the year. During winter, they let the horses loose. The horses found their own food until spring. Then farmers captured them and put them back to work. In the 1970s, tractors and other machines replaced the horses. People let the horses loose for good.

The yilki are no longer tame. But the people of Hormetci still love them—from a distance and behind a camera lens.

(AP Photo: Ali Kemer herds horses in the village of Hormetci, Turkey.)

Posted: August 13, 2018

Kids in Sacramento, California have the stay-inside blues. A dull haze blankets their city. Everywhere they go, they smell the faint odor of smoke.

Two huge wildfires blaze more than 100 miles to the north and south of Sacramento. The air between the fires is considered dangerous for children, the elderly, and people with breathing problems like asthma. The smoke is so thick people sometimes can’t even see the mountain range they live beside!

Sacramento lies in a valley. Smoky air gets trapped there. The city is like a smoke-filled bowl with a tight lid on top. For now, kids stay inside instead of camping in the mountains and playing soccer outdoors. When will the smoky haze lift? It’s hard to guess. Winds and fires are tricky to predict.

(AP Photo: Smoke from the wildfires fills the sky over Sacramento, California, on August 6.)

Posted: August 10, 2018

Donkeys are called “beasts of burden” because people use them to carry loads. People in Ulster Park, New York, say donkeys can also take a load off your mind.

A software engineer named Steve Stiert created Donkey Park. After spending years behind a computer screen, he discovered that spending time with donkeys helped him calm down. Now he wants others to hang out with donkeys too.

Many people think of donkeys as gloomy or bad-tempered. But donkey lovers say they are actually mild-mannered, smart, and affectionate. People travel long distances from cities to Donkey Park. Visitors hike with donkeys, brush them, lead them through an obstacle course, and feed them hay. The donkeys, nine of them only waist-high, walk right up to visitors. They linger to have their long ears stroked or their rumps scratched.

Mr. Stiert says donkeys soak up stress like sponges. He says when people visit the donkey farm, he can see their stress melting away.

(AP Photo: Donkey Park owner Steve Stiert interacts with one of his miniature donkeys.)

Posted: August 9, 2018

Thirty-two years ago, a teacher named Christa McAuliffe became NASA’s first teacher in space. She was chosen to travel on the space shuttle Challenger. Once there, she would videotape science lessons for kids. But the Challenger crew never made it to space. The shuttle broke apart when it launched. Everyone onboard died. Now astronauts are remembering Christa McAuliffe. They are teaching the science lessons she planned to teach from space.

NASA released the first lesson on Tuesday. The lesson is short—just four-and-a-half-minutes. In it, astronaut Ricky Arnold teaches from the International Space Station. He is answering the question, How does a mixture separate into parts? He uses chromatography paper, food coloring, water, a permanent marker, and a felt pen. The experiment shows what colors make up the color black. That’s an ordinary science lesson. But it’s taught in an extraordinary classroom. At the end of the video, Mr. Arnold floats out of the room!

(AP Photo: Sharon Christa McAuliffe in 1985)

Posted: August 8, 2018

The smells of roasting hot dogs and chicken kebabs float through the air in Dezhou, China. Two dozen chefs with white aprons and hats cook up a feast—using only heat from the Sun!

Organizers of the solar cookout have a big goal. They want half the people in the world to use solar cookers within 10 years. The cookers the chefs use are made from metal and glass tubes. They are heated by mirrors turned to capture the heat of the Sun. On a bright day, the cookers can boil water in 30 minutes.

Will solar cooking catch on all over the world? Will it even become popular in China? The city of Dezhou is famous for using Sun power. But new recipes must be invented for use in solar cookers. Solar cookers that work well are also expensive. People in rural areas of countries may not be able to afford them. They might not want to change the ways they have always cooked either.

(AP Photo: Chefs prepare to cook skewers of meat in a solar cooker in Dezhou, China.)

Posted: August 7, 2018

People keep the Indonesian Island of Lombok beautiful. Beaches and mountains are clean. Hotels and other buildings are not allowed to be taller than coconut trees. But the unspoiled island just had a big disruption: EARTHQUAKE!

The Sunday quake ruined roads. It flattened buildings. On Monday night, people sheltered in tents. Rescuers continued their search through devastated areas.

Lombok is still recovering from another quake. It happened on July 29, barely a week ago! After Sunday’s earthquake, soldiers and other rescuers carried injured people on stretchers and carpets. Many were treated outdoors because hospitals were damaged. Buildings weakened by the last quake collapsed.

Indonesia is prone to earthquakes. That’s because it sits in the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin. But no one gets used to such disaster. Pray for the people of Lombok, for tourists visiting the island, and for rescue workers.

(AP Photo: A man inspects a village destroyed by a strong earthquake in Kayangan, Lombok Island, Indonesia, on August 6.)

Posted: August 6, 2018

Can you photograph every kind of plant in your back yard? How about in New York City?

Last year, scientists at the New York Botanical Garden started a huge project—surveying all the city’s wild plants. That job is too big even for all the scientists who live there. So 730 people have volunteered to help. These citizen scientists hit the streets with their smartphones. They snap photos every time they see a new or interesting plant. A fragile tree seedling sticking out of a manhole cover? Click. A white petunia hidden among weeds? Click.

On Friday, people involved with the project made an announcement: Volunteers have reported more than 26,000 sightings. They have found new invasive species. They have discovered that some native weeds, like the green comet milkweed, seem to be disappearing. The citizen scientists have documented at least six plants never recorded before in New York State—and even two new plants for North America.

When people think of New York City, green plants aren’t usually what comes to mind. Zihao Wang is one of the citizen scientists. He has identified 538 plant species so far. He says, “I’m always surprised by how much nature still exists here."

(AP Photo: Volunteer Susan Hewitt photographs a daisy-like weed known as shaggy soldier. She adds it to iNaturalist, the app she uses to participate in the New York City EcoFlora project.)

Posted: August 3, 2018

Imagine finding 200,000 diamonds. Of all those diamonds, one is blue. That’s because blue diamonds are the rarest diamonds of all. How do they form? Scientists think they are getting a glimmer of the answer.

Like all diamonds, blue diamonds are made when carbon comes under intense pressure and extreme heat deep inside the Earth. As they form, they can trap tiny bits of rock inside. Researchers studied 46 blue diamonds. They looked closely at those trapped bits of rock. The way those bits reflect light can give clues about what kind of minerals they are and how deep in the Earth blue diamonds formed.

Here’s what researchers found: Blue diamonds form much deeper in the Earth than other diamonds. Some come from deeper than 410 miles down! (Most other diamonds form between 90 and 125 miles down.) Scientists have known for a long time that a blue diamond’s color comes from an element called boron. Boron in the diamond absorbs some red light, making the diamond look blue. But boron is found near the Earth’s surface, not deep down. Where did the boron come from that made the diamonds blue?

The researchers have a theory: It happened in a crash! They think some plates of Earth’s crust smashed into each other. Boron was pushed deep down.

(AP Photo: The most famous blue diamond: the Hope Diamond)

Posted: August 2, 2018

How much trash is in the ocean? You could measure the amount in trillions of pieces or billions of tons. Those numbers are almost too big to think about! It’s hard especially since we can’t actually see most underwater ocean garbage. Artist Angela Haseltine Pozzi wants to help people see the garbage of the sea.

Ms. Pozzi builds huge sculptures of sea life using plastic trash that washed ashore. She made a great white shark from bottle caps and beach toys. A huge jellyfish is built mostly of cut-up water bottles. Her work has been displayed at zoos, aquariums, and the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. The huge size of her sculptures sends a message: There is a lot of plastic in the sea. Ms. Pozzi wants her artworks to be beautiful—but also send a sharp reminder: Dispose of trash properly. Pick up any litter you see. Otherwise, sea life will be harmed.

Ms. Pozzi doesn’t do all her work alone. An army of volunteers in Oregon—about 10,000 people — has helped her collect, prepare, and assemble the beach trash into art.

The Earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. ― Psalm 24:1

(AP Photo: The front third of “Greta the Great White Shark.” Greta is one of six beach trash sculptures at the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans, Louisiana.)

Posted: August 1, 2018

In Europe, forests catch fire. Crops don’t grow well. It has barely rained in Germany for 12 weeks. Who are the next victims of Europe’s heatwave? Freshwater fish—and probably French fries.

On Tuesday, Germany was forecast to have the highest temperatures so far this year—around 102 degrees F. Rivers like the Rhine and the Elbe soak up heat. Fish are starting to die. In Hamburg, Germany, authorities collected almost 11,000 pounds of dead fish from ponds over the weekend. Firefighters have started pumping fresh water into some ponds and lakes. They hope the new, cool water will bring more oxygen to fish.

Farmers suffer too. Potato farmers expect much smaller harvests this year. They say that could lead to more expensive French fries. The fries will probably be shorter too because of the small size of the potatoes.

People traveling to Europe will see another tell-tale sign of the heat. Police dogs in Zurich, Switzerland, wear shoes. Otherwise, the scorching streets burn their feet!

(AP Photo: People play at the drying Rhine River in Bingen, Germany.)

Posted: July 31, 2018

It’s a girl! And a boy. And a girl, and . . . another boy!

At the Species Survival Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, baby animals are being born left and right. Workers there welcome seven baby antelope, three giraffes, two eland, two striped bongo, and a yellow-backed duiker into the world. The animals there are doing just what zoo officials hoped they would: being fruitful and multiplying!

Two zoos worked together. They sent adult animals to the Survival Center about a year ago. Most zoos can’t hold large herds of animals like the Species Survival Center can. The animals live in large pens full of forestland where herds can run. Visitors are not allowed, and animals enjoy the peace and quiet. They must think it’s a good place to raise their families!

What will happen to the baby animals? Some will probably go to zoos. Others will be used to breed more of their kind, making their species safer from extinction.

(AP Photo: A baby female bongo stares from under her father Kibo at the Audubon Species Survival Center in New Orleans.)

Posted: July 30, 2018

Koa Smith grew up surfing in Hawaii. But to catch the wave of a lifetime, he took a two-day plane ride to Namibia, Africa. He rode in a car through the desert before arriving at Skeleton Bay. Just a few surfers share that beach with aggressive seals, thousands of jackals, and sometimes great white sharks!

Perched on his surfboard, Mr. Smith rode a wave for 120 seconds. Five seconds is a long time for a wave to last—so 120 is really long! Have you ever seen a wave break over a surfer as he or she moves through the water? The curve the wave makes just before breaking is called a barrel. Mr. Smith moved through eight barrels before the wave ended—another amazing feat! A drone recorded the historic ride.

Surfing will be part of the Olympics for the first time in 2020. But Mr. Smith feels like he already won his gold medal: riding a wave for nearly a mile!

(AP Photo: Surfer Koa Smith points at a wave during his two-minute ride off the coast of Namibia.)

Posted: July 27, 2018

“We found it! We found water on the Red Planet!”

Scientists have hoped to find water on Mars for a long time. Some want people eventually to live on Mars. People can’t live anywhere without water. So this news from the Italian Space Agency on July 25 made scientists really perk up their ears!

People already know that Mars has a lot of ice on it. But they wanted to find a body of liquid water. Italian researchers studied radar signals from the Mars Express spacecraft orbiting the planet. They think that data shows a 12-mile body of water deep underground.

The researchers spent at least two years studying the data. Was it really water? Or was it just more ice? So far, it looks like water. Mars is very cold. Why didn’t this water freeze? Scientists guess that salts are dissolved in it. Those could keep the water from freezing in the same way rock salt keeps ice from forming on roads.  

Of course, extremely salty water isn’t the best kind of water to support life. And this lake—if it’s a lake—is buried a mile beneath the surface!

(AP Photo: Italian astrophysicist Roberto Orosei, right, talks about the possible body of salty water on Mars.)