Posted: December 10, 2019

The U.S. winter flu season is off and running. It hasn’t come this early in more than 15 years.

The last flu season to rev up this early was in 2003-2004. That was a bad one. Some experts think the early start may mean a lot of suffering is in store. Others say it’s too early to tell.

Different kinds of viruses cause flu. Every year, scientists make a vaccine they hope will protect people from that year’s strain. For the past two flu seasons, the flu vaccine didn’t work well against the virus that spread. And the virus moving around most of the United States? Surprise! It’s not the kind doctors and scientists expected. Is the flu shot working against it?

It’s too early to say. But it’s not too early to say this: Flu is spreading early. Louisiana was the first state to get hit hard. Doctors there say they began seeing large numbers of flu-like illnesses in October. A children’s hospital in New Orleans has already had more cases this fall than it had for all of last winter.

Health officials know flu season has started when a large percentage of U.S. doctor’s office visits are due to flu-like illnesses for at least three weeks in a row. At this point, about 1.7 million people have gotten sick with the flu.

Will flu season get worse? Or is it just reaching its peak—all downhill from here? Doctors can’t know. They can just get ready to care for people well.

Posted: December 9, 2019

People can’t look at the Sun with the naked eye. And they certainly can’t get close to it. That’s why they sent the Parker Solar Probe into space in 2018. It quickly became the closest-ever spacecraft to the Sun. Now the Sun-skimming probe is surprising scientists.

Scientists released the first results from Parker’s mission Wednesday. What does Parker “see”? Bursts of energetic particles. Wild solar wind sending energy through the Solar System. What does all that mean, exactly? Even the experts are just starting to understand. God made the Sun long ago. He placed it exactly where it had to be so people would get its warmth and light without getting burned. But how does the Sun work? As far as that goes, people are still catching up. Scientists knew solar wind came in waves. They guessed the waves would get stronger closer to the Sun. But they weren’t expecting them to move like a cracking whip.

Parker has come within 15 million miles of the Sun. And it will get closer and closer over the next six years. It has circled the Sun 24 times. 

The goal of the mission is to shed light on some of the mysteries surrounding the Sun. Because of Parker, researchers think they now know what doesn’tsurround the Sun: dust. A dust-free zone circles our star. Farther out, there’s dust everywhere from vaporizing comets and asteroids. 

Parker will sweep past Venus on December 26. Venus’s gravity will help Parker keep circling. The probe will get super close to the Sun again in January—as long as it stays intact. 

“I can’t say that we don’t worry about the spacecraft,” says NASA’s Nicola Fox. After all, Parker is moving through an environment people have never dared to visit before. 

And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. —Genesis 1:16

Posted: December 6, 2019

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Bangkok, Thailand, is a very busy city. Trucks, buses, cars, bikers, scooters, and walkers rush around. They get into accidents. Too many pedestrians get hit by cars. People from one organization have come up with a creative idea: Trick drivers with crosswalks.  

Volunteers are painting crossings that fool the eye. These “floating” crossings trick drivers into paying attention. One new walk is outside a school in Bangkok. Students crossing the road look like they are walking on planks that float a few inches above the road. About 50 students and volunteers worked together to create the optical illusion. It is the sixth painting project the group has completed. 

Thailand’s National Health Security Office says that over the last four years there were 10,672 accidents involving people walking. More than 900 of those walkers died. 

A few years ago, a survey was taken. Of 1,200 people asked, 90% said they did not feel safe crossing the road.

Natthapong Jiravijit is the project’s manager. He says his group of volunteers has repainted crossings near temples and schools over the past few months. “If we repaint an ordinary zebra crossing, then people will still not pay attention to it,” he says. “But when we introduce 3D zebra crossings, they attract more attention.”

Three new works are now underway. Will Thailand’s government continue to provide money to support the work? The painters hope so. They want to keep using creativity to help people stay safe.

“Do not neglect to do good.” — Hebrews 13:16

Posted: December 5, 2019

On Monday, Russian scientists shared photos of a very cold, old puppy. It was found lying in a frozen lump of mud in the permafrost of Far East Russia. Permafrost is ground that has been frozen for two or more years—but this pup has been frozen far longer. The permafrost kept the puppy from rotting. It looks a lot like it would have when it was alive. Its teeth, nose, fur, whiskers, and eyelashes are all still there. It has all four legs. Scientists are pretty sure the puppy was a male.

People are curious about what life was like a long time ago. So scientists study the remains of ancient animals. Russia’s Far East has given them lots to look at lately. As permafrost melts, more and more parts of wooly mammoths, canines, and other animals are appearing. Mammoth tusk hunters often discover them. Searches for tusks uncover surprises like the frozen pup. (Do you remember another furry frozen head that was found not long ago?)

Scientists aren’t sure how old the frozen pup is. A piece of the puppy’s bone will help them find out. Even though its body is old, the puppy’s bone still has DNA. That’s a code that all living things have. The code has very important information. The pup’s DNA told scientists that it lived thousands of years ago. 

One thing the DNA didn’t tell scientists was whether the puppy was a dog or a wolf. How are dogs and wolves similar? How are they different? Normally, DNA tests make it easy to know if a puppy was a wolf or a dog. But scientists have tested the frozen pup’s genetic code twice. They still don’t know which animal family it comes from! Maybe the “third time’s the charm.” 

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

Posted: December 4, 2019

New Jersey wildlife officials are rejoicing. They have wiped out a colony of invasive mussels. 

Mussels are shellfish. They’re usually about the size of a thumb. You may find them on a dinner plate at a fancy restaurant. But these invasive mussels were the size of the dinner plates themselves! And they were hungry. Their size and appetite could have killed native fish throughout the state.

Where did the intruders come from? The Chinese pond mussels most likely hitched a ride from China into the United States. Tiny eggs could have been inside the gills of imported Asian carp. The mussels ended up in nine deep New Jersey ponds. These are near the headwaters of the Wickecheoke Creek. It flows into the Delaware River.

Wildlife officials discovered the mussels in 2010. They leaped into action. First, they lowered water levels in the ponds. Then they applied a copper-based algae killer to the muddy pond bottoms. Wildlife service officials are sure all the mussels were killed. Workers plucked dozens of giant black shells from the mud. Some were the size of a football. 

Many countries in Europe also have these pests in their waters. But people there can’t seem to get rid of them. Lowering water levels in most of Europe’s rivers is not possible. Other animals in the rivers would die too. Applying chemicals in fast-flowing waters won’t work either. That is why people in New Jersey were so happy to solve their own mussel problem.

New Jersey wildlife official Eric Schrading says, “This invasive species could have spread across the eastern United States.” He’s glad they caught the mussel problem early. Getting rid of them probably saved rivers from serious damage. 

Posted: December 3, 2019

In 1955, Rosa Parks was sitting in the “colored section” of an Alabama bus. The whites-only section of the bus was filled. Mrs. Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man. Sunday was the 64th anniversary of her bold decision. The city of Montgomery, Alabama, celebrated her life with a new statue. 

Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed and Alabama governor Kay Ivey uncovered the statue of Mrs. Parks. Mr. Reed is the first African American mayor of the capital city. A crowd of about 400 watched the big reveal. 

The civil rights movement started in the 1940s and ended in the 1960s. It was a time when African Americans and others worked so that white people and black people would have equal rights. Mrs. Parks was a civil rights pioneer. She bravely asked for all people to be treated fairly. That decision changed lives. When she was arrested, the civil rights movement grew stronger. People refused to ride the city buses for over a year. Finally, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled: Bus segregation (separate seats for blacks and whites) is against the U.S. Constitution.  

The statue honors other civil rights leaders too. There are four stone markers. They stand for the plaintiffs, or people who began the Browder v. Gayle trial. One of the plaintiffs was Mary Louise Smith. She was at the ceremony on Sunday.  

Mrs. Parks died in 2005. Her attorney, Fred Gray, was at the ceremony. As a lawyer, he defended her, the Browder v. Gayle plaintiffs, and other civil rights activists. He thinks the statue is a good way for Mrs. Parks, the plaintiffs, and the 40,000 men and women who stayed off the buses for 382 days to be honored.   

Statues stand as reminders. The new Rosa Parks statue reminds us of someone whose boldness made things better. God asks us to remember good things. For example, after the Israelites crossed the Jordan River, God told them to mark the place with 12 stones. Joshua 4:7 says, “So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.”  

Posted: December 2, 2019

No frogs were harmed in the making of a Florida high school’s science class.

Students have dissected frogs in science class for a long time. But now at J.W. Mitchell High School in New Port Richey, Florida, students are cutting up fake frogs. It may be the first school in the world to use the technology.

The fake frogs are called “SynFrogs.” (The “syn” stands for synthetic—man-made.) They are made of water, fibers, and salts. The frogs’ makers say they are also safer because there are no potentially harmful chemicals like the ones used to preserve real frogs.

How much does money does it take to spare the life of science class frogs? Each synthetic frog costs $150. For the same price, you can get 10 real frogs—plus all the dissection equipment: trays, pins, scalpels, scissors, tweezers, gloves, and instructions.

Posted: November 29, 2019

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“Apple detectives” in the Pacific Northwest are on a mission. They’re searching for extinct apples, one tree at a time. They want to find the very first apples planted by pioneers. The old apples’ genes could add good qualities to today’s apples. Maybe they’re better at surviving disease, or tough enough to make it through a harsh winter. So far, the Lost Apple Project has turned up 13 long-lost apple varieties. The apples came from the area known in history books as the Oregon Territory. Today, that land makes up northern Idaho and eastern Washington State.

Volunteers drive hundreds of miles looking for apples. They don’t search grocery store shelves. They climb canyons, hike ravines, and wander through fields. The trees they’re looking for are usually hiding in plain sight.

The founder of the project is David Benscoter. He says there were once around 17,000 named varieties of apples in North America. About 13,000 of those have vanished. Volunteers search county fair records, newspaper clippings, and nursery sales ledgers. They compare written records with old property maps, land deeds, and family memories. This research helps them hunt down the apples.

The early pioneers always planted orchards with a variety of apples. Some ripened in the early spring. Others didn’t bear fruit until late fall. The diversity guaranteed apples through the long hard winters.

When an orchard is located, it’s mapped. Each tree’s GPS coordinates are noted. Then, apples are collected from each tree. They’re placed in a bag carefully labeled with the tree’s latitude, longitude, and the collection date. The apples are shipped to the Temperate Orchard Conservancy in Oregon for identification.

Are the found apples a type of Walbridge, the Shackleford, the Flushing Spitzenburg, or the Dickinson apple? Or perhaps another lost variety? A computer database stores dozens of kinds of apples. The newly discovered apples are added to the database. Botanists hope to use old varieties to help other apple types grow stronger. As for the hard-core apple detectives —they “apple-solutely” love hunting lost apples. They don’t want the old apples lost in time.

Posted: November 27, 2019

For sale: a rolling robot that carries your groceries and follows you around like a dog. How many people are ready to buy?

Italian company Piaggio makes the rolling bot. It weighs 50 pounds and costs $3,250. It’s named the Gita (JEE’-tah). That Italian word means short, fun trip—the kind you might take to pick up some kale and gourmet cheese at the farmers market. It can hold produce and other objects as it follows its owner down a sidewalk.

Gita’s makers say they want to encourage people to get out of the house and start walking. But some say not enough people will buy the machine—unless there’s a more practical use for it. Maybe more would sell if Gita could lug tools around warehouses, hospitals, or factory floors. They say it costs too much for a machine that just carries groceries.

The Gita doesn’t use facial recognition or GPS. “It basically just locks onto you and tracks you,” said Piaggio Fast Forward’s co-founder, Jeffrey Schnapp.

Gita looks totally cool. But would it work for you? It might if you live somewhere with paved ground close to stores. But it won’t work if you live in the country. It also won’t be helpful in busy cities where it could get lost in a crowd. People looking to pull groceries home might want to buy a cheaper helper this holiday season: a wagon.

Posted: November 26, 2019

These animal mummies were just found in Egypt: crocodiles, birds, cats, and lion cubs.  

Items from the new find were displayed at the famous Step Pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara, Egypt.

“We are finding here hundreds of objects,” says Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Anany

The Saqqara plateau was home to at least 11 pyramids and hundreds of ancient tombs. Now local archaeologists have found hundreds of mummified animals. That includes two lion cubs. Radar scans will tell whether three other mummies were also lions.

Archaeologists often find mummified cats in Egypt. But the recovery of a lion is rare. In 2004, the first lion skeleton was found in Saqqara. The find showed that ancient Egyptians thought of lions as sacred.

The display also included two Egyptian mongoose mummies wrapped in linen bandages. There were also strips of papyrus with pictures of the made-up goddess Taweret. She is drawn as a hippopotamus with the tail of a crocodile.

Egyptian authorities want the world to know about new discoveries there. They want more tourists to come to their nation. Tourism money is important for Egypt. Will animal mummies be enough to draw curious people?

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. — 1 Timothy 2:5

Posted: November 25, 2019

Bye bye, panda Bei Bei.

Bei Bei the panda started in the United States. He took a flight on the “Panda Express.” He arrived early Thursday in his new home in China.

Bei Bei was born in Washington, D.C. People visited him at the National Zoo there for the first four years of his life. But the United States and China had an agreement. The zoo had to return Bei Bei to China this year.

Now Bei Bei is settling into his new home at the Giant Panda Conservation and Research Center in southwest Sichuan province. Bei Bei will be quarantined (kept by himself) for one month while he adjusts.

The panda’s name means “treasure” in Chinese. That name was chosen by Michelle Obama (the first lady when Bei Bei was born) and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s wife, Peng Liyuan. Bei Bei quickly became a favorite on the zoo’s Panda Cam.

Here’s what Bei Bei took to China: his handler (bear sitter), a veterinarian, and 66 pounds of bamboo. He flew on a private jet with a panda painted on the side.

Did you know that all the pandas in the world belong to China? Sometimes Chinese officials loan them to other nations as a sign of friendship. Right now, China and the United States disagree about trade. But Bei Bei is a bright spot in their relationship.

Bei Bei seems to like his new home. You can find him relaxing there . . . and eating 13 pounds of bamboo for breakfast!

Posted: November 22, 2019

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You’ve never heard so much clicking! The Red Bull Rubik’s Cube World Cup 2019 Final took place in Moscow, Russia, on the weekend. Participants traveled there from as far as Australia, the United States, and China. They took part in three one-on-one events: Speed Cubing, Fastest Hand, and Unscramble.

In Speed cubing, competitors are each given the same scramble. They have eight seconds to inspect their cube before starting. Fastest Hand is a one-handed race. In the Re-Scramble event, competitors are presented with two cubes. One is scrambled. One is solved. The goal is to scramble the solved cube to match the scrambled one.

Twenty-three year-old Australian Feliks Zemdegs has won twice before. He was the reigning champion. But he was knocked out of this year’s Speed Cubing quarter final by 18-year-old American Max Park. Mr. Park went on to win this year’s World Cup.

How did Rubik’s Cube come to be? In 1974, Hungarian professor Erno Rubik was trying to figure out how to move the parts of a cube he had made without it falling apart. He had created a puzzle—but he didn’t know it yet. Ideal Toys began selling what the professor had called his “Magic Cube” six years later. The rest is puzzle history. The 75 year-old inventor attended this year’s competition.

“Thousands and thousands of competitions are organized worldwide,” he says. He adds that kids especially love the cube—and they don’t forget that love when they grow up.

Former champ Mr. Zemdegs says the internet helps make the cube more popular too. People use the web for Rubik’s tutorials and videos. “Cubing videos go viral sometimes,” he says. “That helps, I guess, bring people into the community.” Mr. Zemdegs thinks cubing gives people a sense of achievement as they practice and get better at solving the puzzle. And eventually they can make friends at cubing competitions.

We’re not all speed cubers. But we’re all problem solvers. It’s how the Creator made us. And we get to practice every day.

Posted: November 21, 2019

What’s going on in the Amazon rainforest? A new report from the government of Brazil claims it’s shrinking. Until now, officials in Brazil have been saying, “The Amazon is fine. Nothing to worry about!”

Deforestation happens when people burn or log huge areas of trees so they can farm, graze animals, or build. The new report says Amazon deforestation between August 2018 and July 2019 reached 3,769 square miles. That means people have cleared forestland as big as Delaware and Rhode Island combined. Record shows that people have not cut and burned that much Amazon since 2008.

Brazil got a new president in January. His name is Jair Bolsonaro. President Bolsonaro wants fewer laws protecting land. And he has reasons. People clear land to make money to feed their families. If they have freedom to do that, the nation’s economy could grow.

But what about rainforests? Countless types of plants and wildlife live there. Indigenous (native) people do too. The trees protect the land from droughts, erosion, and flooding. If people get rid of the trees, they may eventually no longer have good soil in which to grow crops. People have good reasons to want land-protecting laws. When President Bolsonaro took office, these people worried: “What will happen to the rainforest?”

But is it true that the new president doesn’t care about the forest? A few months ago, President Bolsonaro sent the military to help battle fires in the forest. He banned most land-clearing fires in the Amazon for two months.

God gave us a beautiful home to live in. Earth is outfitted with everything we need for life. Working together to steward it well is not easy. People have to think about their today needs—but also about the future.

The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. — Proverbs 21:5

Posted: November 20, 2019

A band of about 50 young people wearing rubber boots tromped to the Music Conservatory in Venice, Italy, last Saturday. They came to help save priceless music papers. Floods had hit the northern Italian city four days earlier. About six feet and two inches of harmful lagoon water covered the streets.

“This is our city,” said volunteer Laura Franco. She is a student at the music school. And she is one of about 2,000 young people who responded to the worst flood in their lifetimes.

These young volunteers are calling themselves “Angels of Salt.” Water ruins many things. But the salty water that invaded Venice eats away at whatever it touches. Workers used paper towels to stop ink from running. Some stood books on end. Others spread music sheets on the upper floors of the building to dry.

The archive at the Music Conservatory was one of the hardest hit spots in Venice. The books it contains are very heavy. Upper floors of the building would not bear that weight.  Many of the papers are now lost forever. No one ever made copies.

Some of the most treasured texts were moved to Bologna and Florence, other cities in Italy. These texts will be frozen. This blocks mold from growing and pushes out the salt.

The Angels also went to bookshops, libraries, stores, and restaurants to help out. They bagged trash to keep it from floating out to sea. These young people certainly demonstrated Luke 6:31: “As you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.”

Posted: November 19, 2019

It’s bat time in Austin, Texas . . . still. Starting in March, globs of people wait on the Congress Avenue Bridge each night. They watch as about 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats fly from beneath their feet. Usually, the bat watching ends in early November when the bats fly south. But this year, the bats still haven’t gone away. What are they thinking? “Nah. The weather isn’t too bad. We’ll stay!”

The bats belong to the largest city bat colony in the world. They know it’s time to head south when temperatures reach 30 or 40 degrees. When it gets that cold, their food starts disappearing. When the crickets, beetles, and moths go, bats go too. This October, Austin had a cricket invasion. Bats are still feasting!

The calendar says autumn has come to Austin. But the thermometer doesn’t. The city has had 90 degree heat even in the middle of fall. Bats love that kind of weather. Will the warmth last through winter? If it does, the bats may not migrate at all. That isn’t a bad thing as long as they have enough food to eat. These bats have a cozy home to protect them from cold—the deep spaces under the Congress Avenue Bridge.

He changes times and seasons; He removes kings and sets up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. — Daniel 2:21

Posted: November 18, 2019

Wild turkeys are ruffling some feathers in a New Jersey neighborhood, and people have drummed up a plan to deal with them. (Or should we say, drumsticked up a plan?)

Scores of turkeys have flocked to a retirement community in Toms River, New Jersey. Residents say the large turkey flocks peck at cars. They even peck at  people who get too close.

“I had a small blow-up pool in my backyard for my grandson,” says Cindy Lijoi. “It lasted exactly one day. They pecked holes in it.” She says people sometimes can’t get out of their cars because turkeys are pecking at them and won’t move. 

Vinnie Caravello says he often sees groups of 20 to 30 birds strutting through the streets.

“They do cause damage,” he says. “If they see their reflection in the car, they’ll peck the car. And they take over the road.”

Others say they give the birds space and haven’t had any problems.

“They’re harmless,” says Deborah Richardson. “I talk to them. “ 

Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) officials have decided to trap and net turkeys and move them somewhere else. Crews have begun laying out trails of corn. Once the birds have a feeding routine, they’ll start dropping nets on them. They say the whole process will take weeks. 

In the meantime, officials give suggestions:  Use air horns to scare them away. Wave brooms at them. Spray them with water from garden hoses. Most of all, DON’T feed them.

Some residents admit that they have left food out for turkeys.

There are between 20,000 and 23,000 wild turkeys in New Jersey. That wasn’t always the case. Turkeys had disappeared from the state in the 1800s. In the late 1970s, New Jersey officials worked to bring them back. Residents say: “Mission accomplished! Enough with the turkeys already!”