Posted: April 23, 2019

A young bobcat survives a huge, deadly wildfire in California—and gives birth to four kittens!

Biologists find the bobcat’s den in dense vegetation in a big backyard near Los Angeles. While their mother is away, the biologists weigh, measure, and tag one male and three female kittens. They give them a check-up too. The kittens are about four weeks old. Each weighs about one pound.

Scientists call their mother B-362. (That’s the number on her tag. She was tagged the day before the start of last year’s Woolsey Fire in California. That fire destroyed 1,600 structures. It killed three people. B-362 was captured in an area the fire destroyed.)

“This cat first had to deal with her habitat getting completely burned in the fire and then finding a new home in an unburned area,” says biologist Joanne Moriarty. “She chose a den in thick brush where she could keep her kittens safe.”

Last year’s fires made life hard for wild animals as well as people. So scientists are relieved to see B-362 and her kittens doing well. They keep their eyes on another female bobcat in the burned area. She hasn’t had kittens yet.

Bobcats are meat-eating cats that can grow to be as big as 30 pounds. They can get used to living almost anywhere—forests, swamps, deserts, and even close to cities. But people don’t see them often because they come out only at night. Biologists say bobcats keep their kittens in their dens until they’re about three months old. At that age, the kittens will begin following mom as she hunts and goes about her day. Bobcats usually go off on their own at nine to 11 months old.

The four kittens are captured, collared, and released. (Ana Beatriz Cholo/National Park Service via AP)

Posted: April 22, 2019

There’s a whole lot of shakin’ going on in Southern California—10 times more than seismologists thought. But don’t worry. Most of those earthquakes are tiny. No one feels them!

Scientists used an old way to find teeny tiny earthquakes. They just published the results of their experiment in the journal Science. Between 2008 and 2017, they counted 1.8 million of the tremors! Other, less accurate measurements showed just under 180,000 quakes for the same time period.

Earthquakes happen when two blocks of Earth suddenly slip past each other. California has a lot of quakes because of faults, fractures in Earth’s crust. The new report says a tiny quake happens in Southern California about every three minutes!

To find the smaller quakes, the researchers used an older method. The method is based on the idea that earthquakes from certain places have unique wave patterns, kind of like fingerprints. The researchers looked for those quake “fingerprints.” The prints wouldn’t normally be seen unless you looked just for them. The scientists used a supercomputer and ultra-sensitive devices. The devices are so touchy they can detect traffic, construction, ocean waves, and large earthquakes across the planet!

When it comes to earthquakes, there’s a lot scientists still don’t understand. They hope detecting more of the tiny quakes will help them find patterns. These patterns could help them understand how faults work. Could that knowledge make them more able to predict bigger, dangerous quakes?  

May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in His works, who looks on the Earth and it trembles. ― Psalm 104:31-32

An earthquake monitoring station in San Diego County, California (USGS via AP)

Posted: April 19, 2019

Residents of a village in Russia are stunned. They’re watching a polar bear prowling for food—hundreds of miles from its usual home.

Russian reporters say the exhausted-looking animal seems to have traveled from Chukotka to the village of Tilichiki on Kamchatka, Russia. That’s a 434 mile trip! The bear could have lost its sense of direction while drifting on an ice floe.

Polar bears live in parts of Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia, and the United States. They normally eat seals. People and polar bears are not exactly buddies. They almost never encounter each other! And if you did meet a polar bear, he might mistake you for a delicious snack.

But this lost polar bear showed no aggression toward humans. Videos posted online show it moving past people in peace. Locals made the bear feel welcome, giving it fish.

Authorities in Kamchatka get ready. They want to rescue the polar bear later this week. They plan to use a sedative to put the bear to sleep. Then they will airlift it to Chukotka in a helicopter. The bear took a long, hard journey. At least it gets a ride home!

A polar bear walks on ice near Tilichiki, Russia, on April 16. (Alina Ukolova via AP)

Posted: April 18, 2019

Members of an oil rig crew in the Gulf of Thailand spot something splashing in the water. It’s a dog—135 miles from shore!

A worker on the rig, Vitisak Payalaw, says on his Facebook page that they saw the dog swimming toward the ship’s platform last Friday. He says they almost didn’t spot it. If there had been waves, the dog probably would not have been visible.

The dog made it to the platform. It clung to the support structure below deck without barking or whimpering. The crew lowered a rope, secured it around the dog’s neck, and hauled it up. Mr. Vitisak says they thought the dog might have fallen off a fishing boat. They named the dog Boon Rod. That means Survivor.

The dog was delivered to land on Monday. Workers at the animal protection group Watchdog Thailand checked the dog out and said it was in good shape.

What will happen to the dog next? It depends on whether someone claims it. If not, Mr. Vitisak would like to take it to his home in northeast Thailand.

“Survivor” rests at Dog Smile House Clinic in Songkhla, southern Thailand, on April 15. (Dog Smile House via AP)

Posted: April 18, 2019

Officials in Germany flip the switch. They have turned on the biggest offshore wind park in the Baltic Sea.

A wind park sounds fun. But you won’t find any rides or snow cones there. You’ll find lots and lots of windmills whirring out in the middle of the sea! The wind will be used to make electricity. This wind park should bring electricity to 400,000 homes!

Last year, more than 40 percent of Germany's electricity came from renewable sources such as wind and sun. The electricity in your house may come from a combination of coal, oil, and gas. These sources are what we call non-renewable. That means they only exist in limited supplies. The electricity could also come from sources like wind, sunlight, and water. Those resources are renewable. They don’t run out quickly like other fuels. They just keep working and working! German officials want 65 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.

How can wind become electricity? Learn all about wind farms in Jet Balloon. Do the wind power crossword too!  

For He commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. ― Psalm 107:25

German Chancellor Angela Merkel holds a toy windmill during an event launching the wind park on April 16. (Bernd Wuestneck/dpa via AP)

Posted: April 17, 2019

Poll workers in India are in tip-top shape. There is a good reason for that! They travel by train, road, helicopter, and boat to help people vote. They hike, climb, and wade through jungle waters. Poll workers will do anything it takes to collect votes. Why? Because every voter counts!

The world’s biggest vote takes place in a country known for its rugged land. India’s villages are scattered over mountains, rivers, deserts, forests, and national parks. The Members of the Election Commission want voting to be easy. They have ruled that no voter should have to travel more than two kilometers (just over a mile) from their home to vote. NO EXCEPTIONS! Voting in India is easy for voters. It’s the poll workers who have their work cut out for them!

This year’s election has 900 million voters. Indian officials are committed to reaching every single one. Poll workers take a ballot to the only human in one national park. He is a Hindu priest living among lions. It takes a whole day to hike to another village where just one woman is registered to vote.

Some polling stations are set up inside dense, Himalayan forest. Many places don’t even have roads. Sometimes Air Force helicopters help workers connect with voters. But often, the only way teams can reach a village is on foot. Poll workers walk hours through dark jungles. They’re careful to watch out for threatening herds of elephants on their trek!

Poll workers use flimsy bamboo suspension bridges to cross gorges. (A gorge is a narrow valley between steep, rocky hills.) Wind wobbles the bridges while the poll workers wiggle their way across. Teams carry oxygen tanks to help them reach people living at extremely high altitudes. Others carry torches, water filters, and emergency lights. They depend on local guides to lead them around the country.  

Reaching one island polling station takes a 24-hour ship ride. Next come rides on a speedboat, a life-boat, and a tribal “hodi” boat. But none of the boats gets poll workers to land. They must wade through waist-high water to shore. They wade carefully, watching for deadly crocodiles and sea snakes. Voting machines and polling papers are kept dry in plastic. All of this hassle for just nine voters!

“I had voted in elections, but I never had any idea of the work that goes into ensuring every single vote is cast,” says Dr. Monica Priyadarshini, an election officer.

Indian officials value the right to vote. Every single voter is pursued. Did you know that nothing can stand in the way of God’s love for you? Romans 8:38-39 says that nothing in all of creation can separate us from God’s love.

Indian election officials and soldiers walk along the river Brahmaputra in Majuli, Assam, India, on April 10. Boats carry poll workers and election materials to voters in remote parts of the country. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Posted: April 17, 2019

It’s FLYING—a giant, six-engine aircraft with the world’s longest wingspan!

The Stratolaunch lifted off and flew over the Mojave Desert in California on April 13. It climbed 17,000 feet into the sky. It flew for two-and-a-half hours and up to 189 miles per hour.

The airplane is massive. But it moved well for its size. The aircraft is designed to carry as many as three rockets at a time. The rockets will be stowed under the plane’s huge wing. When the plane reaches 35,000 feet, the rockets would be released. Their engines would ignite. Then the huge plane would really achieve its goal: The rockets would soar into space!

Why launch rockets from the plane instead of the ground? The huge plane can take off from many different airports. Ground rockets can launch only from specific launch sites. If weather is bad or air or ship traffic is busy at those sites, rockets can’t launch.

Some call Stratolaunch the biggest plane in the world. Really, other airplanes are longer from nose to tail. But Stratolaunch’s wings stretch bigger than any wings in the world—385 feet.

Stratolaunch, a giant six-engine aircraft with the world’s longest wingspan,  makes its historic first flight from the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, California. (AP Photo/Matt Hartman)

Posted: April 16, 2019

A small group of people in Germany keep an old, old tradition alive: egg painting.

The Sorb people live in eastern Germany. Sorbs have lived among Germans for centuries. But they have kept their own literature and traditions. Sorbian kids go to schools to learn the Wendish language so it is not lost. Sorbs are peaceful people. They obey the German government. For a long time, Sorbian parents have taught their children to paint Easter eggs. Their children have taught their children to paint Easter eggs. On and on the custom goes. On Sunday, around two dozen egg painters showed off their trade at an Easter egg market in Elsterheide, Germany.

Egg painter Werner Zaroba says he learned the craft from his grandparents. He remembers this: On Good Friday as a kid, “we would paint the eggs to give them to our godparents as an Easter present.”

Now Mr. Zaroba is elderly. But he sticks to the trade. He dips the eggs into a color bath. Then he uses fine knives to scratch delicate patterns on the surface of the eggshell. Mr. Zaroba says it takes him up to seven hours to decorate just one egg!

I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. ― John 11:25

Easter eggs at a traditional Easter market of Germany’s Sorb minority in the village Neuwiese in east Germany on April 14, 2019 (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Posted: April 15, 2019

Just two hours after Lee Dong Kil’s daughter was born on New Year’s Eve, the clock struck midnight. A new year had come—2019. And the baby became two years old. What?!

Did you know that every baby born in South Korea last year became two years old on January 1? South Korea has one of the most unusual ways of deciding how old a person is. South Korean babies become one on the day of their birth. They get another year tacked on when the calendar hits January 1. If the new baby grows up and travels the world, she may be 32 everywhere she goes . . . except South Korea, where she will be 34! Some say, “This is old fashioned!” And now some lawmakers work to change the custom.

People aren’t sure where the age system comes from. Maybe it started because people counted the time babies spent in their mothers’ wombs. Maybe it comes from an Asian number system that didn’t include zero. It could be that ancient Koreans cared a lot about the year in which they were born but not the specific day.

Now most South Koreans are just used to living with two ages.

So how do they celebrate? They don’t have a huge birthday party for everyone on New Year’s Day. They just celebrate their birthday on the days they were born.

Some South Koreans worry the practice makes their nation look odd to the rest of the world. Some feel confusion when meeting with foreigners.

But Korean age is also a way to show honor. In South Korea, those born in the same year often treat each other as equals. People must use respectful titles when talking to those born earlier.

Should South Korean officials start putting international ages in official documents? Not everyone agrees. It could make things easier . . . but it could also make things harder! South Koreans care deeply about the year they were born. Their “Korean age” helps them keep track of it.

But it can be a shock when parents have a baby close to the New Year. When the child suddenly turns two, it feels like the baby is growing up overnight!

Just two hours after Lee Dong Kil’s daughter was born on New Year’s Eve, the clock struck midnight. A new year had come—2019. And the baby became two years old. What?!

Did you know that every baby born in South Korea last year became two years old on January 1? South Korea has one of the most unusual way of deciding how old a person is. South Korean babies become one on the day of their birth. They get another year tacked on when the calendar hits January 1. If the new baby grows up and travels the world, she may be 34 everywhere she goes . . . except South Korea, where she will be 32! Some say, “This is old fashioned!” And now some lawmakers work to change the custom.

People aren’t sure where the age system comes from. Maybe it started because people counted the time babies spent in their mothers’ wombs. Maybe it comes from an Asian number system that didn’t include zero. It could be that ancient Koreans cared a lot about the year in which they were born but not the specific day.

Now most South Koreans are just used to living with two ages.

So how do they celebrate? They don’t have a huge birthday party for everyone on New Year’s Day. They just celebrate their birthday on the days they were born.

Some South Koreans worry the practice makes their nation look odd to the rest of the world. Some feel confusion when meeting with foreigners.

But Korean age is also a way to show honor. In South Korea, those born in the same year often treat each other as equals. People must use respectful titles when talking to those born earlier.

Should South Korean officials start putting international ages in official documents? Not everyone agrees. It could make things easier . . . but it could also make things harder! South Koreans care deeply about the year they were born. Their “Korean age” helps them keep track of it.

But it can be a shock when parents have a baby close to the New Year. When the child suddenly turns two, it feels like the baby is growing up overnight!

Posted: April 12, 2019

These high-tech spy eggs are scientific superheroes! Their mission is simple: Help whooping cranes hatch.

Scientists use the eggs to help save endangered whooping cranes. To birds, the eggs look real. But scientists know they are fake. The round plastic eggs are designed to spy on birds. Inside the egg is an infrared connection that sends information from the egg to computers.

Whooping cranes are long-legged birds. They are five feet tall—the tallest and the rarest birds living in North America. But the whooping crane family is in trouble. For years, people hunted the cranes. The birds lost their natural habitat. They almost went extinct. There were only 21 left! Humans helped those 21 cranes survive. Now close to 850 whooping cranes live in North America. The only remaining wild natural flock of whooping cranes lives in Calgary, Canada. Louisiana has 74 whooping cranes in the wild. Both Calgary and Louisiana have several hundred living in captivity. If you looked at all those birds at once, it would seem like a lot! But the whooping crane family should really be much bigger.

Biologists want to find out: What happens in a whooping crane nest? Why do some eggs hatch live chicks, but others don’t? First, scientists replace one of the real eggs in the nest with a spy egg. (Usually, whooping cranes lay two eggs.) The real egg is taken to the Audubon Nature Institute’s Species Survival Center in New Orleans. The egg goes into an incubator. The incubator keeps it warm so it can grow. Just before it is ready to hatch, scientists swap the eggs back. (Hopefully the whooping crane doesn’t figure out that it’s been spied on!)

Another name for a spy egg is a “data logger.” The eggs use smart phone technology. They record nest temperature. They also record whether the egg has been turned. Whooping cranes must turn their eggs to help the chicks inside the eggs grow.

Some whooping crane nests are hard to reach for an egg swap. Scientists keep an eye on these remote nests through airplane flyovers. For now, those nests won’t get spy eggs. But many others will. Scientists hope spy eggs will help baby whooping crane chicks survive. It will take several years to know if the project succeeds. What do you think? Is this an egg-cellent idea?

Let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens. ― Genesis 1:20

A data logger egg is seen on the left and a real whooping crane egg on the right, in Allen Parish, Louisiana, on March 6. (Eva Szyszkoski/Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries via AP)

Posted: April 11, 2019

Officials from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service make an announcement: Mexican gray wolves are roaming the American Southwest. The Southwest now has more wolves than it has in 20 years!

That’s great news for Mexican gray wolves. The wolves belong to an endangered species. Officials say at least 131 Mexican gray wolves live in the wild in New Mexico and Arizona. That marks a big jump for a tiny population.

Gray wolves are doing well in other parts of the United States. More than 6,000 now live in parts of nine states. So officials check their endangered species list. They wonder: Is it time to scratch off “gray wolf”?

But the story is a little different for Mexican gray wolves. They are the rarest kind of gray wolf in North America. People first released them in the Southwest in 1998. But the wolf population has struggled to grow. People poach the animals. Besides that, the wolves do not have a lot of genetic diversity. Wolves are closely related in a group that small. The more closely related they are, the less healthy their offspring will be. So Mexican gray wolves are doing better . . . but not nearly as well as people hoped they would by now.

What can people do? Some suggest releasing even more wolves into the Southwest. Ranchers say, “NO!” They don’t want wolves killing their animals.

The thought of having extra wolves near your house or farm can be scary. But it’s important to keep any ecosystem in balance. That means including predators like wolves. The new wolf count encourages people trying to save the species. The numbers show them the wolves just might survive.

Teachers who do not tell the truth about Jesus are compared to wolves in Matthew 7:15. Can you think of another time wolves are mentioned in the Bible?

A member of the Mexican gray wolf recovery team carries a wolf captured during a wolf count near Alpine, Arizona. (Mark Davis, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via AP)

Posted: April 11, 2019

An ancient shipwreck near the Greek island of Alonissos is open for business! At least, it’s open for exploring.

The Peristera shipwreck will now become the first ancient shipwreck accessible to the public in Greece. Even folks who dive just for fun can swim up and take a peek!

Greece has a rich underwater heritage. But it has been hidden for a long time. Until now, mainly archaeologists have been allowed to explore it. Scuba diving was banned throughout Greece except in a few spots until 2005. Why? Officials feared divers might find ancient shipwrecked treasure . . . and steal it! And people still worry about looting. Many shipwrecks in Greece are still off-limits.

But that seems to be changing little by little. People even work on a new project to create underwater museums. Divers will be able to tour certain shipwrecks. Non-divers will experience the sites through virtual reality information centers on land.

The first of these sites is the Peristera shipwreck. It was discovered in the 1990s. The cargo ship held thousands of amphorae (vases). The amphorae probably contained wine. The ship sank in the late fifth century B.C.! Now fish, sponges, and other sea creatures make the vases their home. In some places, the ship’s cargo towers above divers as they swim by.

The wreck still holds mysteries. People have explored only a small part of it. Experts still don’t know why it sank. Did it catch fire? Did pirates attack it? Was it just carrying too much? Besides these mysteries, no one knows what treasures the shipwreck might hold. Amateur divers going down for a tour of Peristera are getting the opportunity of a lifetime—a chance to dive into history.

Divers visit the fifth century B.C. shipwreck on April 7. (AP Photo/Elena Becatoros)

Posted: April 10, 2019

An explosive drops through space. It blasts the surface of an asteroid!

Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft hit the asteroid Friday. The blast formed a crater.

The mission was risky. Hayabusa2 had to immediately move away so it wouldn’t get hit by flying shards from the blast.

Officials at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) say Hayabusa2 dropped a small explosive box. The box sent a copper ball slamming into the asteroid. (The ball was about as big as a baseball.) Fine particles sprayed dozens of yards out. But Hayabusa2 got safely away.  

“The mission was a success,” says JAXA project manager Yuichi Tsuda.

JAXA officials plan to send Hayabusa2 back to the site after dust and debris settle. Then the craft will collect material from the new crater.

No such asteroid samples have ever been recovered before. In a 2005, a NASA mission to a comet studied fragments after blasting the surface. But the craft did not collect the pieces. Will this craft collect? It’s too early for JAXA scientists to celebrate yet. Their craft still needs to pick up the asteroid bits.

Hayabusa2 touched down on the asteroid in February. It collected some surface dust and small debris. The craft is scheduled to leave the asteroid at the end of 2019. Officials plan for it to bring underground samples back to Earth in late 2020. The asteroid is named Ryugu after an undersea palace in a Japanese folktale. It is about 180 million miles from Earth.

Why do scientists want to know what’s in an asteroid? They think it could show them how the Solar System formed. Can looking at space rocks give us hints about how God formed the universe? Maybe . . . but that’s a BIG mystery to crack!

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the Earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. ― Job 38:4

The Hayabusa2 spacecraft is seen above on the asteroid Ryugu. (ISAS/JAXA via AP)

Posted: April 10, 2019

Russian officials ask a French ocean explorer for advice: “How can we safely release our whales?” The nearly 100 whales were captured illegally. Russians hope the animals can be let into the wild during summer.

Jean-Michel Cousteau of the Ocean Futures Society arrived in Russia Friday. He is on a mission. He will inspect the mammals. Then he’ll help create conditions for them to be released.  (Do you recognize the name Cousteau? Mr. Cousteau is the son of the famous ocean studier Jacques Cousteau. Jacques Cousteau invented diving and scuba gear.)

People around the world worry about the trapped whales. Russian president Vladimir Putin orders an investigation. He tells authorities to let the whales go.

Whales are worth a fortune on the black market. Some people think these whales were captured to sell to amusements parks in China. Russian law allows only for the capture of whales for “scientific” purposes.

Activists first raised the alarm about the whales late last fall. They saw that 101 belugas and orcas had been captured. The whales were placed in a marine containment facility in Russia. The activists call it a “whale prison.” Since then, some of the whales have escaped. Some people say others have died because of cramped conditions.

What will it take to get the whales back to normal life in the wild? Mr. Cousteau is there to find out. But Russian scientists know it will take money. They guess it will cost about 300 million Russian rubles. That’s about 4.6 million American dollars.

Captured marine mammals swim in a holding facility in Srednyaya Bay near the port of Nakhodka, Russian Far East. (Whale Watching Russia via AP)

Posted: April 9, 2019

Wild ponies living on Virginia’s Eastern Shore get a roundup. Why? Visitors have ignored warnings that say, “Don’t come too close!”

People love to come see the wild Chincoteague ponies every year. The unique animals live on two islands—Chincoteague and Assateague. Every year, about 60 new ponies are born on Assateague Island. If they all kept living there, they would run out of food. So people round them up every summer and move them to Chincoteague. Foals are auctioned. Thousands of people watch the ponies swim from island to island.

The official pony roundup will happen on April 12 and 13. That’s when the ponies get a health check. At that time, authorities will also check to see if any new foals have been born. But this year, the ponies will stay corralled on Assateague Island until those days.

The Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company owns and cares for the Virginia pony herds on Assateague Island. Spokeswoman Denise Bowden says they’ve tried many times to teach people not to come near the ponies. She warns: One kick or bite from one of these animals could badly injure someone!

You can read lots more about Chincoteague ponies at WORLDKids!

Ponies arrive on shore during the annual Pony Swim in Chincoteague, Virginia, last July. (Alex Driehaus/The Virginian-Pilot via AP)

Posted: April 8, 2019

Yabba Dabba Do . . . . or Yabba Dabba DON’T? A wealthy California homeowner has her house all decked out like The Flintstones cartoon from the 1960s. Some people don’t like it at all!

Towering dinosaurs and fanciful mushrooms stand in the sloping backyard. A life-sized Fred Flintstone welcomes visitors near the front door. And by the driveway on the lawn is a giant “Yabba Dabba Do” sign in orange, purple, and red. A steep staircase leads to a garden of giant metal “stone-age” animals.

Does the owner have the right to decorate her house however she wants? Some say yes. Others say no. The unusual house is visible from the highway. Some passersby say seeing the house makes them smile. Others say it hurts their eyes! The homeowner has ignored messages from city officials telling her to take down her garden items, which aren’t allowed by law. Which side is right? A court will decide.

The Flintstone House in Hillsborough, California, on April 1 (AP Photo/Terry Chea)