Author: Lisa Mungovan

Russian swimmer Yekaterina Nekrasova took a deep breath, and dove into icy Lake Baikal in Siberia, to break a world record. She swam a distance of 280 feet under the ice, before surfacing for air! The rules stated Yekaterina could wear only a swimsuit. It took her about 1 1/2 minutes to accomplish the amazing feat.

The Vienna Zoo in Austria, welcomed a trio of emperor tamarin monkey babies last month. The triplets are now 6 weeks old, and only the size of a grape, but they’re already starting to grow moustaches! Emperor tamarins have a long white moustache, so the tiny tots will soon look like little old men.

After Joe Biden is inaugurated US President on January 20th, his 2 dogs, Major and Champ, move to the White House with him. Major will be the first shelter pup to ever become First Dog! His former home is holding an online Indoguration for him on January 17th, to raise money for the Delaware shelter.

Today is Marzipan Day. Marzipan is made using almond meal, and sugar or honey. The paste can be rolled out to cover cakes, or formed into sweet edible sculptures, like tiny animals or fruits, realistically painted with food coloring. I’d like to make all the planets. You could make a pan of marzipan Marzes!

Kristen Tapping, a design student in England, created a device that cleans the air, while you ride your bike. Rolloe is a recyclable air filter, that attaches to the bicycle wheel. Ozone, CO2, and NO2 get filtered out of the polluted air as it passes through, so you can go green, and help clean!

New research shows that millions of years ago, Megalodon shark babies were bigger than a human at birth. Paleontologists believe the shark pups hatched from their eggs in the womb, growing bigger and stronger before they were born. The 6-foot newborns would grow into 50-foot long mega-sharks, and lose 40,000 teeth over their lifetime.

Today is Clean Off Your Desk Day. Find a few minutes at school, to organize your desk, and don’t forget to sanitize it! If you’re learning from home because of the pandemic, and don’t have a desk, clean off your workspace and make a clutter-free zone. Oh, you study from your bed? Make it.

Dot-dash, dot-dash-dot-dot, dot, dash-dot-dot-dash, dot-dash. That’s my name! What’s yours? It’s Learn Your Name In Morse Code Day. Morse code assigned a pattern of short and long taps to each letter, to communicate by telegraph before telephones were invented. Use it to send messages by flashlight, or tapping on your desk.

Melting snow makes great slush puddles. They’re perfect for Step In A Puddle And Splash Your Friends Day! You should probably warn them first, so they can either run away, or get ready to splash you back. After all, we wouldn’t want it to become Everyone’s Mad At You For Getting Them Wet Day!

It’s sometimes hard to concentrate in school, when you’re sitting at your desk for hours. If your school is doing virtual learning because of the pandemic, it might be even harder. Researchers found that a short burst of exercise, can help your concentration. Take a brisk walk or do jumping jacks, to focus better.