Author: Lisa Mungovan

Scientists may have discovered a new species of whale. The beaked mammal was first heard off the coast of Mexico in 2018, but they were able to photograph one this year. Beaked whales spend most of their time thousands of meters underwater, so they’re hard to study. Researchers have lots of investigating ahead of them!

Horses have lived on Earth for over 50,000,000 years. Humans domesticated them, to help them travel, farm, or compete in races, but there are still horses that live in the wild. Horses can run up to 55 miles-per-hour! The world’s tallest horse, Big Jake, is over 7 feet tall. Thumbelina, the world’s smallest horse, was only 17 inches!

Today is Cocoa Day! The ancient Mayans first created chocolate drinks 2000 years ago. By the 15th century, cocoa was an important part of Aztec culture in Mexico. Hot chocolate used to be a treatment for stomach ailments. Now, hot cocoa is popular all over the world. Add some cayenne pepper, for cocoa with a kick!

Today is Violin Day, the first instrument that many kids learn to play. If your school has a strings program, be sure to sign up! Listen to classical, bluegrass, or Irish music to hear fantastic fiddling! It’s also World Choral Day, if you’d prefer singing. Sing holiday songs with your family!

Decoraciones Globos, a party balloon company in Florida, used some words of wisdom to break a world record. Using 7,236 balloons, they wrote the largest balloon sentence ever. The huge letters spelled out, “Success has nothing to do with luck, it is a matter of consistency.” The 53 letters, were each taller than a human!

The 3 Little Pigs built their houses from straw, sticks, and bricks. They should’ve used mushrooms! Phil Ross, a designer in California, makes bricks out of mycelium. The fast-growing fungus eats sawdust, and converts the wood cellulose to chitin, the same material as an insect’s exoskeleton. The bricks are waterproof, fire-resistant, and stronger than concrete.

One odd symptom of Covid-19, could help you identify if you’re infected. It’s called anosmia, which is loss of smell. Sometimes, that’s the only symptom, so you might be infecting others without knowing it. If you can’t smell coffee, your favorite scented candle, or your brother’s smelly farts, quarantine and get tested for COVID-19.

Old-timey phones used to actually ring. On Ding-A-Ling Day, call people you haven’t talked to in years. Your old babysitter would love to hear from you! Set your mobile’s ring-tone, to old phone, so you’ll ding-a-ling when someone calls you. It’s also Ambrosia Day. The sweet salad has coconut, fruit, marshmallows, and whipped cream!

Today is Gingerbread House Day. If you try to make a gingerbread house and it breaks, just make it look like a giant jawbreaker-asteroid smashed into it! It’s also Poinsettia Day, a plant indigenous to Mexico. Its vibrant red and green leaves make it a favorite around Christmas, and it has tiny yellow flowers.

The SpaceX company, hopes to send people to Mars someday. A prototype of a Starship rocket, was tested on Wednesday. The launch, which was unmanned, was successful. Unfortunately, the Starship’s landing speed was too fast, so it crashed and exploded. It gave the SpaceX team plenty of data, to improve on the next model.