Author: Lisa Mungovan

The state of Mississippi voted for more than president on election day. Residents also voted for a new state flag. Instead of the old design, which featured a Confederate flag used by the losing side in the Civil War, the new design is red, gold, and blue, with a magnolia flower in the center.

Here’s something gross but interesting. Researchers noticed, that ants kept cleaning their butts after they ate or drank. They decided to see what would happen, if they prevented the ants from cleaning themselves. They discovered that the formic acid which oozes out of ants’ butts, helps keep harmful bacteria out of their stomachs.

On Monday, 120 pilot whales got stranded on the beach in Sri Lanka. Pilot whales can grow 20 feet long, and weigh thousands of pounds. Sailors from Sri Lanka’s navy and coastguard, worked alongside volunteers, to push and pull the whales back into the ocean. Why the pod of whales beached, remains a mystery.

There’s still no decision, in the United States’ election for president. Votes are still being counted in some states, because the ballots had to be mailed by election day, and it takes time to deliver them. You can practice learning the locations of all the states, by looking at election result maps!

Do you have red hair? Today’s the day to celebrate its glorious color. It’s Love Your Red Hair Day! Today is also National Doughnut Day. Doughnuts are so good, there’s also a Doughnut Day in June. In 1847, 16 year-old Hanson Gregory claimed the invention of the first ring-shaped doughnut. Pardon me while I go eat doughnuts!

A school in Indonesia, understands that students are struggling to pay tuition, during the pandemic. A hospitality college in Bali, is allowing students to pay with coconuts! The school uses them to make and sell coconut oil. Students can also pay with moringa or gotu kola leaves, which are ingredients in herbal soaps.

Until recently, the Voeltzkow’s chameleon has been on the Global Wildlife Conservation’s 25 Most Wanted list. No one had seen the lizards for over 100 years. Scientists searching for species on the list, were thrilled to find a small group of Voeltzkow’s chameleons, living in Madagascar. I guess they were really good at staying camouflaged!

If Earthlings ever settle on Mars, whose laws would they follow? SpaceX is already thinking about it. The company responsible for commercial space flight, is drafting a Martian constitution. After all, it would be difficult for a terrestrial government to control what’s happening, on a planet 45,000,000 miles away!

Yesterday was Election Day in the United States. So who will the next president be? No one knows yet! Since so many people voted by mail because of the pandemic, it may be days, or even weeks, before all the ballots are counted. Everyone will need to be patient, including the candidates.

A 9-year-old boy named Tutankhaten became pharaoh, about 3300 years ago in Egypt. He took the name Tutankhamun, and became one of the most famous Egyptians ever. Today is King Tut Day, when King Tut’s tomb was discovered in 1922. It’s also Use Your Common Sense Day. You should know better than to do that!