Author: Lisa Mungovan

Today is Spumoni Day. Even though it’s often hard to find, it’s my favorite ice cream flavor! It has cherry, pistachio, and chocolate layers with candied fruits and nuts. It’s also Senior Citizens Day. Seniors can tell you awesome stories about the olden days before cell phones. Just ask!

A sea turtle got stranded in a condo’s pool, in the Cayman Islands. The swimming pool is right next to the beach, so the green sea turtle laid her eggs in the sand, then made a wrong turn and got trapped. Wildlife rescuers helped the turtle out, and released her back into the ocean.

A recent expedition to find a Somali sengi, was a happy success. Researchers had not seen the sengi, also known as an elephant shrew, since 1968. Locals recommended luring them with peanut butter, coconut, and yeast. Sure enough, they caught 12 of the tiny long-nosed mammals! They were happy to find the little guys weren’t extinct.

There’s another corpse flower blooming, this time in California, at San Francisco’s Conservatory of Flowers. Terra the Titan, is a corpse flower that blooms once every 7 years, and smells like rotting flesh! The giant flower only lasts 48 hours, and opens at night. Watch the livestream on YouTube, and be glad you don’t have smell-o-vision.

Did you know, some rocks can float? Pumice, which is highly porous volcanic rock, spewed out of a volcano deep in the Pacific Ocean. The buoyant chunks formed a giant raft, which floated to Australia. The pumice attracted algae and other organisms along the way, which are helping to revitalize Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

Turn off the TV and put down your screens today. It’s National Radio Day! The radio was invented in the late 18 hundreds. Before television, people gathered around the radio to listen to shows, like Dragnet or Gunsmoke. It’s also World Mosquito Day. Mosquitoes spread malaria and other diseases. But they’re great food for bats!

Some visitors to Magheraclogher Beach in Ireland, were surprised to see a cow come walking out of the water! It had wandered onto an island during low tide, and gotten stranded when the tide came in. The cow had to wait for the next low tide, to escape to dryer pastures.

Scientists in Florida are exposing the friendly side of sharks. They studied grey reef sharks, and found that they form long-lasting friendships with each other. The sharks form groups of about 20, and stick together for years. They also go hunting together, so their friendships help them catch food to survive. Good friendships are healthy!

Did you know that smiling is actually good for you? The upturning movement of your lips, can activate pleasure centers in your brain. That means, even a fake smile may make you feel happier. It’s also a good way, to make other people happy! Let’s all smile more, and spread some happiness!

It’s International Orangutan Day, celebrating the expressive orange-haired apes. They are an endangered species, found only in Borneo and Sumatra. While orangutans grow only about 5 feet tall, their arm span can reach 7 feet from tip to tip! Palm oil plantations are the biggest threat to the wild population, destroying their rainforest homes.