Author: Lisa Mungovan

Boomerangs are basically aerodynamic sticks, designed to return to you when thrown the right way. But a good hardwood boomerang, can also be used to dig, hammer, start fires, or sharpen bone or stone objects. Ancient boomerangs were used by Australia’s First Nations peoples for stone-knapping, to chip away the edges to shape tools.

Roses are red. Violets are blue. Some poems rhyme, but this one doesn’t. It’s Bad Poetry Day! Write a really bad poem for fun. It might be so bad, it’s good! It’s also Fajita Day. When you order a fajita you get your own sizzling pan of veggies, and tortillas to wrap them up!

Peter McConville, Pasha Krechetov, and Abdullahi Salah, have visited all 50 states, and they did it in less than a week! The trio of friends started in Vermont, driving through the lower 48 states. They then flew to Alaska and Hawaii, in a total time of 5 days, 13 hours, and 10 minutes.

After letting the public vote on a name, the Cincinnati Zoo announced that their new baby hippopotamus, has been named Fritz. His older sister, Fiona, is a social media star. Fritz and his mom, Bibi, are still in a private area for now, but they’ll soon be moved to the public habitat display.

Have you ever watched a video, with subtitles? New augmented reality glasses, that connect to a smartphone, let you see subtitles for real-life conversations. They’re being developed for deaf people, so they can read what others are saying to them. The closed captioning device, known as XRAI glasses, even works with phone calls.

I’d like you to get out a number 2 pencil. Don’t worry, it’s not for a test. It’s just Number 2 Pencil Day! The number indicates how hard the graphite core is. Softer number 1 pencils are used by artists for drawing, and harder number 3 pencils, are used by architects and engineers.

Today is Black Cat Appreciation Day. Black cats are least likely to be adopted. One ridiculous reason, is that they’re not as photogenic! Consider giving a black kitty a good home. It’s also Thrift Shop Day. Be good to the Earth, and reuse what other people no longer need. Plus, it’s a bargain!

Don’t be alarmed if you see a squirrel, stretched out flat on the ground. It’s just trying to stay cool. On hot days, squirrels and other animals sploot on cool surfaces, to dump heat. Many mammals have less fur on their bellies, so the cooler temperatures of a shaded rock feels refreshing.

A group of cave explorers, or spelunkers, were mapping a cave in Missouri, when they found a dog. She was 200 feet into the cave, down a very steep, tight passage. The team passed her hand-to-hand, up to the surface. Identified as Abby, she’d been missing for 2 months. She’s happy to be out!

Hurricanes have long been given names, while big winter storms have only recently been named. Now, for the first time, a heat wave has received the honor. July’s heat wave in Spain, where temperatures reached 112° Fahrenheit, is named Zoe. Naming weather events makes the public more aware, of the extreme danger they bring.