Author: Lisa Mungovan

Sometimes pink skies come from sunsets, or because of the Aurora Borealis. But last week, England’s West Midlands sky was mysteriously glowing pink, for another reason. A snowstorm hitting LED lights on a soccer field, there to help the grass grow, caused the blue wavelengths to scatter, while enhancing the red and orange wavelengths.

Our galaxy, the Milky Way, contains approximately 100,000,000,000 stars, and there could be 2,000,000,000,000 galaxies in the universe. But did you know there’s one galaxy, with no visible stars at all? The spiral galaxy, called J0613+52, is made of primordial gas, that was apparently never disrupted, so star formation was not triggered.

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.

Mammals produce milk for their babies. Baby humans drink their mama’s milk, but older humans drink cow’s milk or goat’s milk. Milk can also be made from plants. Today is Milk Day, so compare animal milk, with soy, almond, oat, or coconut milk. They’re delicious, and also great for people with dairy allergies.

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!

Today is Save The Eagles Day. It started in 2015, as a way to save a pair of bald eagles named Alice and Al, whose nest was threatened by developers. The day expanded, to raise awareness of the many eagles around the world. There are over 60 varieties, the largest with over 7-foot wingspans!

Conserving energy is good for the planet, so start with your own home, on Cut Your Energy Costs Day. Adjust your thermostat a few degrees, and wear a sweater. Run the dishwasher with a full load. Use LED light bulbs. You could even unplug your TV and game consoles. Ha-ha, just kidding!

What can help protect your heart, lower blood pressure, is made from a bean, and is celebrated today? Bittersweet chocolate! The bitter tasting flavonols that carry health benefits are removed from cacao beans to make sweeter chocolate, so if you want your chocolate to be good for you, bitter is better!

Today is Peculiar People Day, in honor of those individuals who are a little strange. Do your own thing and be proud! It’s also Houseplant Appreciation Day. You might have even more houseplants in the winter, hiding out from the cold, so tell them thank you for giving you cleaner air!

Did you know there’s a Japanese toilet paper, made from used diapers? The cities of Shibushi and Osaki operate a program to separate disposable diapers from the waste stream. Tons of material is sanitized, bleached, and shredded, then mixed with recycled paper, to create thousands of poop-free rolls of toilet paper.