Helping Parents, Caregivers and Teachers Discover Quality Educational Kids Content.
Your Alexa device can’t understand any African languages yet. Neither can Google Home, or Apple’s Siri. But Mozilla has a Common Voice platform, that’s creating voice datasets for Kiswahili, which is spoken in 6 countries. Someday, Common Voice could enable 7100 different languages, to be used in voice-activated devices.
Today is Herbs And Spices Day. Grow your own mint, and pick a leaf any time you want refreshing breath. You can grow herbs in a sunny window. Experiment with spices, like sprinkling curry powder on your grilled cheese. Fun fact; KFC follows only 11 people on Twitter; 6 guys named Herb, and the Spice Girls!
Today is Black Cow Day. A black cow is root beer or cola with a scoop of ice cream in it. It’s also Iced Tea Day, another great drink for a hot day. While you’re enjoying your drink, celebrate Ballpoint Pen Day by writing about its invention in 1943, by Laszlo and Gyorgy Biro.
David Rush and Jonathan Hannon, reclaimed their world record. David stood on a balance ball, while his friend threw grapes at him, so he could slice them in the air with a samurai sword. He sliced 59 grapes in one minute. He’s a real-life fruit ninja! Now, who wants fruit salad?
A skunk in Ontario Canada, wanted to get the last drops of his McFlurry ice cream treat. The poor little guy, was wandering around with his head stuck in the cup. A police officer carefully removed the cup, before running away to avoid getting sprayed. He joked that they were Law and Odor.
Don’t forget to protect your eyes with eclipse glasses, while watching the sunrise tomorrow morning, to see the annular solar eclipse. Many people in the Northern Hemisphere will be able to see the Sun as a ring of fire, as the Moon moves in front of it. You may only see a partial eclipse.
Periodical cicadas are singing their songs, and they’re loud! They spend 17 years underground as nymphs, then emerge to eat and mate. Only the males sing. When millions sing together, the sound is incredible! The big bugs are harmless, so hold one on your finger and get a closer look. Maybe he’ll sing for you.
Quack-quack-quack. It’s Donald Duck Day! The beloved grumpy duck made his first appearance in a 19 34 cartoon. He’s been in even more movies than Mickey Mouse! It’s also Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day. What a sweet way, to eat your daily fruits and vegetables! Is your name Earl? You deserve extra pie, because it’s Earl Day!
A book checked out of a library in 19 83, has at long last been returned. Unfortunately, it was borrowed from the Shetland Library in Scotland, but returned 750 miles away, to a library in Suffolk England. To Sea in a Sieve, by Peter Bull, finally made it back to Shetland, only 38 years overdue.
Scientists successfully revived a microscopic creature, which was frozen underground for 24,000 years. A multi-celled aquatic animal called a rotifer, was found in the Siberian permafrost. It was able to reproduce after thawing out, showing that organisms can thrive, even after tens of thousands of years in cryptobiosis. If only these prehistoric creatures could talk!