Author: Lisa Mungovan

Losing your favorite toy on a trip is sad. 2-year-old Hagen Davis, left his Buzz Lightyear action figure on a Southwest Airlines plane. Employees went to infinity and beyond to reunite them, after finding Hagen’s name on Buzz’s foot. They shipped Buzz home in a cardboard shuttle, along with photos of his airport adventures.

Long ago, cheetahs weren’t only found in Africa. The big cats also roamed across Asia, from Turkey to India. They were hunted to extinction in India in the 19 50’s, but the country is ready to welcome cheetahs home. They hope to relocate 40 cheetahs from Namibia and South Africa, and protect them as they repopulate.

Today is Tolkien Reading Day. Settle down with Lord of the Rings, or The Hobbit, by JRR Tolkien. Since Hobbits love to eat, enjoy a stack of waffles while you read! It’s also Waffle Day, as well as Pecan Day. Whether you say pea-can or pea-khan, the nut is delicious, especially in waffles!

16-year-old Torri’ell Norwood, passed her high school’s CPR class, which taught her lifesaving skills. The next day, she and 3 passengers were in an accident, when a speeding driver crashed into her car. When she realized her friend A’zarria Simmons, had no pulse, Torri’ell started chest compressions. A’zarria soon regained consciousness, thanks to her BFF.

Did your bicycle ever get a flat tire? A new type of tire, could make flats a thing of the past. The SMART tire company is using technology developed by NASA, to make strong elastic tires, that never go flat. If the material is good enough for a Mars rover, it’ll definitely handle potholes.

Archaeologists have been studying a 46,000-year-old tooth. The molar once belonged to a Neanderthal man in his 30’s. They found a groove on the side of the tooth, indicating the prehistoric human used a toothpick to clean food from between his teeth. The early dental tool, was probably made of bone or wood.

Spaghetti, macaroni, rotini, linguini, penne. Are you tired of the same old noodle shapes? Get ready for a new type of pasta, called cascatelli. The word is Italian, for little waterfalls, and that’s what the noodles look like. Picture a slide with ruffled sides, that holds onto tons of sauce. What a fun shape!

Raisinets have been around since 1927. Every hour, more than 1,000,000 of the chocolate-coated raisins are produced. How many do you think you could eat in an hour? Today is Chocolate Covered Raisin Day, so indulge yourself! You can pretend they’re a healthy snack. After all, they are full of fruit!

Do you ever pick up interesting rocks? 11-year-old Zvi Ben-David, in Israel, found a stone that was actually an ancient relic. It was a 2,500-year-old fertility amulet. The smooth stone statue, is less than 3 inches tall, and extremely rare. It was worn down over the centuries, so it’s lucky Zvi took a closer look!

If you have a telescope, and live in the Northern Hemisphere, you can see a classical nova, where there was an explosion on the surface of a star. Astronomers have named it V1405 Cas, because it’s near the Cassiopeia constellation. Luckily, amateur astronomer Yuji Nakamura spotted the glow, which hadn’t been there 4 days earlier.