Largo Argentina in Rome where Julius Caesar was killed –Jean-Christophe BENOIST, CC license / Wikimedia
Largo Argentina in Rome where Julius Caesar was killed –Jean-Christophe BENOIST, CC license / Wikimedia
It’s one of the most infamous crime scenes in history. Now, “Beware the Ides of March,” “Why this is force!” “Et tu, Brutae?” and all the other utterances can be enjoyed by you and your friends as Rome has opened to the public the spot where Julius Caesar was assassinated.
For decades, the “Sacred Area” at Argentina Square in the Eternal City sat silent as the bustling city was built up around it. The 4 temples and the walls of Pompey’s mansion the Curia, were frequented only by ghosts and cats.
Now, with the help of the luxury jewelry brand Bulgari, the Sacred Area is open to visitation from the public. Costing just €5 for non-residents, a series of elevated walkways can take visitors through the area where aggrieved senators stabbed the Roman dictator to death on the Ideas of March (15th).
The temples were first discovered when Benito Mussolini was demolishing Medieval-era structures as part of an urban renewal program. Rome’s top archaeologist, Claudio Parisi Presicce, told the AP that they are quite sure the area contains Pompey’s Curia because latrines were discovered on the wall near 2 of the temples.
Leave it to the Romans to be so litigious as to comment on the exact placement of Pompey’s latrines.
The temples are believed to have honored female deities—like Fortuna, the goddess of chance and fertility. A colossal stone carving of a female head was found during excavations, furthering that hypothesis along.
Presicce called it one of the best-preserved ruins of Rome from the Republican period, and perhaps one day it can stage Shakespeare’s famous depiction of the life and times of the controversial figure.
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Quote of the Day: “Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.” – Dalai Lama
Photo by: Levi Guzman
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Alejandro Núñez Vicente, left, designed the Chaise Longue double level airplane seat concept – credit 1OFF Media released
At an innovation fair in Germany, a young man might have just found a way to seat more people in an aircraft while simultaneously giving them more legroom and accessibility.
How could such a thing be possible? Check out these double-decker airplane seats.
23-year-old designer Alejandro Núñez Vicente presented a revised concept of his original vision that flopped at last year’s Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX) in Hamburg, Germany. When the expo came back around, Vicente proved himself flexible and open to constructive criticism.
His new-and-improved design solves many issues that people identified, particularly those to do with claustrophobia.
First things first—this isn’t likely to be seen aboard a flight any time soon. However, he is in the process of getting approval from all the major air travel regulatory bodies.
The Chaise ‘Longue,’ as Vicente’s design is called, would be situated in the middle row of large aircraft, with the aisle/window seats remaining how we’ve always known them.
Those opting for these seats would sacrifice the inflight entertainment system for more comfort, with legroom that would easily accommodate people above 6 feet 2 inches in height on the bottom level, and seats that recline far further back on the upper level.
The upper level is reached by 2 sturdy steps, while the seats on the bottom level can fold up movie theater-style to accomodate wheelchair passengers.
“We know that this will work at some point and people will be grateful for it even though they don’t know it now, they will be grateful that someone was pushing for a new economy class seat,” Vicente told CNN Travel.
Indeed, most airlines aren’t interested in innovations in economy seating. First class and business class is typically where innovations happen. Subject to one of the highest degrees of mass regulation of any industry, large airlines have almost no time or budgetary consideration for permanently addressing economy concerns.
For years, as Vicente pointed out, the only consideration ever given was how to fit more passengers into the plane’s economy section. The Chaise Longue is a way to clear two hurdles with one leap—getting more passengers on a plane, thereby lowering the ticket cost for everyone, and improving the flying experience—at least for those in the middle row.
FLY This Aircraft Seat Concept Over To Your Friends And See What They Say…
(left) Michael Leigh the judoka stands with his ninth dan, (right) Leigh performing a foot-sweep on his opponent.
(left) Michael Leigh the judoka stands with his ninth dan, (right) Leigh performing a foot sweep on his opponent; note the extreme flex in his right foot—needed to apply maximum force to sweep his opponent’s planted foot.
A 90-year-old master who’s still limber enough to get on the mat every once in a while has just been awarded his ninth degree, or dan, in Judo.
Only 6 individuals in the UK hold a ninth dan, and Michael Leigh is the oldest judoka in the country to reach what is the second-highest rank in the sport.
Michael Leigh set up the Kin Ryu Judo Club in Crawley, West Sussex, in 1976 after taking up the martial art in 1955 in London and acting as a backup on the UK ’64 Olympic team.
He first discovered the sport while working in the Royal Air Force, after he stumbled on a judo book in a charity shop written by the co-founder of the London Judo Society. He thought it “looked interesting”.
He went on to become the chairman of British Judo for two terms, a national coach, and an international referee.
“When I heard the news I couldn’t quite take it in,” Leigh wrote for his club’s news section. “Knowing that there are only five other people in the UK who have been awarded 9th dan, I find myself amongst peers I greatly admire and respect. I appreciate this recognition of my lifetime of commitment to the amazing sport of Judo and I will hold the grade with great pride and honour.”
Leigh’s school became the largest in the UK at one point, with 520 members in three locations: Crawley, Horley, and Horsham.
“I’ve had a very interesting life, I’ve been to about 160 countries,” he told the BBC, adding that it had been a “wonderful journey”.
“I’m tempted to go on the mat but until my current disabilities go away I don’t think I’ll be able to,” he said. “I miss it very much, but everything has a beginning, middle, and end.”
After obtaining the black belt, judokas move onto the ten dan levels. The last four are generally honorary, with judges at the International Judo Federation taking into consideration their lifelong accomplishments.
Judo is a grappling martial art that involves using leverage and grips to throw opponents to the ground and can be physically punishing. Perhaps the most famous Judo practitioner in popular culture was the former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Rhonda Rousey.
In one respect, Rousey and Leigh have more than just their martial skill in common—both have helped make the sport more inclusive.
As a silver citizen, Leigh has organized championships in the UK for older judokas and a special needs Judo program.
Although “more of an oracle” now, Martin Rivers who co-manages the Crawley Judo club said Leigh still gets on the mat from time to time, and certainly doesn’t look a day over 75.
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During a routine dive to clean the oceans off the coast of Florida, 4ocean CEO Alex Schulze found something that obviously still had value to someone.
The brand new iPhone sealed in a plastic bag was in far better shape than most of the smartphones found by Schulze and his cleanup crews, being waterlogged and unable to turn on.
Along with the bag, the phone was sporting a waterproof case, and Alex was able to charge the phone and get in touch with the person’s emergency contact.
Despite all odds, he was able to return the phone to its thankful owner while simultaneously triggering a viral TikTok sensation with over 3 million views on the video chronicling the discovery
“We’re always stoked about the work we do cleaning the ocean,” Alex Schulze, CEO and co-founder of 4ocean, told GNN. “But it’s even better to make someone’s day by returning what’s important to them!”
courtesy of 4ocean
4ocean are the guys famous for selling those bracelets made of beads of ocean plastic, and their work in the US, Guatemala, and Indonesia has removed over 29 million pounds (13.1 million kg) of plastic from oceans, rivers, and coastlines.
Their newest location is on the Rio Motagua, in Guatemala. One of Central America’s longest and most polluted rivers, it deposits roughly 2% of the plastic that enters our oceans.
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It looks fake at first glance—how could 3,400 years of time leave a hunk of metal so untouched?
Yet when archaeologists from Bavaria’s State Office for Monument Protection first uncovered the sword, it literally “almost still shines.”
Found in the grave of a man near the town of Nördlingen, the sword is thought to have been forged in bronze during the 14th century BCE using the most sophisticated methods available.
Early swords and long knives from the Homeric Bronze Age in Greece were cast in bronze from a single mold—like a bronze statue. The Nördlingen weapon by contrast was made by casting the hilt onto the previously-made blade.
The grave contained the remains of a man, a boy, and a woman along with bronze arrowheads and other objects. Archaeologists aren’t sure if they’re related.
ARCHÄOLOGIE BÜRO DR. WOIDICH
The sword, which has an octagonal pommel, is believed to have been a real, functional weapon, but was probably not meant to be used in anger.
If the dating of the weapon is correct, it was probably made in the Tumulus Culture, the dominant Middle Bronze Age Celtic society in central Europe, extending from the Carpathians to the Rhine.
A warrior society, the Tumulus people were nevertheless skilled metalworkers, especially in gold and bronze, and the earliest metallic representation of a human body part ever found in archaeology corresponds to these charismatic Europeans.
Quote of the Day: “Cheerfulness is the best promoter of health—as friendly to the mind as to body.” – Joseph Addison
Photo by: Jusdevoyage
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By Ariffin Mohamad Annuar (via Camridge University)
By Ariffin Mohamad Annuar (via Camridge University)
Cambridge University researchers have demonstrated how carbon dioxide can be captured from industrial processes – or even directly from the air – and transformed into clean, sustainable fuels using just the energy from the sun.
They developed a solar-powered reactor that uses captured CO2 and plastic waste (which acts as a catalyst) and converts it into sustainable fuels and other valuable chemical products.
Over several years of testing, CO2 was converted into syngas, a key building block for sustainable liquid fuels, and plastic bottles were converted into glycolic acid, which is widely used in the cosmetics industry.
Unlike earlier tests of their solar fuels technology, however, the team took CO2 from real-world sources—such as industrial exhaust or the air itself. They were able to capture and concentrate the CO2 and convert it into sustainable fuel.
The researchers appreciate the advances in carbon capture and storage, where CO2 is captured and then pumped and stored underground. But instead, they believe the smart move is ‘carbon capture and utilization’—making something useful from CO2 instead of burying it underground.
Something like photosynthesis—the inspiration behind the work done by Professor Erwin Reisner and his team in the Department of Chemistry and at the Cambridge Circular Plastics Centre where they develop net-zero carbon fuels.
To date, their solar-driven experiments used pure, concentrated CO2 in cylinders, but for the technology to be of practical use, it needs to actively capture CO2 from the air, which is a huge technical challenge because the air contains many types of molecules besides CO2. That’s where the plastic came in handy.
By bubbling air through the system containing an alkaline solution, the CO2 selectively gets trapped, and the other gases in the air, such as nitrogen and oxygen, harmlessly bubble out. This bubbling process allows the researchers to concentrate the CO2 from air in a solution, making it easier to work with.
“The plastic component is an important trick to this system,” said co-first author Dr. Motiar Rahaman. “Capturing and using CO2 from the air makes the chemistry more difficult. But, if we add plastic waste to the system, the plastic donates electrons to the CO2. The plastic breaks down to glycolic acid, which is widely used in the cosmetics industry, and the CO2 is converted into syngas, which is a simple fuel.”
The integrated system contains a photocathode and an anode and has two compartments: on one side is captured CO2 solution that gets converted into syngas. On the other side plastics are converted into useful chemicals using only sunlight.
“This solar-powered system takes two harmful waste products—plastic and carbon emissions—and converts them into something truly useful,” said co-first author Dr. Sayan Kar.
“Instead of storing CO2 underground, we can capture it from the air and make clean fuel from it,” said Rahaman. “This way, we can cut out the fossil fuel industry from the process of fuel production, which can hopefully help us avoid climate destruction.”
“The fact that we can effectively take CO2 from air and make something useful from it is special,” said Kar. “It’s satisfying to see that we can actually do it using only sunlight.”
For years, Reisner and his team have been developing net-zero carbon fuels inspired by photosynthesis—the process by which plants convert sunlight into food—by using artificial leaves. These artificial leaves convert CO2 and water into fuels using just the power of the sun.
Photo by Virgil Andrei (via Cambridge)
The scientists are currently working on improving the efficiency of their bench-top demonstrator device. Although improvements are needed before this technology can be used at an industrial scale, the results, reported in the journal Joule, represent another important step toward the production of clean fuels to power the economy—without the need for environmentally destructive oil and gas extraction.
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A scuba diver has forged an unlikely bond with a wild fish and the pair meet up every summer beneath the waves for a reunion.
Rex Colubra made friends with the small mouth bass while on a fresh water dive in September 2021.
The odd encounter ended with the 40-year-old naming the fish Elvis.
According to the diver, the pair now see each other every year when Rex travels back to the Wisconsin lake where Elvis lives.
If you have any doubts about the validity of this claim, watch the video below and you might be persuaded.
The 40-year-old print-shop worker says he taught Elvis a specific call, to which it will respond.
“I will do a gulping grunt sound with my throat and he’ll come find me.”
He also claims his little ‘friend’ gets jealous if other fish come around. “Elvis will literally just fight other fish if they get too close to me to keep them away.”
Speaking about their first encounter, Rex recalled, “It was like any other dive. I was checking out a new spot and all these fish where coming up to me. I noticed one was sticking closer than the rest. He wasn’t scared even when I got out. He stuck close to the surface in the shallows.”
Two weeks later, Rex returned and said the fish recognized him and approached him. Elvis is recognizable because of a scar on his face, most likely from being caught and released by a fisherman.
Diver Rex Colubra feeding crawfish to his buddy –SWNS
“I returned and fed him some crawfish. Now, he’s completely obsessed with me. He follows me around and just stares me in the eyes.”
Rex never reveals which lake he goes to, so he can protect the bass from fishermen. Since the two met, there have been a couple of scares. Last year, it took Rex a while to find Elvis and feared it had died.
“It’s the risk he runs every year,” added the diver, who doesn’t approve of competitive fishing done for sport alone.
NASA - Boeing demonstrator X-plane aircraft (SWNS)
NASA – Boeing demonstrator X-plane aircraft (SWNS)
NASA and Boeing have unveiled the plane they hope will save the Earth.
The aim is for the experimental aircraft to help reach a net zero aviation emissions goal by 2050 in the U.S.
Working with NASA as part of a $725 million agreement, Boeing will build, test, and fly a full-scale demonstrator aircraft with extra-long, thin wings stabilized by diagonal struts, known as a Transonic Truss-Braced Wing concept.
It is hoped the new X-plane will inform a potential new generation of more sustainable single-aisle aircraft, which is the workhorse of passenger airlines around the world.
The space agency and Boeing said the aircraft produced through the agency’s Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project has been designated by the U.S. Air Force as the X-66A.
“At NASA, our eyes are not just focused on stars,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “The Sustainable Flight Demonstrator will help shape the future of aviation, a new era where aircraft are greener, cleaner, and quieter, and create new possibilities for the flying public and American industry alike.”
The X-66A is the first plane specifically focused on helping the U.S. achieve the goal of net-zero aviation greenhouse gas emissions.
“To reach our goal of net zero aviation emissions by 2050, we need transformative aircraft concepts like the ones we’re flying on the X-66A,” said Bob Pearce, associate administrator for NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, who announced the designation at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Aviation Forum in San Diego.
“We’re aiming high to demonstrate the kinds of energy-saving, emissions-reducing technologies the aviation industry needs.”
The Air Force confers X-plane status for development programs that set out to create revolutionary experimental aircraft configurations. The designation is for research aircraft and, with few exceptions, X-planes are intended to test designs and technologies that can be adopted into other aircraft designs, not serve as prototypes for full production.
“The X-66A will be the next in a long line of experimental aircraft used to validate breakthrough designs that have transformed aviation,” said Todd Citron, Boeing chief technology officer. “With the learnings gained from design, construction, and flight-testing, we’ll have an opportunity to shape the future of flight and contribute to the decarbonization of aerospace.”
The X-66A aircraft validates technologies for a Transonic Truss-Braced Wing configuration that, when combined with other advancements in propulsion systems, materials, and systems architecture, could result in up to 30% less fuel consumption and reduced emissions when compared with today’s best-in-class aircraft.
Due to their heavy usage, single-aisle aircraft today account for nearly half of worldwide aviation emissions. Creating designs and technologies for a more sustainable version of this type of aircraft has the potential for profound impact on emissions.
For the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator, NASA has a Funded Space Act Agreement with Boeing through which the agency will invest $425 million over seven years, while the company and its partners will contribute the remainder of the funding, estimated at about $725 million. NASA also will contribute technical expertise and facilities.
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Meet the 11-year-old boy who fell in love with agriculture during the pandemic, and dreamed of becoming a farmer. Today he rents his own plot of land where he cares for chickens and breeds sheep.
Joe Trofer-Cook’s passion for farming was sparked when he planted seeds in a new raised bed that his grandfather built for his seventh birthday.
A year later, after COVID hit, he began selling homegrown produce on a trolley outside the house, and saved “every penny” to buy three chickens.
Adding eggs to his produce market helped him earn enough to buy first four sheep—that he adorably named Rhubarb, Strawberry, Pumpkin, and Radish.
His mother, Clare Trofer, said that tending to his animals is a form of “therapy” for Joe who was diagnosed with autism during the lockdowns.
With the profit made from selling veg and sheep, Joe was able to rent a plot of land from a farmer in his English village of Billinghay, Lincolnshire. Over two years later, Joe now owns 37 sheep, 12 chickens, two cows and a Border Collie named Spud.
“I was born to be a farmer—that’s what I say,” Joe quips.
“He the kindest, loveliest, quietest child you’ll ever meet – and so devoted,” said his 47-year-old mom.
Vegetables that Joe was selling outside the house – SWNS
“Most children are born into this world of farming, but this is something he’s built for himself.
“Joe was diagnosed with autism in lockdown, and it’s been the best form of therapy,” she explained. “He never asked to have friends over after school, all he wants to do is go straight to his animals.”
Now, ‘Farmer Joe’, as he’s known, is the youngest exhibitor of livestock at the Lincolnshire show in the 125 years it’s been running, and the dapper youth has appeared on BBC television.
Every day the young entrepreneur wakes up at 4:00am to feed his animals and recently has taken up spinning wool after someone donated a wheel so he could sell his wool.
“Joe went to a farmer’s market and bid on another ewe, called Butterbean,” Claire continues. “She didn’t have any lambs, so Joe used his trailer to take her to exhibit at country shows where he got through to the championships – it just shows how resourceful he is. I think he works harder than most full-grown men.”
In November 2021 Joe was surprised with a gift of two calves he named Rosie and Flower, donated by the TV show Christmas on the Farm.
Joe Trofer on his rented farm plot in Lincolnshire – SWNS
He keeps the sheep in a field that his grandparents own nearby, while the other animals are on land he rents from a farmer.
He recently re-homed a Border Collie, that he named Spud, who has done wonders for Joe’s anxiety, says mom. “Nighttime is hard for Joe due to his anxiety, but Spud helps comfort him when he struggles to sleep.
Joe now sells the wool, eggs, and produce he grows at local markets. He saved up for a camera to watch the sheep during lambing season and a special tunnel to house them in called a polytunnel.
Quote of the Day: “A person will sometimes devote all his life to developing one part of his body—the wishbone.” – Robert Frost
Photo by: Dayne Topkin (cropped/edited)
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Artist’s impression of a quasar – Credit NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / J. da Silva, CC license – SWNS
Artist’s impression of a quasar – Credit NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / J. da Silva, CC license – SWNS
Jets of light 100,000 billion times brighter than the sun have been captured by astronomers observing a quasar—the most powerful object in the universe.
The beams are at the center of a galaxy 9.6 billion light years away—meaning we are seeing them as they were then.
They were triggered when clouds of gas fell into a supermassive black hole.
Named J1144, the quasar is much closer to Earth than other sources of the same luminosity, shedding light on the black hole and its surrounding environment.
Located between the constellations of Centaurus and Hydra, observations of the galax showed some gas being ejected in the form of extremely powerful winds propelled by large amounts of energy.
“We were very surprised that no prior X-ray observatory has ever observed this source, despite its extreme power,” said lead author Dr. Elias Kammoun, of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Germany.
For this study, researchers combined observations from several space-based observatories—the eROSITA instrument, the ESA XMM-Newton observatory, NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), and NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift observatory—in order to measure the temperature of the X-rays being emitted from the giant quasar.
They calculated it at around 350 million Kelvin, more than 60,000 times hotter than the surface of the sun.
The mass of the black hole at the quasar’s center is around 10 billion times the mass of Earth’s sun—and it’s rapidly growing as the black hole feed on gases and particles around them.
Similar quasars are usually located much further away, so they appear much fainter. Astronomers are seeing those as they were when the Universe was only 2-3 billion years old.
“J1144 is a very rare source as it is so luminous and much closer to Earth, although still at a huge distance, giving us a unique glimpse of what such powerful quasars look like,” said Dr. Kammoun.
They outshine even the hottest burning stars—emitting vast amounts of electromagnetic radiation observable in radio, infrared, visible, ultraviolet and X-ray wavelengths. J1144 was initially observed in visible wavelengths in 2022 by the SkyMapper Southern Survey (SMSS).
The X-ray light varied on a time scale of a few days, which is not usually seen in quasars with black holes as large as the one residing in J1144. The typical timescale of variability for a black hole of this size would be on the order of months or even years.
“A new monitoring campaign of this source will start in June this year, which may reveal more surprises from this unique source,” says Kammoun.
A British grandad has become one of the world’s top arm-wrestlers after taking up the sport just three years ago.
Mark Waldon discovered professional arm wrestling during lockdown but has now captured the gold medal at the European Championships representing Great Britain in the International Federation of Arm Wrestling (IFA)
Now 53, Mark first researched on the internet how to get involved with the sport, and followed up by joining the local Milton Keynes Arm Wrestling Club as soon as pandemic restrictions were lifted.
“Members were all different shapes, sizes and ages, but it was a really friendly, inclusive culture.
His first few bouts ended in humiliating defeat, but six months later it was clear he had a special talent.
A lifelong gym member, Mark was caught off guard because a strong physique wasn’t enough to bring him success. “I got a bit of a shock to begin with because I was losing week in, week out.
“It was a challenge, but I started training the specific muscles you need, and immediately started seeing results,” said the champion from Flitwick, Bedfordshire.
During the pandemic, Mark contracted COVID and then pneumonia. He was ill for months, and at one point believed he wouldn’t live to tell the tale. While in bed recovering, he started looking at videos of arm wrestling and decided, when he got better, it was something he wanted to pursue.
He started competing all over the country in national tournaments, and turned pro in May 2021.
“To train the tiny muscles in your arms which you wouldn’t usually use, the exercises are very specific short movements—and you sometimes feel a bit silly doing them in the gym, but that’s what you have to do.”
The father-of-one was recording win after win, and was subsequently accepted by the IFA to represent Great British on the international arm wrestling team.
Along with 30 teammates, he entered the IFA World Competition in France in September, 2022 and he placed fourth in the under 105kg category for ages 50-60—otherwise known as the grand masters—in both the left and right arm competition.
This month, the grandfather of two won gold in the same categories in the right arm competition at the IFA European Championships in Finland (but had to pull out of the left arm bouts due to a training injury).
Mark says his father’s recent passing is what motivated him to win, and he’s dedicated his victory to him.
“I wanted to win it for him, and I know he’d have been extremely proud of me getting that gold medal, as are my two grandkids. Grace even calls me ‘The Hulk’.
To combat learning loss over the summer, Tennessee is funding the delivery of surprise books to keep almost a quarter million kids engaged with reading.
The Governor’s Early Literacy Foundation (GELF) expanded its K-3 Home Library program to now include all rising 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade students enrolled in a public school. In collaboration with Scholastic publishing, the program will deliver 1.2 million books to more than 200,000 students, teachers, and librarians this summer.
Six packages consisting of grade-level books will be delivered directly to the homes of participants, at no cost to families or the 152 school districts.
Children enrolled in school districts and charter schools were signed up to receive the books with an opt-out option for families, making it easy for all K-3 students to be a part of the program, with 40,000 more students getting them this year, compared to 2022.
“My son struggles to read but is making improvements by the week,” said one parent from Warren County, who joined the program last summer. “These couldn’t have come at a more perfect time!”
Photo from the Governor’s Early Literacy Foundation shows Nathaniel with his new book.
A Morgan County educator pointed out that when schools are closed for the summer, access to books diminishes. “Many of our students do not have access to books at home so this is a great program to get books into students’ hands.”
“If we don’t get reading right, everything else can go wrong,” said James Pond, GELF President. “Our goal is to promote a culture of reading in Tennessee by meeting students where they are with the books and resources they need to become lifelong learners—and we hope other states look to us as a leader in collaborative early literacy efforts.”
Research shows that students who do not read over the summer lose two to three months of reading proficiency—but reading four to six books has the potential to stop, mitigate, or reverse this “summer slide.”
This is GELF’s fourth summer collaborating with Scholastic to deliver books. Since 2020, the K-3 Home Library program has grown by 528%, placing more than 3.1 million books in the homes of more than 509,000 elementary school students and teachers.
Research conducted by GELF showed that 97% of parents reported that their children were thrilled to receive the books and said they were valuable to their family.
The books—including Three Hens and a Peacock (about a flashy newcomer getting attention while hens do all the work), and The Squirrels Who Squabbled (about two greedy squirrels on a chase for pinecones)— were all selected by GELF’s Educator Advisory Council, a diverse group of 28 Tennessee educators.
A baby deer was rescued and reunited with its mother this month after it disappeared into a storm drain along a suburban street.
Homeowners near Baltimore, Maryland, said they spotted a distressed adult deer circling the storm drain, and called emergency services after they heard the cries of the fawn trapped below.
After prying open the grate atop the drain, one Owings Mills firefighter climbed down and emerged with the baby deer in his arms.
By then, it was dark, and a video shows the mother deer waiting nearby on the grass—retreating, at first, when the firefighter approached.
Eventually, the doe trots over towards the firefighter when it sees the baby in his arms.
Quote of the Day: “Life is like an onion. You peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep.” – Carl Sandburg (But it’s so delicious!)
Photo by: See Kay
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What’s the difference between dad jokes and pizza? Dad jokes can’t be topped.
The ‘best dad jokes’ have been compiled after a poll identified what Americans consider to be the top 20 cheesy gags that fathers like to try on anyone within ear shot.
The 2,000 adults voted this one to be the most popular: ‘This graveyard looks crowded—people must be dying to get in’.
Another groan-inducing joke: ‘I’m reading a book about anti-gravity. It’s impossible to put down’.
Just in time for Father’s Day, Papa Johns commissioned the survey and announced its ‘Papa Jokes’ campaign on Twitter.
“Dad jokes are a proud tradition,” said a spokesperson for the company. They tweeted, asking people to share their best dad joke using #PapaJokes for #FathersDay.
“If it’s a groan-inducing pun or punchline that only the teller finds hilarious, rest assured, no matter who tells it—it’s a dad joke.”
Six in 10 respondents admitted to being amused by dad jokes, but 67 percent find them ‘cringeworthy’ at the same time.
40 percent of respondents report they’ve gone their whole lives without telling a single terrible one-liner so far.
But of those who have, 80 percent say they cracked themselves up, even if nobody else laughed.
Of the jokesters who have kids, 39 percent say their attempts at humor bring nothing but embarrassment to the youth. Unfortunately for the kids, this only spurs adults to make even more terrible wisecracks.
Thinking about their own fathers, 47% remember them as being amusing, with 12 percent describing their dad as ‘very funny’. Overall, three in 10 believe the gags formed some of their favorite memories of dad.
From the survey (conducted by OnePoll), it’s likely that being memorable is a better reason for being a jester than actually being funny—as so many people remember their dads for them.
Pro dad tip: add in a silly accent—ideally, to make the joke deeply embarrassing for your kids.
TOP 20 FAVORITE DAD JOKES…
1. ‘This graveyard looks overcrowded. People must be dying to get in.’
2. ‘I’m reading a book about anti-gravity. It’s impossible to put down’
3. Q: ‘Dad, can you put my shoes on? A: ‘I don’t think they’ll fit me.’
4. ‘I used to hate facial hair…but then it grew on me.’
5. Q: ‘Can you put the dog out?’ A: ‘I didn’t know it was on fire.’
6. What car does Jesus drive? A Chrysler
7. ‘Ah, this takes me back’ (when putting the car into reverse)
8. ‘I only know 25 letters of the alphabet. I don’t know y.’
9. ‘What do you call a magician who lost their magic? Ian.’
10. Q: ‘How do I look?’ A: ‘With your eyes.’
11. Q: ‘Dad, did you get a haircut?’ A: ‘No, I got them all cut!’
12. ‘I’m afraid for the calendar. Its days are numbered.’
13. ‘Wanna hear a joke about a pizza? Never mind, it’s too cheesy’
14. ‘I used to be addicted to the hokey pokey, but I turned myself around.’
15. ‘I was driving to town and saw the sign Chicago-Left, so I turned around and went home.’
16. ‘What did one wall say to the other?’ ‘I’ll meet you at the corner.’
17. ‘I used to be addicted to soap, but I’m clean now.’
18. ‘How do you make holy water? You boil the hell out of it.’
19. ‘Singing in the shower is fun until you get soap in your mouth. Then it’s a soap opera’
20. ‘Why do seagulls fly over the ocean?’ ‘Because if they flew over the bay, we’d call them bagels.’
WISH a HAPPY Father’s Day on Social Media by Sharing the Beloved Dad Jokes…
A police officer was captured on her dash-cam scuttling after a tiny kitten on the side of a busy highway.
Officer Estrada is seen in the video below pulling over her vehicle on the Las Vegas, Nevada highway. She quickly approaching the terrified kitty, saying “Hi, baby. You’re OK.”
But the Nevada State Trooper had to hustle after the gray feline when it bolted further toward traffic.
She finally rounded up the animal, which hid in the glove compartment during the drive back to the station.
Nevada State Police tweeted: “(We) received calls about a kitten on the on-ramp to a busy highway… and Trooper Estrada quickly responded.”
The kitten was then given some tender loving care by officers who decided to name it ‘Trooper Kitty’.
A medieval artifact bought for $20 at a flea market was initially intended to be used to decorate a garden—but now it fetched thousands of dollars at auction.
The thrifters were left stunned after auctioneers revealed it was a 600-year-old medieval hand cannon dating back to the 1400s.
The bronze gun powder weapon was purchased in Hertfordshire, England to be used as a garden ornament by its owner who had no idea of its true value.
It was sold this week by Hansons Auctioneers for £2,000—more than 200 times its flea market price.
Mystery surrounds how the original seller came to own the cannon but soil residue found inside suggests it would have been dug up at some point.
“It’s a rocket of a find,” said auctioneer Charles Hanson. “Perhaps it was used by a knight in shining armor. In more than 20 years in the antiques business I have never seen one like it.”
“When we came to assess it properly, we were amazed. It’s a heavy, triple-ring cast cannon—a type of weapon that was widely used in China beginning in the 13th century, which later made its way onto the battlefields of Europe.
“It was the first true small weapon of its kind, the most mechanically simple form of a metal-barrel firearm.
“Until now, my only knowledge of late medieval hand cannons has come from reading about them in reference books.”
The first recorded use of this type of gun powder weapon was around 1330 by two mounted German knights, wrote Hansons Auctioneers. By 1340, weapons like these were widely used in France.
