A Brief History On August 24, 2016, the European Southern Observatory discovered the closest planet to Earth that is not in our solar system, calling this newfound planet Proxima Centauri b. Digging Deeper Located in the tri-star system known as Alpha Centauri, our new planet orbits the red dwarf star, Proxima Centauri. Not only is it the closest known exoplanet, it is also believed to exist in the “habitable zone,” meaning it is just the right distance from its star to support life. Also intriguing, its size is nearly identical to that of Earth. Before you start making a reservation…
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A Brief History On August 10, 2024, we celebrated another World Lion Day, a day to educate people about the great feline hunter and support conservation of the species and its habitat. Of course, we are talking about Panthera leo, the big cat native to Africa and India. Digging Deeper Yes, they have lions in India! Back in the more recent Stone Age, lions were far more widely distributed, across much of Eurasia and North Africa as well as Sub-Saharan Africa and India. Other critters such as the “Mountain Lion” of North and South America are not actually real lions. …
A Brief History On July 14, 2013, a statue of Rachel Carson was erected at Woods Hole, Massachusetts, commemorating her environmental activism, including writing the book, Silent Spring in 1962 that served to alert Americans about the dangers of pesticides. Digging Deeper Many persons have done service to mankind and deserve a statue. Today, we ask you, who you would dedicate a statue to that does not already have statues in their honor? Here are some people we think are worthy of being immortalized on statues, and in any instance in which a statue already exists depicting any of these…
A Brief History On June 20, 1975, the blockbuster movie, Jaws, starring a huge and hungry great white shark, was released in the US and immediately started setting box office records. The real star of the film is usually just called “Jaws,” but the movie prop actually had a name, “Bruce.” Digging Deeper While horror films have featured monsters such as semi-humans, ala Frankenstein, Dracula, and Hannibal Lecter, or even aliens or made-up monsters such as Godzilla, today, we ask you which movie monster based on actual critters is or are the most epic? Some to choose from include: King…
A Brief History On June 3, 1844, the last known pair of Great Auks was killed on a small island off Iceland, a magnificent species of flightless bird resembling but not related to Penguins, 30 to 33 inches tall but with tiny six-inch wings. Digging Deeper Long a staple food and source of feathers and skins for Native American people, the soft down of the Great Auk made it a target for European hunters that decimated the populations of the aquatic birds. Changing climate and geography naturally eliminates some species of plants and animals, but humans have greatly accelerated the…