Archive for December, 2006
Around christmas time everyone seems to transform into the kids they are at heart. Suddenly no hiding place is safe since they have all become expert detectives. They always seem to find where you hid the presents.
If you are looking for a way to help keep things a surprise, try what Nashville is doing. They have Santa Closets.
No, the closets do not contain the big guy in the red suit. A Santa Closet is the term used for the self storage units that have become a favorite hiding place for many adults. Some people rent Santa Closets to store items like a new TV, iPod, recliner or boat that you hope they won’t see til Christmas day. The gifts can be any size. The important thing is that they are away from the curious fingers of the christmas detective squad.
With Santa Closets, the stash will be safe ’til you decide to put them under the tree. Just make sure to keep its location secret.
Every christmas time, many places come to life with lights. There are however a few that really stand out with their christmas display, doing more than just brighten up trees. These homeowners and shopkeepers turn their christmas displays into works of art that attracts visitors from far and wide to marvel anew at the christmas stories.
Maybe the best known display is that of the family of Dan Brown in Greenville, Texas. This year’s display is made with over 500,000 lights and has expanded since his son moved into the house across the street. They don’t charge anything for people to enjoy the display, people can simply drive down the street and marvel at the beauty of this display of snowmen, trains, a giant carousel and more. They do welcome donations that people give. Any amounts they receive are used on the electricity bill. Any excess amount is used to improve and add on to the display for next year.
Of course there are lots of other families who have also become landmarks for their own areas during the holiday season. The Little family in Morgan County, Utah have put up a beautiful christmas light display since 1956. They began with carving out Mary and Joseph. Over the years they added the sheep, shepherds, the wise men, the city of Bethlehem, reindeers, candy canes and more. The Little Hill as it is called is a crowd drawer every year.
Most people love dolphins. There is something about that seeming big grin that they have and how playful they are that sparks our interest. They are amazing creatures with their sonar and intelligence.
Most of the time dolphins are found in the sea. There are a few however whose natural habitat is fresh water. They aren’t that common. Unfortunately, most of us may never get a chance to see them since the Yangtze River dolphin or baiji are now considered functionally extinct.
The baiji are also called the goddess of the Yangtze by some. There used to thousands of the dolphins swimming in the Yangtze in the 1950′s. By the mid 80′s their numbers were down to the hundreds. Now the expedition to help protect them couldn’t find even one.
It is a great loss for the world. The baiji was an ancient species. There is fossilized evidence showing that the baiji have been in existence for 20 million years. Thanks to pollution, over fishing and the damage to their habitat, they are now gone.
Ever noticed that if you see someone laughing, even if you can’t hear what they are saying, you will often find yourself smiling, in some cases laughing as well. If you’ve been wondering if it was just you, relax. It is something that affects everybody. Besides laughter is the best medicine – as the saying goes.
The Journal of Neuroscience published the study last December 12. Among the findings is that people respond more quickly to positive sounds than negative ones. Scientists have discovered that a portion of our brain called the premotor corticol region, which controls the facial muscles, responds to sounds.
We have always known that we tend to automatically mimic the facial expressions of people we talk with. Apparently our brain does the same with laughter. The result: “laugh and the whole world laughs with you” exactly as another old saying goes.
Millions of years ago, dinosaurs roamed the earth and another piece of evidence of this has been found one of the islands in the antarctic. This baby plesiosaur is about five feet long and is almost completely intact, much to the delight of its finders.
The expedition was led by James E. Martin, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology’s Museum of Geology where the bones will be put on display. Other members of the expedition included Judd Case of Eastern Washington University and Marcelo Reguero from Argentina‘s Museo de la Plata.
The best known image of a plesiosaur for most people is Nessie or the Loch Ness monster as it is often called. Though this skeleton is a mere five feet, an adult would measure about 32 feet long. It wasn’t easy to transport the fossil. It was finally flown by helicopter to its new home.
Since the bones were found in volcanic ash, the scientists speculate that the plesiosaur may have been caught in an eruption. It could have been killed by the blast or by the lava or ash from the explosion.
