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Every since human beings have been gazing up at the stars, we have wondered whether there are other living creatures out there. Ancient humans often believed that the gods resided above us, and the stars and constellations they formed became part of a living, divine cosmos of which earth was an integral part. Specific beliefs varied from culture to culture. The Mongolians had one of the simplest names - they called it the “Great Blue Sky.” When Genghis Khan needed to win a battle, or the lowliest nomad had to find his herd, it was to the “Great Blue Sky” over the Mongolian countryside that they turned to for help.

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Few things are as fascinating to astronomers or the general public as black holes. Can you imagine something so dense that light cannot escape from it? That sucks in everything that comes its way? If the earth were as compact as a black hole, it would be a ball about a half-inch across! Few things in the universe completely boggle the human mind as black holes.

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You’re one year older and you wake up to a big surprise– your friends are blindfolding you and taking you out to a birthday treat! You drive for a while, walk a couple of blocks, take off your blindfold and find yourself in a grassy park with a cake in front of you. Lucky you! However, you’ve never been here before, so how do you know if you’re actually at a new place or just in front of a huge, detailed picture?

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One of the most intriguing questions humans face is not only whether we are alone in the universe, but whether we alone have a rich language to use on earth. Do other creatures communicate like we do? We know they make sounds, and birds chirp in all sorts of complex ways, but does this count as having a language? We know that parrots mimic our sounds exceptionally well, but are they really talking and understanding the sounds they are making?

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Have you ever been to an Earth Day Celebration? Earth Day began on April 22nd, 1970 and has been celebrated every year since. The original purpose of Earth Day was to bring different groups together to raise awareness about environmental issues.

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Have you heard the words venomous and poisonous in reference to animals? Do you know what they mean?

There is a big difference between venomous organisms like this black widow spider and poisonous animals like some frogs. It is easy to tell the difference between a venomous animal and a poisonous animal if you if you understand how they use the toxins.

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The automobile industry has come a long way since Karl Benz designed the first gas powered automobile in 1885. Even more astonishing is how much the designs have changed. As the engineering has advanced and become more sophisticated, so have the exterior and interior designs.

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Titanboa (Titanboa cerrejonensis)

Researchers in Colombia have found fossils of an ancient snake 42-45 feet long, that weighed more than a ton. This huge species of snake, named Titanboa cerrejonensis, lived 58 to 60 million years ago in a warm rainforest setting. So far, fossils from about 24 individual snakes have been discovered. The quest for a Titanboa skull is still underway.

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It is the beginning of February and California’s Central valley is painted vibrant shades of pink and white from millions of almond blooms. While much of the country is white with snow, California is white with blooms.

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Although the art of Bonsai originated in China over 2,000 years ago, the development and practice has primarily become part of the Japanese culture. The word ‘bonsai’ translates as ‘tray-planting’ and is not meant to describe the plant itself, but the process through which the plant was created. Bonsai is truly an art practice.

The art of bonsai consists of growing miniaturized trees and is based purely on aesthetics. Bonsai trees are not miniature naturally, but can be made out of any ordinary tree or shrub and are miniaturized through bonsai techniques. There are many different bonsai techniques, some are basic techniques while others are very advanced and only practiced by experienced bonsai masters.

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Tornadoes are among the most beautiful, dramatic and deadly natural phenomena to cut across the face of the earth. A rapidly moving funnel of air, tornadoes can appear out of nowhere to upturn a town or farm, livestock and cars, trees and people. This walloping tunnel suddenly and abruptly connects land and sky. Its speed can vary from 40 to more than 300 miles per hour. Tornadoes can be found all over the world, but are most common in the flat prairie lands of the United States. There are about 800 tornadoes a year in the US, with every one resulting in an average of two injuries. Every 10 tornadoes leads to a human fatality.

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Deep in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, there are no cities or roads. The only way to get in is by boat or with a special kind of airplane that can land on the water. The foliage is so thick that you can barely see the sky when you’re underneath the trees. And the few people that live there live very different lives from people in the United States, or even people in the rest of Brazil. They can go for months or even years without ever seeing people from outside the jungle. Because they live so far from civilization, they don’t need to have jobs or money. They get what they need to eat by picking it off trees, catching it in the water, or hunting it with bows and arrows. When they need to sleep, they go to huts made of palm leaves with dirt floors and use thin tree branches as a bed.

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