[Region of Queens Municipality] It’s that time of year again … time to do a daily “tick check”. Black legged ticks carry Lyme disease, which may be transmitted to humans and pets if bitten by an infected tick.
If you spend time outdoors, do a tick check when you come inside.
https://novascotia.ca/dhw/CDPC/lyme.asp
The Doomsday Clock is a symbolic clock face, representing a countdown to possible global catastrophe. The closer they set the Clock to midnight, the closer the scientists believe the world is to global disaster.
Scientists moved the hands of the Doomsday Clock 30 seconds closer to midnight yesterday [25-Jan-2017] which makes it the closest it’s been to midnight since 1960!
Read the full story on USA Today, BBC News or The Verge.
Find the Wiki definition here or see the Doomsday Clock timeline in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
… as we pass through the tail of Halley’s Comet.
It takes around 75 years for Halley’s Comet to orbit the sun. But every April and October earth moves through the comet’s long tail of debris producing quite the light show when that debris burns up in our atmosphere.
Read the full story at ScienceAlert.
With Valentine’s Day coming up this weekend it’s a good time to look at science and statistics related to the day. The fun video below from Joe Hanson tries to explain why humans Continue reading DYK: The Science of Love & Kissing
Scientists announced yesterday that the clock is set to Three Minutes to Midnight – the closest for 31 years, when it was equaled in 1984!
Read the full story on USA Today, BBC News or The Verge.
Find the Wiki definition here or see the Doomsday Clock timeline in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
A leap year has 366 days, as opposed to a common year, which has 365. Nearly every 4 years is a Leap Year, and we add a Leap Day, an extra – or intercalary – day on February 29.
The next Leap Year is 2016 – this year, so the next Leap Day falls on February 29, 2016. (The last Leap Day was on February 29, 2012.)
Leap Years are needed to keep our modern day Gregorian Calendar in alignment with the Earth’s revolutions around the sun. It takes the Earth Continue reading DYK: What is a Leap Year?
Labor Day weekend is just ahead. For many of us it marks the unofficial end of summer and the beginning of a new school year.
In the United States and Canada, the first Monday of September is a federal holiday, Labor Day. Originally celebrated in New York City’s Union Square in 1882, Labor Day was organized by unions as a rare day of rest for the overworked during the Industrial Revolution.
Watch Kenneth C. Davis’ illustration of the history of Labor Day from Union Square to today.
©2015 TEDEd lessons
“Over the next 100 days, let us stand with the millions of people across the world who are suffering the devastating impact of violence and conflict. Let us share ideas and plans for helping and supporting them in their time of dire need.”
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on 21 September. The [UN] General Assembly has declared this as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples.
You might have used the term ‘once in a blue Moon‘ before – a colloquial phrase to suggest that something is very rare. But just how rare, depends on your definition.
In astronomy there are two definitions of a Blue Moon; both are a type of Full Moon. Here Blue Moon is defined as either (1) the third full Moon of an astronomical season with four full Moons or (2) the second full Moon in a calendar month.
Such a Blue Moon as defined in (2) will next occur on Friday, 31-Jul-2015 at 10:43am UTC (7:43am ADT) – July/2015 therefore has two full moons; on the 1st (11:20pm ADT) and 31st of July (7:43am ADT). Continue reading DYK: Blue Moon on 31-Jul-2015
