Groundhog Day 2023

Groundhog Day is an annual holiday celebrated on February 2nd in the United States and Canada. A groundhog (Marmota monax) is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels.

According to folklore, if a groundhog emerging from its burrow on this day fails to see its shadow, it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter will soon end. If on the other hand, the groundhog sees its shadow, the groundhog will supposedly retreat into its burrow, and winter will continue for six more weeks. 

The holiday, which began as a Pennsylvania German custom in southeastern and central Pennsylvania in the 18th and 19th centuries, has its origins in ancient European weather folklore, wherein a badger or sacred bearis the prognosticator as opposed to a groundhog.

Groundhog Day 2022

Groundhog Day is an annual holiday celebrated on February 2nd in the United States and Canada. A groundhog (Marmota monax) is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels.

According to folklore, if a groundhog emerging from its burrow on this day fails to see its shadow, it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter will soon end. If on the other hand, the groundhog sees its shadow, the groundhog will supposedly retreat into its burrow, and winter will continue for six more weeks. 

The holiday, which began as a Pennsylvania German custom in southeastern and central Pennsylvania in the 18th and 19th centuries, has its origins in ancient European weather folklore, wherein a badger or sacred bearis the prognosticator as opposed to a groundhog.

Groundhog Day 2021

Groundhog Day is an annual holiday celebrated on February 2nd in the United States and Canada. A groundhog (Marmota monax) is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels.

According to folklore, if a groundhog emerging from its burrow on this day fails to see its shadow, it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter will soon end. If on the other hand, the groundhog sees its shadow, the groundhog will supposedly retreat into its burrow, and winter will continue for six more weeks. 

The holiday, which began as a Pennsylvania German custom in southeastern and central Pennsylvania in the 18th and 19th centuries, has its origins in ancient European weather folklore, wherein a badger or sacred bearis the prognosticator as opposed to a groundhog.

Panda bear caretaker: a beautiful job?

While we all keep looking for the ideal job: journalist, doctor, architect, teacher or even football player, working as a panda bear caretaker could be a wonderful yet demanding choice.

Giant panda cubs are adorable fluff balls that squeak and squeal. This endangered species is also incredibly tricky to breed and raise in captivity. In the 1960s, only 30 percent of infant pandas born at breeding centers survived. Today 90 percent survive.

The video below shows how baby pandas are successfully raised and bred in captivity in a panda bear center in China before being released into the wild.

Maybe next time when someone asks you what you want to be when you grow up, you won't hesitate.

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Art, Geometry and Mathematics... by a fish!

A tiny Japanese pufferfish creates a grand sand sculpture of mathematical perfection on the featureless seabed by using his fins to dig furrows. He uses this to attract the attention of passing females...

... To attract a female fish, the Japanese pufferfish will work 24 hours a day, for an entire week in a row, to create the most stunning sand art. This most incredible video from BBC Earth gives us a glorious look at nature and fish in particular. After watching this video, people will hopefully look differently not only on fish, but on any other animal species and treat them more kindly.

And now, ESO students, enjoy David Attenborough's mesmerising voice and beautiful accent: it is an utter pleasure to learn from each and every of his carefully chosen words.

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Groundhog Day 2018

Groundhog Day is an annual holiday celebrated on February 2nd in the United States and Canada. A groundhog (Marmota monax) is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels.

According to folklore, if a groundhog emerging from its burrow on this day fails to see its shadow, it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter will soon end. If on the other hand, the groundhog sees its shadow, the groundhog will supposedly retreat into its burrow, and winter will continue for six more weeks. 

The holiday, which began as a Pennsylvania German custom in southeastern and central Pennsylvania in the 18th and 19th centuries, has its origins in ancient European weather folklore, wherein a badger or sacred bearis the prognosticator as opposed to a groundhog.

How do dogs "see" with their noses?, by Alexandra Horowitz

You may have heard the expression that dogs ‘see with their noses.’ But these creature’s amazing nasal architecture actually reveals a whole world beyond what we can see. Alexandra Horowitz illustrates how the dog’s nose can smell the past, the future and even things that can’t be seen at all.

(Reblogged from Brain Pickings)

We humans tend not to spend a lot of time thinking about smelling. Smells are minor blips in our sensory day compared to the reams of visual information that we take in and obsess over in every moment.

Groundhog Day 2016

Groundhog Day is an annual holiday celebrated on February 2nd in the United States and Canada. A groundhog (Marmota monax) is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels.

According to folklore, if a groundhog emerging from its burrow on this day fails to see its shadow, it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter will soon end. If on the other hand, the groundhog sees its shadow, the groundhog will supposedly retreat into its burrow, and winter will continue for six more weeks. 

The holiday, which began as a Pennsylvania German custom in southeastern and central Pennsylvania in the 18th and 19th centuries, has its origins in ancient European weather folklore, wherein a badger or sacred bearis the prognosticator as opposed to a groundhog.

How do dogs "see" with their noses?

You may have heard the expression that dogs ‘see with their noses.’ But these creature’s amazing nasal architecture actually reveals a whole world beyond what we can see. Alexandra Horowitz illustrates how the dog’s nose can smell the past, the future and even things that can’t be seen at all.

Lesson by Alexandra Horowitz, animation by Província Studio. View full lesson on ed.ted.com.

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

What Happens If All The Bees Die?

What Happens If All The Bees Die?

Will we go extinct if the bees all die?

Further Reading--

Death and Bee extinction
http://www.globalresearch.ca/death-an...

http://www.panna.org/blog/global-repo...

http://www.nrdc.org/wildlife/animals/...

Pollination
http://www.mbgnet.net/bioplants/polli... 

List of crops polinated by bees
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_... 

Modeling Colony Collapse 
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25... 

The Causes of Death http://www.scilogs.com/from_the_lab_b... 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25...

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/...

http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/pressrelease...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23...

Genetics http://www.nature.com/srep/2014/14071...

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Groundhog Day 2015

Groundhog Day is an annual holiday celebrated on February 2nd in the United States and Canada. A groundhog (Marmota monax) is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels.

According to folklore, if a groundhog emerging from its burrow on this day fails to see its shadow, it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter will soon end. If on the other hand, the groundhog sees its shadow, the groundhog will supposedly retreat into its burrow, and winter will continue for six more weeks. 

The holiday, which began as a Pennsylvania German custom in southeastern and central Pennsylvania in the 18th and 19th centuries, has its origins in ancient European weather folklore, wherein a badger or sacred bearis the prognosticator as opposed to a groundhog.

Groundhog Day 2014

Groundhog Day is an annual holiday celebrated on February 2nd in the United States and Canada. A groundhog (Marmota monax) is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels.

According to folklore, if a groundhog emerging from its burrow on this day fails to see its shadow, it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter will soon end. If on the other hand, the groundhog sees its shadow, the groundhog will supposedly retreat into its burrow, and winter will continue for six more weeks. 

The holiday, which began as a Pennsylvania German custom in southeastern and central Pennsylvania in the 18th and 19th centuries, has its origins in ancient European weather folklore, wherein a badger or sacred bearis the prognosticator as opposed to a groundhog.

Groundhog Day 2013

Groundhog Day is an annual holiday celebrated on February 2nd in the United States and Canada. A groundhog (Marmota monax) is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels.

According to folklore, if a groundhog emerging from its burrow on this day fails to see its shadow, it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter will soon end. If on the other hand, the groundhog sees its shadow, the groundhog will supposedly retreat into its burrow, and winter will continue for six more weeks. 

The holiday, which began as a Pennsylvania German custom in southeastern and central Pennsylvania in the 18th and 19th centuries, has its origins in ancient European weather folklore, wherein a badger or sacred bearis the prognosticator as opposed to a groundhog.

Simon's Cat

For those of you who like cats and especially for those who have this kind of pet, we’d like to introduce you to “Simon’s Cat”, a series of sketches with which you’ll certainly feel identified…

Info retrieved at: http://www.simonscat.com/About/

What is Simon's Cat? Simon’s Cat is a charming, yet mischievous cat that lives with Simon. He made his first appearance online, in a film called 'Cat Man Do'.  Since then he has also appeared in his own books, game and comic strip. Who is Simon Tofield? Simon is an English animator who has a great interest in British wildlife, painting, the great outdoors and of course cats. Simon started animating at a very young age. Inspired by cartoons on TV, he used to create basic flip-books in an attempt to emulate the techniques he saw being used on screen.

The Amazing World of Australian Roadsigns

So Australia strikes again at LEZ!

This time we would like to illuminate you about one of the most striking aspects of the Land Down Under, especially when visiting the country as a tourist. We are not referring to beautiful Sydney with its Harbour Bridge and Opera House, neither are we talking about Ayers Rock in the centre of the country nor the beautiful fauna found at the Great Barrier Reef. Today we’ll be dealing with Australian road signs!

As in any developed country, signs of notice, stop, caution, danger, obedience, emergency, safety and many others may be found in Australian roads. In any case, the most popular ones are those regarding caution and danger.  Most of them are diamond shaped, with a black picture or message on a yellow background.

And here it comes the interesting part. While in Spain drivers must be aware of “cows” or “deers” (at most), Australians were eager to show the wide variety their fauna has to offer. Hence, they designed funny caution and danger road signs with pictures of various Australian animals on them: