Borobudur

We just learned about the Bantey Srei Sculptures made of sandstone in Cambodia.

Another ancient sculpture in Southeast Asia is the Borobudur temple in Java, Indonesia built some time before 900 AD.

It is the biggest Buddhist temple in the world, with over 500 statues, and over 2,600 relief sculptures carved into the walls.
Remember we learned that a relief is where the sculpture sticks out from the background kind of like a 3D painting.

This big temple has a pathway that goes around and up the building.
Each level of the building is supposed to help guide people through knowledge and wisdom about the world.




(from: wikipedia - borobudur)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Six Ritual Jades - Cong

Norwegian - Thursday, Friday

We just learned that Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday in Norwegian is Mandag, Tirsdag, Onsdag.

Let's keep learning the days of the week!

Thursday - Torsdag - sounds like toh-dr-s-dah
Friday - Fredag - sounds like f-day-ah-dah


(from: wikipedia - norwegian language)

Greek: Πέμπτη (Pémpti), Παρασκευή (Paraskeví)

ASL: Thursday, Friday

Italian: Giovedì, Venerdì

German: Donnerstag, Freitag

Spanish: Viernes, Jueves

French: Jeudi, Vendredi

Species Test

We just learned about Forensic Anthropology, the study of a body to see who it is after someone has died.

Another test in forensic science is the Uhlenhuth Test or Species Test.

Way back in 1901 a scientist named Paul Uhlenhuth figured out how to test blood to see if it belonged to a human, or a different type or "species" of animal.

This was important because if a detective found a stain of blood somewhere, people could just lie and say that it was from a cow or a chicken or another animal.

If the blood was from a human, then it was a big deal, especially if someone had been hurt!
Once detectives could use this Uhlenhuth test to see what type of blood they found, people couldn't hide out and lie if someone found a blood stain as evidence of a crime.

One of the most important things about forensic science is finding clues or evidence, and testing to see if people are telling the truth.


(from: wikipedia - blood test)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Combustion Chamber

Darth Vader Jellyfish

We just learned about the Atolla Jellyfish that lives in the deep sea and flashes blue lights.

Another type of jelly is the Darth Vader Jellyfish, also called the bathykorus bouilloni.
It gets the long name from bathy which means "deep" and korus which means "helment", and the scientist Dr. Jean Bouillon who found it.

Because it looks kind of like Darth Vader's helmet, sometimes people call it the Darth Vader jellyfish instead!

This jelly lives very deep in the sea, at around 1,000 meters!
It is very small, only about 2 centimeters wide.
The bell is see through and pale blue, and it has eight tentacles for stinging.
They live mostly around Greenland and Canada.

Because these jellies live so deep, people can not swim down and see them, they can only be seen by robotic submarines that people send deep into the ocean with cameras on them to look around.


(from: wikipedia - bathykorus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Red Cuttlefish

Palatal Rugae

We just learned about the soft part on the roof of the mouth called the Soft Palate.

Another part of the top of the mouth is the Palatal Rugae.

These are the little ridges on the top of the mouth behind the teeth.
Because of the way they are shaped, they help move food toward the back of the mouth.

Palatal means it is on the hard palate in the mouth, and the word rugae (sounds like roo-gah-ee) means ridges.


(from: wikipedia - rugae)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Human Mouth

Merlon

We've already learned about parts of the tops of castles, like the Wall Walk where people can walk along the edge of the castle behind a wall, the Parapet which is a short wall and the Crenel which is a small gap in the wall.

Another part of a wall walk on the castle is the Merlon.

This is the opposite of the crenel, and is a higher part of the wall where people can hide behind.
So usually castles would have merlons and crenels right next to each other, so they could hide behind the merlon and attack people from the crenels.

Having a bunch of crenels and merlons right after each other is called crenellation.



(from: wikipedia - merlon)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Bodiam Castle

Constantine the Great

We just learned about the Battle of Milvan Bridge where Emperor Constantine saw a vision of God.

The Emperor Constantine was the first emperor to become a Christian.
He tried to bring all of Rome together and be the only emperor, and also changed the laws so people could worship however they wanted.

During his time he also had many battles, and used the Chi-Rho symbol on his army, and he believed it was God helping lead him into battle.

Because he helped Christianity and was the first Christian emperor, he later on was called Constantine the Great.

Under Constantine's rule, the Roman empire went all the way up to England, Spain, France, all the way over to Greece, Turkey and Israel, and even covered the northern part of Africa, like Egypt.


(from: wikipedia - constantine the great)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Nicolaus

Banteay Srei Sculptures

We just learned about the Taj Mahal.

Anther place with a lot of history in sculpture is the country of Cambodia.
This is in southeast Asia, and long ago was part of a land called the Khmer empire.

In the 10th century, there was a temple called the Banteay Srei built in the city of Angkor.
It has many stone cut sculptures all over it, made mostly from red sandstone that was very easy to cut.


(from: wikipedia - banteay srei)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Six Ritual Jades - Bi

Norwegian - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

We just learned in Norwegian that to say his face is rough is Ansiktet hans er grovt

Let's learn the days of the week in Norwegian!

Monday - Mandag - Sounds like mah-n-dah
Tuesday - Tirsdag - Sounds like tee-sh-dah
Wednesday - Onsdag - Sounds like oh-n-s-dah


(from: wikipedia - norwegian language)

Greek: Δευτέρα (Deftéra), Τρίτη (Tríti), Τετάρτη (Tetárti)

ASL: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

Italian: Lunedi, Martedì, Mercoledì

German: Montag, Dienstag, Mittwoch

Spanish: Lunes, Martes, Miercoles

French: Lundi, Mardi, Mercredi

Forensic Anthropology

We just learned about how scientists can look at guns with Forensic Firearm Examination to see who committed a crime.

Another part of forensic science is Forensic Anthropology.

This is the science of looking at the bones of a person and trying to figure out what happened.
Sometimes this is used in archeology for bones that are hundreds or thousands of years old.
Other times it can be used by police when they find some bones, to try and figure out who the person was.

Scientists can look at teeth to see how old the person was, or the length of their arm or leg bones, or even the size of their skull.

They can even look at the hip bones of a person to see if they were a man or a woman.
Sometimes this helps solve a crime if they find an old skeleton, and they don't know who the person was when they were alive.
If they figure out who it was, they can look for marks on the bones, to maybe tell how they died.
They can also look at the teeth, and sometimes match them up with x-rays from a dentist office to see if they can figure out who it was.

It might seem a little scary or creepy, but by using science with old bones we can solve crimes and make sure the bad guys don't get away!



(from: wikipedia - forensic anthropology)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Rocket Propellant Tank

Atolla Jellyfish

We just learned about the Irukandji Jellyfish.

Another type of jellyfish is the Atolla Jellyfish, also called the Atolla wyvillei or Coronate medusa.

The atolla jellyfish live very deep in the ocean, from 1,000 to 4,000 meters deep.

These are very tiny jellyfish, only growing about 170 milimeters wide.
They have about 20 tentacles floating off of their bell, and then one really long one that hangs out trying to trap prey to eat.

Because these jellies are so small, they get eaten a lot by other animals.
When they think they are in danger, they are able to flash their body like a blinking blue light.

When this happens, sometimes a bigger animal will come along and eat the smaller animal that is trying to eat the jelly.
This gets the jelly the nickname of "Alarm Jelly" because it's alarm goes off when it gets scared.

Scientists have copied this flashing blue light and used it to try and get other big deep sea animals to come check it out.


(from: wikipedia - atolla jellyfish)



Creatures of the Deep | Atolla Jelly - oceannetworks canada


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lituites Nautilus

Soft Palate

We just learned about the Hard Palate on the roof of the mouth.

Another part of the mouth is the Soft Palate.

This is on the roof of your mouth, right at the back of your throat.
You can feel that this is soft, and under the skin are five different muscles that help you swallow.

They all have big long names, but they make sense if you understand what they are doing:

- Levator & Tensor veli palatini - Lift and tightens up the palate to block the back of the throat so food doesn't go up to your nose

- Palatoglossus & Palatopharyngeus - Use the palate muscles to pull on the back of your throat (pharynx) to close up the place where you breathe (trachea) and make sure the food goes down the esophagus where it's supposed to

- Musculus uvulae - Moves the uvula to help block food from going up your nose


(from: wikipedia - soft palate)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Interphalangeal Ligaments

Crenel

We just learned about the short wall on top of a castle called a Parapet.

Another part of a castle is the Crenel.

Sometimes people would have gaps in the parapet wall, so that they could attack their enemies with arrows or even throw rocks on them.

The gap or low spaces on the parapet walls are called the crenel, or embrasure.


(from: wikipedia - battlement)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Balmoral Castle

Battle of the Milvan Bridge

We just learned about the Edict of Milan written in 313 AD by the emperor Constantine that it legal to be a Christian.

In the year 312 AD there was a big battle called the Battle of the Milvan Bridge in Ponte Milvio, Rome.

At that time Constantine was in a war with another emperor Maxentius.
Some time before the battle Constantine had a vision telling him to use the Chi-Ro symbol for his army, and he would win the battle with that as his sign.

We learned before that the chi-rho is the greek letters that look like X and P, and were for the Greek word for Christ, that started with those two letters.

Constantine put that symbol on the shields of his army, and beat Maxentius.

It was after he won that battle that he went back and wrote the Edict of Milan to make Christians free.


(from: wikipedia - battle of the milvan bridge)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Parmenas

Taj Mahal

We just learned about the Jama Masjid.

Another famous Indian work of art is the Taj Mahal, built in 1632 AD in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India.

The building is 240 feet tall, and the area where the building is covers 42 acres of land.
There is a mosque and a guest house, and fancy gardens.

It was made as a tomb for the wife of the emperor Shah Jahan.
He was so sad when his wife Mumtaz Mahal died that he wanted to make a very fancy place for her body to be put to rest.
The name Taj Mahal means "Crown of the Palaces".
It took about 20,000 people to make all the artwork, the buildings, gardens and towers to get it done.





(from: wikipedia - taj mahal)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Houmuwu Ding

Norwegian - His face is rough

We just learned in Norwegian her hands are soft is Hennes hender er myke.

To say his face is rough you would say Ansiktet hans er grovt.

The face - ansiktet - sounds like ah-n-sick-teh
his - hans - sounds like hah-n-z
is - er - sounds like eh-dr
rough - grovt - sounds like g-dro-v-t


So all together Ansiktet hans er grovt sounds like ah-n-sick-teh hah-n-z eh-dr g-dro-v-t.



(from: wikipedia - norwegian language)

Greek: Το πρόσωπό του είναι τραχύ (To prósopó tou eínai trachý)

ASL: His face is rough

Italian: il suo volto è ruvida

German: Sein Gesicht ist rau.

Spanish: Su cara es áspera

French: Son visage est rude

Forensic Firearm Examination

We just learned about Ballistic Fingerprints.

Another type of science is Forensic Firearm Examination.

When guns are made, they are each given a special different code number called a "serial number".
No two guns have the same number, and when someone buys a gun they keep track of who owns which gun with which serial number.

This is done so that if a gun is used for a crime, the police can look at the serial number on the gun and figure out who owns the gun.

The serial number is printed right into the metal of the gun.
Sometimes people try to scrape off the metal where the serial number is, but police can use special electromagnets and chemicals to tell what the serial number was even if it has been scraped off.

Some guns these days are also being made to mark the serial number of the gun on the bullet when it is fired.
That way each bullet can be tracked down to who fired it if a crime is committed.



(from: wikipedia - forensic firearm examination)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Rocket Engine Nozzle

Irukandji Jellyfish

We just learned about the Immortal Jellyfish.

Another type of jellyfish is the Irukandji Jellyfish.

This is the smallest type of jelly, and also one of the most venomous ones in the world!

They can be as small as 0.2 inches, and as big as a little less than 1 inch.
Their tentacles can be as short as less than one inch, or as long as 3 feet.

If this type of jelly stings a person, after about 30 minutes they can have headaches, muscle pains, throwing up, or even a heart attack.
It can take a few hours to get better, or sometimes a day or even a few weeks!

Such a small jelly that pack such a dangerous sting can be scary to watch out for in the water.
These jellies mostly only live around Australia on the north side.



(from: wikipedia - irukandji jellyfish)



Irukandji Jellyfish - World's deadliest fishing - The Nature of Science


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Argonaut Octopus

Hard Palate

We just learned about the Sublingual Caruncle.

Another part of the mouth is the Hard Palate.

This is the roof of your mouth, right over your tongue.
You can push up on it with your tongue, and it is hard because there is bone right there underneath the skin.


(from: wikipedia - hard palate)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Metatarsal Ligaments

Parapet

We just learned about the Wall Walk.

Another part of a castle is the Parapet.

On the roof of the castle, or on the wall walk, the parapet is a short wall that is built so that people can see over it, but also hide behind it.


(from: wikipedia - parapet)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Alcázar of Segovia

Edict of Milan

We just learned about the Edict of Serdica.

Another part of early Christian history is the Edict of Milan, written in 313 AD.

When the Emperor Galerius said that it was ok to be a Christian, there were still a lot of old churches and things that had been taken from Christians.

The Emperors Constantine and Licinius decided that everyone should be free to worship whoever they want, and they ordered that all of the things that were taken from the Christians had to be returned.

So this mean that churches or anything like crosses, sculptures or anything that was seen as Christian had to be given back to the Christians so they could have freedom to worship.


(from: wikipedia - edict of milan)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Timon

Jama Masjid

We just learned about the Chola Nataraja.

Another famous Indian sculpture is the Jama Masjid, in Delhi, built around 1650 AD.

The name means "World reflecting mosque".
It cost 1 million rupees when it was built, and is made with four towers, and some tall posts over 130 feet tall.
The construction is made of limestone, sandstone and white marble.



(from: wikipedia - jama masjid, delhi)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jade Burial Suits

Norwegian - Her hands are soft

We just learned in Norwegan our table is short is Vårt bord er kort.

To say her hands are soft you would say Hennes hender er myke.
Her - Hennes - sounds like heh-neh-ss
hands - hender - sounds like hen-deh-r
are - er - sounds like ah-r
soft - myke - sounds like mee-kay


So all together Hennes hender er myke sounds like heh-neh-ss hen-deh-r ah-r mee-kay.



(from: wikipedia - norwegian language)

Greek: Τα χέρια της είναι μαλακά (Ta chéria tis eínai malaká)

ASL: ASL: Her hands are soft

Italian: Le sue mani sono morbide

German: Ihre Hände sind weich

Spanish: Sus manos estan suaves

French: Ses mains sont douces

Ballistic Fingerprints

We just learned about the Toxicology.

Another part of forensics is the study of Ballistic Fingerprints.

When someone uses a gun to shoot someone else, and they run away before the police can arrest them, there are ways that scientists can look at the bullets to try and figure out which gun they came from.

When a bullet is shot out of a gun, it spins around inside the gun's barrel.
This is a special thing called rifling, and it helps the bullet go straighter.
The way the bullet is spun around inside the gun leaves marks on the metal bullet.

If the police find the bullet that was used to shoot someone, and they find the gun that they think was used, they can test shooting another bullet out of that same gun and see if the marks on the bullets match.

They put both bullets under a microscope and if the lines match up, then they can use that as evidence to put a bad person in jail.




(from: wikipedia - forensic firearm examination)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Gas Rocket Propellants

Immortal Jellyfish

We just learned about the Lion's Mane Jellyfish.

Another type of jellyfish is the Immortal Jellyfish, also called the turritopsis dohrnii.

This type of jellyfish does not get very big, less than one inch when it is fully grown.

This jellyfish starts out as a tiny baby jellyfish on the ocean floor.
When it grows up, it turns into a little bigger jellyfish and swims around the ocean looking for food.

If it gets hurt or is starving too badly, it can actually turn back into a baby jellyfish and start all over on the ocean floor!
That's like a grown up human turning back into a baby and starting life all over!

Because these jellyfish could do this over and over forever, they are called the immortal jellyfish, because immortal means you live forever.


(from: wikipedia - turritopsis dohrnii)


The Strange But Incredible Immortal Jellyfish - V101 Science


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Bigfin Reef Squid

Sublingual Caruncle

We just learned about the Fimbriated Fold.

Another part of the mouth is the Sublingual Caruncle.

Sublingual means "underneath the tongue", and caruncle means some skin sticking out like a bump.

Remember the frenulum is the piece of skin under the tongue that holds it in place.
On each side of the frenulum is a little bump.
That bump is the sublingual caruncle, and it is where most of the saliva or spit in your mouth comes out of.


(from: wikipedia - submandibular gland)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Distal Intertarsal Ligaments

Wall Walk

We just learned about the Zwinger.

Another part of a castle is a Wall Walk.

On top of the castle wall sometimes there is a pathway, with a small wall next to it.
People could walk on the wall, but still be protected by the small wall.
They could also look out to see who was coming, or shoot arrows or throw things down on any attackers.


(from: wikipedia - chemin de ronde)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Neuschwanstein Castle

Edict of Serdica

We just learned about the The Great Persecution.

Another part of early Christianity was the Edict of Serdica.

Remember that in 303 AD the Emperor named Diocletian started the Great Persecution, where Christians were killed and churches were burned down.
Later on a new Emperor took over named Galerius, and in the year 311 AD he decided that they should stop the Great Persecution.

He wrote a letter that was called the Edict of Serdica, which said that they tried to stop Christians from worshipping Jesus and tried to force them to worship Roman gods but it wasn't working.
So they decided to just let Christians worship Jesus, and not try and force them to worship Roman gods anymore.

This was the first time ever in history that rulers of any country made a law saying that it was ok to be a Christian.


(from: wikipedia - edict of serdica)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Nicanor