Saccade

We just learned about Peripheral Vision.

Another part of the eye is the Saccade.

When your eyes move, sometimes they move fast and sometimes they move slow.
If you quickly switch from looking at one spot to looking at another spot, that is called a saccade.

So if you are holding your open hand out, you can stare at your thumb and then quickly switch to staring at your pinky.
You don't need to slowly move your eyes along across the middle of your hand until you stop at your pinky, you just zip right over and look at it, and you can switch back and forth easily.

The word saccade is French for jerk, like a jerking movement as your eyes move around.


(from: wikipedia - saccade)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Filiform Papillae

Marie Byrd Land

We just learned about the Ross Sea.

Another part of Antarctica is Marie Byrd Land.

This is part of West Antarctica, and it is about 620,000 square miles.

A lot of parts of Antarctica have research stations or areas where countries of the world have said they own, but this part of Antarctica is not owned by anyone.

Because of this it is the biggest piece of land in the whole world that is not owned by anyone.

There have been some camps set up out in the middle of this land area to try and study it, and usually to try and drill very far down into the ice to see what it is like far below the surface.



(from: wikipedia - marie byrd land)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Chillon Castle

Saint Ansgar

We just learned about the Vikings and Christians.

Another person from early Christianity was Saint Ansgar.

We learned about King Charlemagne and how he helped Christianity grow through Europe.

A man named Ansgar who grew up being taught by monks about God and Jesus.
Charlemagne wanted someone to go north to the countries of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, so he told Ansgar to go and try to tell people up there about Christianity.

He met with a lot of kings and helped start some churches, but he also had problems because a lot of the kings in that area were fighting with each other.
So he could make friends with one king, and then a few years later that king wasn't in charge anymore and he had to leave and come back later.

He still helped spread the word to the northern countries there and set up some churches and told a lot of people about Christianity.


(from: wikipedia - ansgar)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Antilegomena

Angel of the Waters - Emma Stebbins

We just learned about the Forever Free - Edmonia Lewis.

Another famous American sculpture is Angel of the Waters by Emma Stebbins in 1873.

Emma was born in New York in 1815, where her parents helped get her into schools that would teach her to be an artist
When she was 41 years old, she moved to Italy to learn from famous sculptors.

She was the first woman who was paid to do art for New York City, when she made the Angel of the Waters statue, sometimes also called Bethesda Fountain.
This statue is in New York's famous Central Park, and has a big fountain around it, and a big area for people to walk around.

It is an 8 foot tall bronze satue of an angel that is touching the top of the fountain where water is spouting up and around.

There are four small cherubs called Temperance, Purity, Health, and Peace.

This fountain is supposed to be about the story where Jesus healed a man who could not walk who was sitting by a fountain of healing.


(from: wikipedia - bethesda fountain)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Ellora - Jain Caves

Russian - You are sad

We just learned that in Russian I am happy is Я счастлив (ya shastliv).

Now let's learn how to say You are sad.

Ты грустный

You - Ты (Ty) - sounds like too 文A
sad - грустный (grustnyy) - Sounds like g-dr-oo-ss-t-n-ee 文A

So all together Ты грустный (Ty grustnyy) sounds like Too g-dr-oo-ss-t-n-ee.



(from: wikipedia - russian academy of sciences)

Norwegian: du er lei deg.

Greek: Είσαι λυπημενος

ASL: You are sad

Italian: Sei triste

German: Sie sind traurig

Spanish: Estas triste

French: Vous êtes triste

Servo

We just learned about the Valve Types.

Another part of machines is a Servo, also called a servomechanism.

This is something that uses special sensors to make a machine move or stop moving if it senses something bad.

When you go to a store and the automatic door is closing but senses you walking through it and stops, that is using a servo.
The servo has a motor that is closing the door, and then the sensor tells it that there is someone there, and it tells the motor to stop.

When it is clear, the servo tells it to close the door.

So a servo is really like a smart machine controller that automatically turns on or off when it needs to.


(from: wikipedia - servomechanism)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: PGM-11 Redstone

Jaguar

We just learned about the Tigers.

Another type of wild cat is the Jaguar.

This is the third biggest kind of cat after the lion and tiger.
It can grow to be about 350 pounds, and six feet long, with a 2 foot tail.

They have spots all over their body, with different sizes and shapes.
On their head, feet and belly, their spots are mostly just all black.
Their bodies have things called rosettes, which sort of like rose shaped black marks that are darker brown in the middle, and sometimes have a dot in the middle.
Other than their spots they have brown heads, backs and legs, and their belly area has white fur.

Jaguars live in Central and South America, but don't usually come as far north as the United States.

Just like a tiger, jaguars usually live by themselves.
Baby jaguars will live with only their mother for about 2 years and then they go live by themselves.
They can live to be around 12 years in the wild, and if they are taken care of in a zoo they can live over 20 years.

Jaguars are strong swimmers, and can even hunt things like Caimans that live in the water and are like an alligator.




(from: wikipedia - jaguar)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Upside Down Jellyfish