Asyncritus - bishop of Hyrcania

We just learned about the Rufus - bishop of Thebes, one of the seventy disciples

Another of the seventy was Asyncritus - bishop of Hyrcania.

Just like Rufus, Asyncritus was one of the people that Paul talked about when he wrote a letter to the people of Rome.

Asyncritus went on to the land of Hyrcania, which later became part of the country of Iran.


(from: wikipedia - asyncritus of hyrcania)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Paul of Thebes

Phoenix crown of Empress Xiaoduanxian

We just learned about the Shi Qiang Pan.

Another ancient Chinese work of art is the Phoenix crown of Empress Xiaoduanxian, made around 1500 AD in China.

In ancient times in China, queens brides and noble women would wear a special crown called Fengguan which means "phoenix crown".
The name comes from the phoenix decoration on the crown, made from feathers of the kingfisher bird.
There are also golden dragons, bearded pheasants, pearls and other gems.
Each crown was different and some would have more dragons or jewels based on how important the person was.

One of the fanciest phoenix crowns was from the Ming Empress Xiaoduanxian with 6 dragons, 3 phoenixes, 5,449 pearls, 71 rubies and 57 sapphires.
This kind of crown would weigh about five pounds.



(from: wikipedia - wang xijie)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: St. Cecilia - Stefano Maderno

Greek - Couting to Sixty Nine

We counted to 59 in Greek, let's keep going!

60 εξήντα (exínta) - sounds like ay-ks-EEN-tah
61 εξήντα ένα (exínta éna) - sounds like ay-ks-EEN-tah AY-nah
62 εξήντα δύο (exínta dýo) - sounds like ay-ks-EEN-tah DEE-y-oh
63 εξήντα τρεις (exínta treis) - sounds like ay-ks-EEN-tah t-day-ss
64 εξήντα τέσσερις (exínta tésseris) - sounds like ay-ks-EEN-tah TAY-say-dee-ss
65 εξήντα πέντε (exínta pénte) - sounds like ay-ks-EEN-tah PAY-n-tay
66 εξήντα έξι (exínta éxi) - sounds like ay-ks-EEN-tah AY-k-see
67 εξήντα επτά (exínta eptá) - sounds like ay-ks-EEN-tah ay-p-TAH
68 εξήντα οκτώ (exínta októ) - sounds like ay-ks-EEN-tah oh-k-TOH
69 εξήντα εννέα (exínta ennéa) - sounds like ay-ks-EEN-tah eh-NEE-y-ah


(from: wikipedia - center for the greek language)

ASL: fifty, fifty one, fifty two, fifty three, fifty four, fifty five, fifty six, fifty seven, fifty eight, fifty nine

Italian: sessanta, sessantuno, sessantadue, sessantatre, sessantaquattro, sessantacinque, sessantasei, sessantasette, sessantotto, sessantanove

German: sechzig, einundsechzig, zweiundsechzig, dreiundsechzig, vierundsechzig, fünfundsechzig, sechsundsechzig, siebenundsechzig, achtundsechzig, neunundsechzig

Spanish: sesenta, sesenta y uno, sesenta y dos, sesenta y tres, sesenta y cuatro, sesenta y cinco, sesenta y seis, sesenta y siete, sesenta y ocho, sesenta y nueve

French: soixante, soixante et un, soixante-deux, soixante-trois, soixante-quatre, soixante-cinq, soixante-six, soixante-sept, soixante-huit, soixante-neuf

Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU)

We just learned about the Airspeed Indicator.

Some of the tools we've talked about are things called Inertial Measurement Units or just IMU for short.

Inertia is the change in the rockets speed or direction, so the tools that we talked about like the gyroscope, magnetometer and accelerometer are all used to tell how the rocket is moving, so they are all IMUs.

IMUs all help measure things called Roll, Pitch and Yaw.

Roll is like when an airplane is still going forward in the air, but does a spin so it is flipped upside down, but still going forward.
Pitch is like when the airplane moves its nose to go down toward the ground or up toward the sky.
Yaw is like when the airplane isn't flying along and then turns left or right.

Different types of rockets use different IMUs depending on what kind of sensors they need, but they all are used to measure roll, pitch and yaw.



(from: wikipedia - inertial measurement unit)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Tectonic plates.

Southern Sand Octopus

We just learned about the Joubin's Squid.

Another cephalopod is the Southern Sand Octopus, also called octopus kaurna.

This octopus lives around Australia, and grows up to about 20 inches long, with very thin arms.

This octopus can not change colors like a lot of others can, so it stays hidden by burying itself in the sand.
It goes down by the bottom of the sea, and spits out a big jet of water down into the sand, then use its arms to quickly dive down into the hole it made.


(from: wikipedia - octopus kaurna)


Octopus makes its own quicksand then vanishes inside - New Scientist

Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Coqui

Dental Notation - ISO

We just learned about Dental Notation - Universal Numbering.

Another way of numbering teeth is the ISO System or the International Standards Organization System, also called the FDI system.

This way of numbering teeth puts teeth in four different sections by number:
1 - top right
2 - top left
3 - bottom left
4 - bottom right

The teeth in those areas are numbered starting from the front with 1, and the numbers go up as you get toward the back.
So the top right front tooth is 1-1, and the top left front tooth is 2-1.
The top right back tooth is 1-7, and the top left back tooth is 2-7.
The bottom teeth go from 3-1 to 3-7, and 4-1 to 4-7.

Some dentists like this way of numbering tooth because they can easily split the mouth up into 4 parts.




(from: wikipedia - dental notation)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Collagen

Citadel of Aleppo

We just learned about the Prague Castle.

Another ancient castle is the Citadel of Aleppo in Syria.

It is one of the oldest and largest castles in the world, built over 2000 years ago, around 300 AD.
The hill where this castle was is so old that people say Abraham from the Bible had his sheep up on this hill.
The conqueror Alexander the Great took over this castle, as did the Roman Empire, the Mongols from China, the Ottoman Empire and the French and Syrian people.

The Citadel is about 1,500 feet long and 1,000 feet wide, and over 150 feet tall.
It used to be covered with shiny blocks of limestone, and some of those blocks are still there.
There is a moat around it that is 72 feet deep and 98 feet wide, made over 800 years ago.

This castle was very hard to take over, because people coming in would have to take over six turns on a ramp that had machicolations above them where people could drop rocks or hot oil on them from above.
There are also secret passageways all over the citadel, and even underground passages going over 400 feet below the building.



(from: wikipedia - citadel of aleppo)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Nunavut