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News: Zambia's Forgotten Space Program of 1962.

Back in 1962, a Zambian teacher vowed that his country would beat America as the first country to put a man on the moon, and then they would go on to Mars. Unfortunately, his dream never came to fruition. The Zambians worked hard though. His "astronauts" rolled down hills in barrels to get used to traveling through space. They practiced walking on their hands, as their leader - Edward Makuka Nkoloso - assured them that was the only way to get around on the moon. "My spacemen are ready, but we...

News: The Amazing PVC Pipe Music of Kent Jenkins (aka Snubby J)

There's a ton of videos on the web of musicians playing homemade PVC instruments, but I just recently stumbled upon the impressive work of PVC pipe player Kent Jenkins, aka Snubby J. His most recent video features a duet with his faux-twin, playing "Wizards in Winter" by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Turns out, he's been a PVC maestro for awhile now and even auditioned for his inspiration, the Blue Man Group, at the age of seventeen. Though he wasn't picked, they saw potential in him and aske...

Scrabble Bingo of the Day: HELLEBORE

Scrabble Bingo of the Day: HELLEBORE [n] A hellebore is any of the approximately 20 plants from the genus Helleborus, many of which are poisonous. Hellebores are herbaceous perennial flowering plants from Eurasia related to the buttercup family, having showy flowers with petaloid sepals.

Scrabble Bingo of the Day: MIASMIC

Scrabble Bingo of the Day: MIASMIC [adj] Miasmic is an adjective for miasm (or miasma), which means a noxious vapor—"bad air" harmful to health. The word miasma comes from the ancient Greek word for pollution. And the concept of bad air also gave rise to the name malaria, from old Italian "mala" (bad) "aria" (air).

How To: Make Hanging Dried Persimmons (Hoshigaki)

A seasonal tradition brought over from Japan to America by Japanese-American farmers, making hoshigaki (as they're called in Japanese) is a fun outdoor autumn project you can do before the winter season really kicks in. Hang a bunch of peeled persimmons on a string outside, wait for three to five weeks, and harvest yourself some naturally dried persimmons during the winter months. Though peeling the fruit and then regularly massaging the fruit every few days after hanging may be more labor in...

News: Enter the Weird World of Hojamaka Games

Without Japan, video games would not be very fun. Atari's early work was important, but Japanese developers, publishers, and hardware makers were responsible for almost every major advance in video games for the first 25 years of their mainstream existence. In recent years, it has often been said that they have become less relevant than Western developers. In the indie games movement— (our area of greatest interest here at Indie Games Ichiban)—Japan does not have anywhere near the presence th...

News: Project Belly Dance

In November 2010 I had one of the best experiences ever in my Belly Dance "career" (I use quotes because I love it so much it is difficult to refer to dancing as a job). My family and I flew out to Baltimore, MD so I could participate in a reality show style Belly Dance competition called Project Belly Dance... The Search for America's Next Top Belly Dancer, Created by Michelle Joyce and Lotus Naraja and produced by Cheeky Girls Productions.

News: Mitakuye Oyasin

This expression, mitakuye oyasin, comes from the language of the Lakota Sioux, a tribe among the Native Americans. It means "We are all related." It's uttered upon crossing the threshold into the Sweat Lodge, the small, low structure used by the Sioux for their sacred purification ritual, the Sweat. In Seido Karate we have a saying we utter upon entering the dojo and upon greeting others: Osu! Osu is an abbreviation of the expression Oshi shinobu osu, which means "maintain patience."

News: Kids Kill Jimmy Kimmel at SCRABBLE

It's no secret that Jimmy Kimmel is a SCRABBLE man. He hosted and won the SCRABBLE 60th Anniversary Celebrity Doubles Tournament (SCRABBLE Under the Stars), and for the last couple of years, featured the National School SCRABBLE Champs on his late night show "Jimmy Kimmel Live!".

Top 10: Best Ethical Destinations for 2011

By Ethical Traveler As the world becomes ever more interconnected, being an ethical traveler becomes both easier and more urgent. Travelers today have access to far more information than we did even 10 years ago. We can observe–almost in real time–the impact that smart or selfish choices, by governments and individuals, have on rainforests and reefs, cultures and communities.

News: Mind Your Manners!

If you live in an urban environment, chances are that you've seen this: It's a program started by the FBI to prevent terrorism and general thievery in peaceful and innocent communities all around America. I myself have seen a lot of these, and my previous apartment community was part of this 'program'.

News: Religion in the Republican Race

Mitt Romney has been on a winning streak recently, with small breaks by Rick Santorum. Ron Paul is slowly coming in third, but it's hard to say he's making a dent in those who support the top two contenders. Newt Gingrich has gone down, down to the bottom. He's still fighting to make another break in the race.

Gov't Involvement: Through The Eyes of The Student

Insight Description: In our government class, each student was required to participate in any branch of government from local such as working with your community representatives; state; working with your senator or an organization and federal; which you can entreat in a presidential campaign. The total number of students who participated was Twenty-one and each individual needed to complete at least Ten hours or more.

Scrabble Bingo of the Day: CABRESTA

Scrabble Bingo of the Day: CABRESTA [n/pl.] A cabresta (also cabestro or cabresto) is simply a lasso, a rope formed with a running noose that's used on ranches and Western plains for catching horse and cattle. Cabresta comes from the Spanish word halter, which refers to the headgear used for leading or tying up livestock and other animals. But halter also used to mean to hang someone by roped noose, which could be how it became popular as a term for a noosed lasso.

Scrabble Bingo of the Day: FINNESKO

Scrabble Bingo of the Day: * FINNESKO [n/pl.] A finnesko is a boot made of tanned reindeer skin, with the reindeer's fur on the outside. It's an especially good, warm boot for subarctic regions. These boots originate from the Sami, indigenous people from the cultural region of Sápmi, located across four countries in the Arctic Circle; Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. This area is also referred to as Fennoscandia.

How To: Answer to Scrabble Challenge #20

It's sad to say, but I will no longer be writing up anymore Scrabble Challenges. Frankly, I just don't have the time to make them now. And though they are incredibly fun and "challenging" to conjure up, I'm not sure that people are finding them as useful as I had hoped. But really, it all comes down to time. So, unless I have a future craving for puzzle-making, last week's Scrabble Challenge #20 was the last one.

Scrabble Bingo of the Day: CAGANER

Scrabble Bingo of the Day: * CAGANER [n] A caganer is a small figurine of a person defecating in place, pants humorously around the character's ankles. It's a traditional Christmas decoration in Catalonia, Spain and in neighboring areas, where it's placed within the nativity scene.

Earth's Shadow: Time-Lapse Video of the Total Lunar Eclipse of 12/10/11

I woke up at 4:00 am this morning in order to take some video of the last total lunar eclipse visible from North America till 2014. The eclipse was beautiful. It was amazing to watch the shadow of our planet creep slowly across our nearest neighbor. Once the shadow was blocking out most of the light from the sun, the moon was significantly dimmer and the color had changed to a reddish orange. This color is caused by the same effect that makes our sunrises and sunsets so colorful. The light fr...

News: The Perfect Hack for Enabling NFC Credit Card Payments on Your iPhone 4

Remember the good ol' days when you actually had to swipe your credit or debit card to make a payment at the store? Now all it takes is a flick of the wrist to purchase goods with your card, thanks to RFID (radio-frequency identification) technology from Chase (blink), Visa (payWave) and MasterCard (PayPass). But soon "contactless" payments will be made by an entirely different beast—NFC, which stands for near field communication.