The largest insect migration in the world ends each year in Michoacán, Mexico. Millions of monarch butterflies travel from the United States and Canada to pass the cold months in the towering trees of this beautiful forest. On their incredible journey, the butterflies travel around 2,800 miles.
Attention parents with school-aged kids who have way too much time on their hands: Amazon has opened up 40 of its most popular family shows to stream for free to all, meaning you don’t need to be a Prime member to enjoy them.
Among the titles available are full seasons of Amazon animated originals such as Bug Diaries and Pete the Cat, as well as older fare including Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street and Just Add Magic. Additionally, PBS Kids has taken down the Prime paywall for much of its content, so shows such as Arthur and Caillou are now free. You can browse the full selection of titles on a dedicated page, but it’s unclear how long the offer will last or whether new shows will be added over time.
We were doing one of our “virtual drinks and dinner” with friends from Denver last night and, as always, our conversation turned to what shows we were watching. I created this list for them and figured I would share it here, too. The first section is Netflix and the second are some of my favorite YouTube channels. — Douglas
The scientists running Seattle-based Oceans Initiative more typically apply their marine mammal expertise to research on endangered orcas or conservation of white-sided dolphins in Washington’s Puget Sound.
But the upside-down world of the new coronavirus and the closure of their nearly 6-year-old daughter’s school inspired them this week to launch what they’ve dubbed their Virtual Marine Biology Camp.
There are a couple of tricks in this article I am going to try in my own kitchen. As we get older, I am finding we need to amp-up the flavors in our foods to keep them appealing. Some say this is due to worn out tastebuds as we age, but I think it also has to do with providing a variety to our palate to keep food interesting and delightful. — Douglas
I love pasta in all its forms. Recently, I’ve become obsessed with a Youtube channel called Pasta Grannies, which is about (you guessed it) Italian grandmas making all kinds of pasta types. One of the first videos I saw was of a Pasta Granny making su filindeu, or “threads of God,” a Sardinian pasta type that is typically served in a rich broth as a soup to feed travelers on pilgrimages.
Made in 1898, G.A. Smith’s ‘Santa Claus’ is a film of considerable technical ambition and accomplishment for its period. It uses pioneering visual effects in its depiction of a visit from St. Nicholas.
A former magic lanternist and hypnotist, Smith was one of the first British film-makers to make extensive use of special effects to create fantastical scenes. It comes as little surprise that Smith corresponded with the French pioneer Georges Méliès at about this time, as the two men shared a common goal in terms of creating an authentic cinema of illusion. (Michael Brooke)
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