Friday Findings

I’m a curious soul – with a wide range of nerdy and geeky interests, ranging from space exploration to theological concepts.  I often find interesting items when stumbling about on the internet – and on Friday’s I like to share my findings with you!

Goodbye, Jet Lag

Ken and I are in the process of planning some international travel for next year.  If you’ve ever taken an international trip, you may have experienced the dregs of jet lag.  Even when traveling between the East Coast and Hawaii, I have – on occasion – suffered some from exhaustion and disorientation.

Sasha Brady, writing for Lonely Planet, shared some tricks on how to combat jet lag – I know that one of the most helpful things to me is to “force” my body onto whatever time zone I am in.  Go to bed at 10:00 pm and wake up at 6:00 am…even if my body “thinks” I am home, and six hours ahead.  Check out the tips here, and file them away for your next international jaunt:  Jet Lag, Go Away!

Bicephalic Snakes

Ok – true confession – I didn’t even know what the word “bicephalic” meant until I stumbled across this article at CNN.com a few days ago – a bicephalic snake has two heads – how incredibly cool is that?  And one slithered its way into the yard of a resident in Northern Virginia earlier this month – a copperhead, no less!  Two-headed snakes are rare, according to the article, because they don’t live very long.  Hopefully this little guy lives a long and happy life!  Take a look here:  Wild Herpetology

Missing Lava

Of course, with my love for the islands and for volcanoes, recent articles about the reopening of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park caught my interest.  I’m so glad to see the park reopened, and to hear that visitors are flocking there once again, as the park works to repair damage and reopen trails….but how strange to think that, with the recent eruptions and fissures – the lava is no longer present in Halema’uma’u Crater, and no red glow and be seen from PU’u O’o.  That’s just so crazy to think about.  I have so many wonderful memories with my crew – hikes out to see the lava spilling into the ocean, creating its very own weather system with lightning and mini tornadoes.  Just last year we were lucky enough to be at the crater on a very active night – and we watched explosion after explosion of lava as it bubbled and boiled in the crater.  I’m so thankful that the destruction of property has come to an end, of course.  That is most important – but how strange it will be to visit the park, and not see lava:  What’s Going on with the Volcano?

NASA Langley Research Center:  Celebrating 100 Years

Yesterday, Ken and I were able to go on a “behind the scenes” tour at the NASA Langley Research Center.  What a fantastic day it was – we boarded buses at the Virginia Air and Space Museum, which took us onto the NASA property.  The NASA tour team and presenters treated us like royalty, and my love of all things space-related was once again fueled.

To start our tour, we were shown this video commemorating 100 Years of the Langley Research Center.  Check it out below – well worth your time.

BONUS:  Another video that they shared with us was of an interview with Katherine Johnson – you may recall Katherine from the book and movie “Hidden Figures”.  Katherine worked at Langley, and last year a brand new building was named after her.  This interview is priceless – don’t miss it.  You will be inspired and encouraged to “Do Your Best!”