A Spooky History of...Halloween!

“Trick or Treat!”  a random person yells as you come to the door with a bowl of candy.  Why do we even celebrate this holiday?  You may not think it is important, (Ok, so kids ADORE Halloween, but parents may be able to do without).  But is it really meant to be a spooky day with candy?

No, it’s not.  This holiday actually originated in England, Scotland, and Northern France.  Celtic cultures celebrated a celebration called Samhain (sah-ween).  Samhain was celebrated in order to tell the end of summer and the beginning of winter.  The Celts believed that the Spirits of the dead could return to life during this celebration.

In Celtic cultures, they believed the priests, or druids, could predict the future.  During this celebration, they sat around a bonfire.  While they sat around the bonfire and listened to what the druids had to say, they wore animal skins.  Celts threw animal skins and crops into the fire to sacrifice to the spirits.

A.D. Romans were the next people to influence celebrations dedicated to the dead.  Many people believe it is possible that Romans are the reason apples are bobbed and handed out for Halloween.

By 800 A.D. Christianity was in Celtic territories.  Christians started All Saints Eve. In the 1800s, English and Irish immigrant came to America, bringing All  Saints Eve with them.  All Saints Eve was later named All Hallows Eve,  which was later shortened to Halloween.

In France, a disease called Black Death wiped out half the population.  The French celebrated All Saints in order to celebrate mortality.      

Modern Halloween is celebrated in America, Ireland, Canada, Puerto Rico, Australia, and New Zealand.  But even so, Trick or Treating didn't become popular until the 1930s.  Nowadays, Americans spend over 5 billion dollars for Halloween.        

Gravity: A Must See Movie

Summary: 5 people go on a mission to fix the Hubble Telescope.  But, suddenly, the team receives a message from Earth that the Russians struck their own satellite.  The debris from the Russian satellite struck other satellites, and the debris was flying towards the Hubble Telescope faster than a speeding bullet.  The debris strikes the Hubble, and the whole movie turns into a fight to survive.

Gravity is a must see movie for anyone interested in going to outer space.  The graphics are so amazing you’ll wonder how they filmed the movie without actually being in outer space.  I loved it!  This movie is the closest you will get to outer space.

But, seeing it on a regular TV won’t be much fun.  You should see it in theaters in 3D.  In the movie, satellite debris flies out at you.  It looks so real, I found myself dodging the debris, even though I knew it was just a movie.

This movie is sci-fi, and the scenery is beautiful.  No, divine.  They show aurora's,  the sun peaking around the Earth, and all the other wonders of space.  For a while, I forgot I was on Earth.  The movie makes you focus on just the screen, and tune out everything and everyone.

I went to the theater to see this movie with my family and friends.  You need to sit towards the middle of the theater, see Gravity on a big screen, in 3D, and I bet you will love every second of it!

Intro: Jessie's Big Bang

Hi everyone, I'm Jessie.  In this blog, you will be reading information on just about everything!  I love to play softball, sing, play the violin, read, and learn, especially about space, biology, and history.  Writing has always been one of my favorite things to do.
My friends and I also love sewing and just being ourselves.  We enjoy telling jokes and making videos. Occasionally we even write plays!  If anything, we savor every moment together.

                                                         Me and my friend chillaxing

Thanks for visiting my blog.  I'll be posting more posts soon, so keep visiting!    

Misclassified Species Revealed

On Thursday, August 15, 2013, the Smithsonian scientists announced that they had made a rare discovery of a new mammal, which is the first animal discovered in 35 years!  

This adorable mammal is about the size of a raccoon, and has the face of a teddy bear.  Its bodies features also include a long tail, large eyes and rusty colored fur.   Many people say it looks like a cross between a house cat and a teddy bear.

Since the classification of this animal is so new, many people do not know about it.  But, if you watch the News, or like to surf the web, you may have heard of the olinguito (pronounced oh-lin-GHEE-toe).

This is a picture of an olinguito laying in a tree

The olinguito is a native mammal to the Andes Mountains of Colombia and Ecuador.  They weigh about 2 pounds and mostly eat fruit found in trees.

But, scientists are stumped on how this creature has been mislabeled as their cousin, an olingo. Or, in other words, are NOT a new species.

 

This is an olingo                                    This is an olinguito

Many scientists find it silly that, there actually HAVE been olinguitos in zoos.  But, since this new species of animals has been classified as olingos for over 100 years, nobody realized that this species was just one of the many new species that are patiently waiting to be classified as a new species.

The olingo (the cousin of the olinguito) has short, grey fur, while the olinguito has thick rusty red fur.  But, unlike the olinguito, which to native to the Andes Mountains of Ecuador and Colombia, the olingo is native to rain forests in south and Central America, stretching from Peru to Nicaragua.  An olingo’s body length is between 36-42 centimeters, and their tail is about 37-49 centimeters long.  An olinguito’s body length is about 14 centimeters long, while its tail is about 13-17 inches long.   

But enough about the olingo.  The olinguito is shy, nocturnal, and has been in U.S. zoos since the ‘70s and ‘80.  Isn't that baffling?  For years, people have seen an “undiscovered” mammal.

The scientific name for an olinguito is Bassaricyon Neblina, which is Spanish for “little olingo”.  The olinguitos are also part of the order carnivora.  This means they are carnivores.  But olinguitos are almost always observed eating fruit.  Olinguitos are also in the family Procyonidae, or the raccoon family.  

Many scientists believe that the olinguito is the smallest mammal inside the raccoon family.   

Think about this: Have YOU ever seen an olinguito?  Also, think of how you treat the world.  Olinguitos, and all other animals of the world, need a home, and, if you destroy it, how are scientists supposed to classify other animals?

Also, think of all the places that haven’t been explored.  How many discoveries can YOU make?  Just by doing the simplest tasks, like recycling or reducing the amount of trips you take in a car, you can help scientists.