Seymour Simon's Blog, page 49

Why Do We Get Sick on Boats?

Ever been on a boat and suddenly felt horribly sick? Well, a whole lot of people have felt the very same thing. This sort of seasickness is commonly a form of motion sickness, which is what happens when your brain gets tricked! How so, you ask? As you look out over the glistening blue water from your boat, your eyes may rest on a lighthouse or even a lonely house on the other side of the shore. Since your eyes are quite still and you’re looking at something stationary (also, quite still), your brain believes that you are also perfectly still. But if you’re on a rocking boat, your inner ear is able to sense that you’re not balanced and not still and is able to communicate to the brain that you’re actually moving. Scientists believe that we tend to get sick when the brain is getting these sort of conflicting messages (one from the eyes that says we’re still and one from the ears that says we’re moving). They think that when this happens, the brain concludes that one of these messages is false and that we must be hallucinating (or dreaming) due to some sort of poison. And so, the brain comes to the rescue by releasing certain chemicals designed to make us vomit and remove the poison from our body. Fun fact: When we feel like vomiting, we often refer to it as suffering from nausea (or being nausesous). In fact, the word nausea comes from the Greek for seasickness (naus means ship in Greek). So, it looks like even the dudes in ancient Greece felt the same thing!Image: New York Times Company (illustrated by Victoria Roberts)

Free App Today!

Wow! Seymour Simon's SILLY DINOSAUR RIDDLES book app is today's "Free App of the Day" on the Amazon homepage. Even if you already own this eBook app, go ahead and download it again today, because we have added fun new features like a Dinosaur Quiz (take it to check your dino knowledge!) and word highlighting.Click here to get it for your Android phone, and tell your friends!

Watch Sharks in Real Time

Want to see the world’s largest type of shark up close and personal? The Georgia Aquarium down in Atlanta has placed an underwater camera in their huge tank to give us a live feed of everything that’s going on. What will you see? Click on the pic below to see the live video stream and see if you can spot the following creatures: The Whale Shark Despite its name, this animal is a shark and not a whale. But, it is considered the largest fish in the world. (Remember: whales are not fish, they are mammals) It is mostly grey and its skin is marked with a checkerboard of pale yellow spots and stripes. The Manta Ray The graceful swim of the manta ray is a beautiful sight indeed. These creatures flap and glide their way through the water with their wing-like fins that can span up to 23 feet long. The Georgia Aquarium has its very own manta ray called Nandi – learn more about her and her journey from South Africa to Atlanta here. The Sand-Tiger Shark This shark looks scary because it has a mouthful of sharp teeth that protrude in all directions. However, the fish is not aggressive at all. It is the only shark in the world that can remain absolutely still in water as it waits for its prey (it’s desired fish food for the day!) to approach. Golden Trevally These bright yellow fish travel as part of large schools (large groups of fish). They are known to swim closely to sharks and other large fish, probably for protection from their predators (other fish that are hunting them). See if you can spot them in the tank! There are lots more fish in the tank – check out this page for the full list of creatures and see which ones you can see swimming around.Interested in more shark stuff? Find out more cool stuff in Seymour Simon's book Sharks Images: Georgia Aquarium

Sperm Whales May Have Their Very Own Names

If you've ever seen pictures of whales, chances are you've seen a sperm whale.These great creatures of the oceans have massive heads (that are typically one-third of the animal's entire length!) and are known to have the largest brain of any animal on Earth. (That doesn't mean, however, that they could beat you on a math test. Just because they have larger brains, it doesn't mean that they are more intelligent than humans (but we'll talk about that in another post)).Like most animals, sperm whales have found a way to communicate with each other. They do so through a series of "clicks" and in fact, these sounds are the loudest sounds produced by any animal. Whales can hear them even when they are miles apart. Recently a bunch of marine biologists (scientists that study animals and other organisms of the ocean) suggested that each sperm whale communicates in a very unique way. Since the communication is so unique, the scientists think that these clicks are a way of identifying each whale - much like the way your name identifies you! The marine biologists analyzed the sounds and found that there are differences in the timing of these clicks. This is what they think sets one whale apart from the other. It makes sense that the whales should be able to figure out who’s "speaking" without actually seeing them - especially because there are times when the water in the ocean can get quite murky and hard to see through! As exciting as this discovery is, the scientists need to study many more sperm whales to confirm that these creatures each have a unique way of communicating. Now that you've got sperm whales on the brain, I thought I'd leave you with my favorite whale cartoon: The Whale Who Sang at the Met. (It's a You-Tube video about a sperm whale who just loves to sing…) Enjoy! Want toknow more about whales in general? Check out Seymour Simon’s book here. Image: NOAA

Staying Cool at the Zoo

Are you keeping cool during the heat wave that is gripping most of North America? It’s hot in Europe, too, and the zookeepers in Rome came up with a great idea. Look at this macaque (pronounced meh-KACK, a kind of monkey) staying cool by eating a block of frozen fruit. We figured this just had to be our COOL photo of the week! Photo: Rome Bioparco Foundation/AP

Pyramids from Space

I’m pleased to introduce a new Seymour Science blogger, Saira Jesani. Saira has a degree in Microbiology & Immunology from McGill University, worked as a science writer forSeed magazine, and helped to launch Visualizing.org, which uses data and design to help make sense of scientific and economic issues. We’re very pleased to have her as a contributor to the Seymour Science blog! — Seymour Who knew you could find things on Earth - which you thought were lost forever - when you look from Outer Space?That's exactly what happened when space archaeologists found some long lost pyramids in Egypt. They spotted 17 of the ancient memorials - built with a square base and four triangle-shaped sides - by studying satellite photos.They even think some of those pyramids may be buried under the Nile River! Not sure the old Egyptian kings (commonly called pharaohs) would have been too happy about that!TheBBC television network has made a program called "Egypt's Lost Cities" about this discovery. The image above, from that program, is a computer generated picture (CGI) that they created to to bring the satellite images of the lost pyramids to life.Want more fun facts on pyramids? Check out Seymour Simon's book:Pyramids and Mummies. Happy reading!

Cool Photo: Can you guess what this is?

Can you guess what this is a photograph of? Photographer Kallerna took this shot of the sparks from a campfire in Anttoora, Finland.Have you ever built a campfire on a summer night and made S'mores? It’s easy. Here is what you need:Long branches with pointed ends (pick up dead branches – do not break live branches off of trees)MarshmallowsPlain chocolate bar (get the thin kind that breaks up into squares)Graham crackersDIRECTIONS:Put your marshmallow on the end of your stick and toast it over your campfire until it is brown and soft all over. Then, make a “sandwich’ by stacking:graham cracker square on the bottomsquare of chocolatetoasted marshmallowgraham cracker square on the bottomWhen your sandwich is all assembled, push down gently on the top cracker (not too hard, or you’ll break it!) so that the hot marshmallow squeezes all over the chocolate and melts it. That is all there is to it! CAUTION: Many areas in North America are under drought conditions this summer. If it is dry with fire danger warnings where you live, do NOT build a campfire! And even if you are in an area where it is safe to have a fire, you should pour water on your fire at the end of the night and be sure that it is completely extinguished before you go to bed.

Summer Vacation Science :: Planetary Storms

Can you imagine a single hurricane that has lasted for centuries? In this activity (click here to download), you will learn more about a giant storm on Jupiter that has not changed its position for hundreds of years.Every week from now until Labor Day, we will publish a new nature project. The goal is to get kids outdoors, exploring and enjoying the world around them. Check back here every Tuesday for a new installment of Summer Vacation Science.

Cats vs. Dogs….again!

Are you a Seymour Simon Facebook fan? Seymour just posted a new poll on a topic that is near and dear to the hearts of our readers: Who do you like to talk to the most, your cat or your dog? If you're 13 years old or more, head to Seymour's Facebook Author Page to register your vote! Photo: From the Seymour Simon eBook WHY DO PUPPIES DO THAT?

What's That in the Garage?

A Southern California man heard noises in his garage, and thought that a raccoon, or maybe a squirrel had gotten in there. When he went in to check, he found himself face-to-face with a mountain lion! Jesse Taylor snapped this photograph - which is our Cool Photo of the Week - while his wife called 911. Animal control experts eventually tranquilized the cat and released it into the San Bernardino National Forest.Biologists said that the mountain lion was a young male just beginning to explore on his own. Boy, will he have a story to tell when he gets home!