RP200 Rafflesia, the corpse Flower

 RP1100 Rafflesia, the corpse Flower

Repulsive, foul, stinking—would you guess that all these adjectives apply to a flower?

Rafflesia is the type of flower to which all those words apply. It grows in Southeast Asia. It's very rare, and it is more commonly called the corpse flower. It got this nickname because of its horrible smell. People say rafflesia flowers smell like rotting flesh.

Rafflesias are unusual for a lot of reasons, not only for their smell. First of all, they are parasites. They grow on a particular kind of rain forest vine. Sadly, as the rain forests disappear, rafflesia is also disappearing. The only parts of rafflesia plants that can be seen are their flowers, which are huge. The biggest,

Rafflesia arnoldii, can be one meter across and weigh 11 kilograms! It's the heaviest single flower on Earth. Even the smallest blossoms are quite large at 12 centimeters across.

Rafflesia flowers are usually reddish brown with a white pattern that can look like warts. They smell so terrible in order to attract flies—not bees—which pollinate them. Flies land on the flowers, looking for meat, and take pollen with them when they fly away. This helps rafflesia reproduce.

Currently, rafflesia needs some help. For all its great size, it is a delicate genus. The flowers live only a few days, they usually grow in untouched locations, and many of them are difficult to keep alive outside of their natural habitat. Right now, the number of rafflesia flowers in the world is decreasing, so the more reproducing it does, the better. If we want wild, stinky, unusual rafflesias to stay alive on the earth, we must work to protect them and study them, even if we have to hold our noses while we do so.

RP199 Social Contagion

 RP199 Social Contagion

We all understand that certain illnesses are contagious. We don't share a drink with someone who has a cold. We also wash our hands after we cough on them to keep from spreading germs. But we' re discovering now that germs aren't the only things that are contagious. Ideas and states of being can be catching too.

You must have noticed how you'll probably yawn if your friend yawns. Or if a friend tells you an angry story, you may feel yourself getting angry. One person crying tends to make other people cry. This happens because of our genes. When we watch someone else feel something or do something, the very same parts of our brains that would control that emotion or action become active. Human beings were designed to share each other's feelings and emotions. Imitating other people's words and behavior is only natural for us.

Imagine that you have an overweight friend. This friend always orders too much food. When you go out with him, you order a lot as well. Can you see how you'd end up gaining weight that way? That's social contagion. If you have an overweight spouse or sibling, the chances that you will be overweight increase. Or imagine drinking and smoking. If your friends do those things, the chances that you will try them increase.

Understanding social contagion can help us live happier, healthier lives. If you want to quit smoking, spend time with people who don't smoke. Recognize when you and your friends are only encouraging each other to complain. Once you know how other people affect you, you can surround yourself with positive influences.

RP198 Cats

 RP198 Cats

You're sitting on the couch with your cat on your lap. You're petting your cat, your cat is purring, and you're both very happy. But then you feel your kitty's claws on your leg. She's opening and closing her claws against you. Ouch!

Your cat doesn't want to hurt you; she's just kneading. This actually means she's happy and content. Kneading is what cats do to their mothers to make milk flow. When your cat kneads with her paws, she is feeling safe. She's treating you like her mother.

Cats also use their paws to show other things. When they are disgusted, for example, they may shake their paws, one by one. In fact, cats talk with all their body parts. A loving cat may greet you by rubbing her face against yours. If your cat rears up on her hind legs to greet you, she's trying to get her face close to yours. This means she trusts you and wants to give you a sweet greeting.

Cats' tails are important, too. Greeting you with a tail curved like a question mark means she loves you and is happy to see you. Swishing her tail back and forth means your cat is feeling indecisive or aggressive. This is unlike dogs, which wag their tails when they' re happy!

Just like us, cats show emotions with their faces. Flattened ears mean she's scared, as do wide eyes. Blinking slowly, on the other hand, shows that your cat is calm and trusting.

Just because we don't use the same language doesn't mean we can't learn to understand animals. Study cat communication for a few minutes, and you'll be amazed at what your cat can tell you!

RP197 American Football

 RP197 American Football

Huge men sprint across the field like gazelles, then smash into each other like trains. One man is alone inside a clear space while other men fight to protect him. Just before he falls under the weight of other bodies, he throws a ball high into the air. Thirty yards away, it is caught. A touchdown! The crowd goes wild.

This is American football. It's the most popular sport in the United States, but it's not well-known elsewhere. Two teams of eleven men fight to move along a 100-yard field. Each team defends its goal at the ends of the field. The men try to move a ball. The ball can be thrown, carried, or kicked. A team scores six points for carrying or throwing the ball across the other team's goal line, and three points for kicking the ball between the other team's goalposts.

American football (called "football" in the United States) evolved in the 19th century from different types of rugby, which is played in the United Kingdom. Rugby has a similar ball and similar rules to football. While American football is still clearly related to rugby, the two games are now very different.

American football was already a popular high school and college game before it was recognized as a professional sport in 1892. The first football league was established in 1920. Two years later, it changed its name to the NFL (National Football League), which still exists today.

After 1958, when a great championship game was played, football's popularity grew. Now, it is the most popular sport in the United States. The championship, now called the Super Bowl, is watched by more Americans than any other television event. The game, with its violence, strategy, and passion, is deeply rooted in American culture.

RP196 Alpacas

 

RP196 Alpacas

If you' re ever traveling in South America, you might see something that looks like a moving mass of fluff darting up a slope. Don't be startled. It's just an alpaca!

Alpacas have been domesticated for thousands of years. Humans value them for their soft wool, which the Incas called "the fiber of the gods." Alpaca wool can be turned into soft, warm fabrics that would have been very useful to people living at high altitudes in the Andes mountains.

Alpacas are still herded in the foothills of the Andes. Most alpaca s live in Peru, Bolivia, and Chile. They eat ha y and grass, but they' ll try to eat anything. Within the herds, they live in family groups dominated by one male, plus females and babies. They are social animals and interact with each other frequently. They make different sounds to show anger, fear, and happiness, or to warn other alpaca s of enemies. They will fight to defend their families. When they fight, they use their front feet—and they spit!

Alpacas are part of the Camelidae family, which includes camels and llamas, among other animals. Alpacas look very similar to small llamas. They are usually about 100-200 pounds and three feet high at the shoulder. That's shorter than most human beings. They are different shades of white, black, brown, or gray. They may be solid or have spots of different colors. Their thick wool can make them look chubby, but when shorn you can see that they are thin and long legged. They have large features. They can often look like they are making kissing faces under their big eyes!

These interesting and unique animals have been part of human culture for thousands of years, and we' re still using them in the same ways today!

RP195 The Fall and Rise of Pompeii

 RP195 The Fall and Rise of Pompeii

It's a museum of human suffering. Pompeii, in Italy, was destroyed by a volcano in AD 79. Out of a population of about 15,000 people, more than 2,000were killed.

Pompeii was a thriving city. Merchants and traders sold and transported products. Fertile soil meant Pompeii was a good place for farmers. The people who lived there didn't understand that beautiful Mount Vesuvius, which towered over their city, would destroy them.

Mount Vesuvius had been an active volcano for a long time. It caused earthquakes, and in the fall of AD 79, Mount Vesuvius erupted. Mud, stones, ash, and poisonous gases blew out of it. People in Pompeii tried to run away. Unfortunately, many were killed by the poisonous gas before they could get far enough away. Others died when their houses collapsed under the weight of ash and stone from the volcano.

Pompeii and its people were completely buried by the ash that rained down on the city for hours. It ended up underneath seven meters of ash and soil, completely hidden from sight. Surprisingly, the material that killed Pompeii also preserved it. When it was found again, centuries later, people discovered that the earth had protected the beautiful frescos (wall paintings), artwork, and architecture of the city. Bottles of wine on shop counters, coins in purses, even people's bodies had been preserved, exactly as they were when they died. It was as though the entire town had been wrapped like a mummy.

Today, Pompeii is a major tourist destination in Italy. It's a great resource for scholars, who have learned so much about day to day life in the past. It's a sad irony that what destroyed Pompeii is what has kept it alive for history.

RP194 Dylan Thomas

 RP194 Dylan Thomas

Dylan Thomas is a beloved poet and writer from Wales. He is most famous for his poetry, but he also wrote short stories and scripts for radio and television. He was very talented though he had a difficult life.

Dylan Thomas was born in Swansea, South Wales, on October 27, 1914. He was not a very healthy child. He had asthma and bronchitis, so he usually preferred to read than to play. Thomas dropped out of school when he was 16 and went to work as a journalist for the local newspaper. He wrote some famous poems when he was a teenager, including "The Force That Through the Green Fuse Drives the Flower" and "And Death Shall Have No Dominion." His first volume of poetry was published in 1934 when he had just turned 21. However, while he was having great success with his writing, he also began to develop a drinking habit. This would be a problem all his life.

In 1937, Thomas married Caitlin Macnamara. They had three children together. It was difficult for him to support his family. He wrote for movies for years, but the family stayed poor. Then, in 1946, he published Deaths and Entrance. It changed their lives. After this, Thomas gave several successful speaking tours.

In 1953, Thomas went to New York for a conference. As usual, he drank very much. People worried about whether he would behave well or cause problems. But it wasn't drinking that he should have worried about. Unluckily for him, the air quality in New York dropped suddenly. Smog filled the city. Thomas became very sick. By the time anyone noticed, it was too late. Dylan Thomas died of pneumonia and bronchitis in a New York hospital on November 9, 1953.