# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
I take pride in my advanced detective skills, and I apply them to almost everything including: figuring out who ate a sticky snack on the couch, busting the person who wore muddy shoes into the house, and most importantly, identifying the entry point of an army of ants invading our house!

When the ants invaded, I figured out how to get rid of ants naturally, of course, and here's how we did it!

How to Get Rid of Ants Naturally

Having ants everywhere outdoors doesn't bother me - it's when I see them trailing along my kitchen countertops that I spring into action. Therefore, the past two spring/summer seasons we have successfully rid our house of two different types of ants, and decided it was time to show you how to get rid of ants naturally!

Identifying ants

When learning how to get rid of ants naturally, detective work is an integral part of eradicating them, but there's actually much more to it. Furthermore, finding the most effective treatment for ants depends on the specific type you have invading your house. This is because each species has different behaviors, preferences in food, and remedies that will be effective in keeping them out of your home.

Some ants are specific to region, so we only have experience dealing with certain types. So in this article we'll cover remedies for o dorous house ants and carpenter ants. In addition, read the end of the article for tips that may work on other species.

Finally, for help identifying these ants, see the images here or here.

Odorous House Ants

You will find these ants anywhere you have sweets laying around.

Odorous house ants will leave a chemical pheromone trail wherever they travel. If you kill them, other ants will simply follow the trail and show up in the same places. For this reason, kill the entire colony.

When you see the first few ants, you can sponge them (and the surrounding area) with soapy water to eliminate the pheromone trail. Immediately work to figure out where they're getting into your house, and begin placing homemade ant bait at the entry points.

Homemade bait for house ants

Borax will kill odorous house ants, and powdered sugar will attract them. Make a homemade bait by thoroughly mixing one part borax with 3 parts powdered sugar. Fill tiny containers (such as bottle caps) with this homemade bait and place them as close to the place where you suspect ants are entering your house. If you see trails of ants, place small containers of the mixture directly in their path. This prevents most of them from traveling all around your house if they have easy access to this sugary treat.

(Have pets or kids who might get into this powdery mixture? Try this instead: mix one cup warm water with ½ cup sugar and 3 tablespoons borax. Soak it up with cotton balls and place them in shallow dishes near ant trails.)

Resist the urge to kill all the ants you see. They will carry the bait back to the nest, unable to differentiate between the borax and sugar, and the borax particles will eventually kill the entire colony. The more bait carried back to the colony, the less ants you will have.

More tips for house ants

Spray vinegar near baseboards, in any cracks, and on countertops where they may be traveling. You can allow vinegar to dry on surfaces or wipe with a clean cloth - this eliminates their chemical trail and will deter some of the stragglers. Repeat several times a day. ( find white vinegar here)

Practicing good sanitation practices is one of the best ways to make your home less attractive to ants. Keep spills, crumbs, and garbage cleaned up in the kitchen. Be sure to store all food - especially sweets - in tightly sealed containers or zip-top bags. They will get into things like jars of honey that have drips on the side or around the lid, so sealing the jar in a zip-top bag will protect it.

The ants will choose more desirable bait (like spilled soda or cookie crumbs) over this natural bait, so learning how to get rid of ants naturally means keeping your place clean!

Carpenter Ants

You will find Carpenter ants around homes in wooded areas. They don't carry bait back to their nests, so you have to kill them at the source. This means you have to do a little detective work to find the nest(s). Don't bother using the borax/sugar bait - they'll just feed on it like little piggies at a trough.

They will typically live outdoors very close to the house, and eventually enter your house in search of food and water.

How to find the nest

Carpenter ants live in wood and tunnel through it. The best clue to look for is small piles of very fine sawdust - the remains of the wood they have chewed through. You will typically find carpenter ant nests in moist wood in foundations, decks, wood piles near your house, trees, gaps between boards, etc.

If you take some time to figure out where ants are entering the house, you can usually track them back to a nest. It's easiest if you kill all the ants in sight, then watch for new ants to appear to determine their general entry point. This may give clues to holes that need to be sealed up, rotting foundation where they're living, or cracks under doors they're traveling under.

Natural carpenter ant remedy

The best natural remedy we have found for eradicating carpenter ants is Diatomaceous Earth (DE). DE is completely natural and organic. It is made from tiny skeletal remains of algae-like plants.

DE is a lethal dust for insects. Its microscopic razor sharp edges will cut through the body of insects, drying them out and killing them. If ingested by carpenter ants, it will shred their insides. There are different types of DE, so keep in mind you must get food grade DE for pest control. (You do not want the DE that is sold for swimming pools - it has a different make-up.)

Food grade DE is completely safe to be used around kids and pets and can be sprinkled around the home and yard without posing a threat. Find food grade Diatomaceous Earth here.

In order to get rid of a colony of carpenter ants, DE must be injected directly into the nest. We used a medicine dropper to squirt dry DE into cracks where we found them nesting. You can also use a gadget like this to spray it into cracks or holes. DE must be reapplied after it rains.

The best advice I can give to get the most out of your DE treatments is to stay on top of it! This pesky ant species may relocate their nests and find new ways into your house. If you see a resurgence, put your detective hat back on and find that nest.

How to Get Rid of Ants Naturally: Other Tips

Here are some remedies DIY Natural readers (thanks y'all!) have used to treat ant problems:

Some ants like protein and grease. Mix a spoonful of peanut butter with 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1 teaspoon of borax. Using a plastic straw, tap the end into the mixture repeatedly until the straw is full of the mixture. Cut the straw into ½ inch pieces and place them next to ant trails.

Put a few drops of peppermint essential oil on a cotton ball and place in areas ants are crawling around. (find 100% pure essential oils here)

Sprinkle cinnamon (being careful not to get it on things that will stain) near entry points.

Some ants dislike baby powder. Sprinkle around perimeter of house or indoors where ants are entering your house.

Rub a little Vaseline near the areas they are entering the house.

(photo credit to Diane Jabs) *******

About Betsy Jabs

Betsy loves her role as "mad scientist" here at DIY Natural. You can typically find her experimenting with essential oils, taking article photos with her DSLR camera, or concocting new recipes for cleaning and beauty products. Betsy loves laughing out loud, sipping on chai lattes, and finding the best beaches. Connect with Betsy on Facebook, Twitter, and her +Betsy Jabs Google profile.

PAID ENDORSEMENT DISCLOSURE: In order for us to support our website activities, we may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for our endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this website.

DISCLAIMER: Information on DIY Natural™ is not reviewed or endorsed by the FDA and is NOT intended to be substituted for the advice of your health care professional. If you rely solely upon this advice you do so at your own risk. Read full Disclaimer & Disclosure statements here.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How To Get Rid of Ants Naturally: House and Carpenter Ants

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
I take pride in my advanced detective skills, and I apply them to almost everything including: figuring out who ate a sticky snack on the couch, busting the person who wore muddy shoes into the house, and most importantly, identifying the entry point of an army of ants invading our house!

# data[].attributes.headline
I wonder how the water ways in Brazil will impact olympic athlets' health

# data[].attributes.subject
I wonder how the water ways in Brazil will impact olympic athlets' health

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
"Foreign athletes will literally be swimming in human crap, and they risk getting sick from all those microorganisms," said Dr. Daniel Becker, a local pediatrician who works in poor neighborhoods. "It's sad but also worrisome."

Government officials and the International Olympic Committee acknowledge that, in many places, the city's waters are filthy. But they say the areas where athletes will compete - like the waters off Copacabana Beach, where swimmers will race - meet World Health Organization safety standards.

Even some venues with higher levels of human waste, like Guanabara Bay, present only minimal risk because athletes sailing or windsurfing in them will have limited contact with potential contamination, they add.

Still, Olympic officials concede that their efforts have not addressed a fundamental problem: Much of the sewage and trash produced by the region's 12 million inhabitants continues to flow untreated into Rio's waters.

"Our biggest plague, our biggest environmental problem, is basic sanitation," said Andrea Correa, the top environmental official in the state of Rio de Janeiro. "The Olympics has woken people up to the problem."

Foreign athletes preparing for the Games have long expressed concern that waterborne illnesses could thwart their Olympic dreams. An investigation by The Associated P ress last year recorded disease-causing viruses in some tests that were 1.7 million times the level of what would be considered hazardous on a Southern California beach.

"We just have to keep our mouths closed when the water sprays up," said Afrodite Zegers, 24, a member of the Dutch sailing team, which has been practicing in Guanabara Bay.

Some athletes here for the Games and other competitions have been felled by gastrointestinal illness, including members of the Spanish and Austrian sailing teams. During a surfing competition here last year, about a quarter of the participants were sidelined by nausea and diarrhea, organizers said.

Officials have been grappling with a welter of challenges as they scramble for the opening ceremony on Aug. 5. The Zika virus epidemic has dampened foreign ticket sales, crime is soaring, and the federal government has been paralyzed by the impeachment proceedings against Brazil's president, Dilma Rousseff.

Last month, the acting governor of Rio de Janeiro, Francisco Dornelles, declared a state of emergency, claiming that a lack of money threatened "a total collapse in public security, health, education, transport and environmental management."

Still, Olympic organizers say the sports venues are nearly complete, and the federal government has provided emergency funds to the state. Many athletes expect the Games to proceed without serious complications.

The city's contaminated waterways, however, are another matter.

"It's disgusting," said Nigel Cochrane, a coach for the Spanish women's sailing team. "We're very concerned."

For many, the sewage crisis is emblematic of the corruption and mismanagement that have long hobbled Brazil, Latin America's largest country.

Rio officials claim to have spent billions of dollars on sewage treatment systems since the 1990s, but few are functioning.

In its 2009 bid for these Games, Brazil pledged to spend $4 billion to clean up 80 percent of the sewage that flows untreated into the bay. In the end, the state government spent just $170 million, citing a budget crisis, officials said.

Most of the money in the state's sanitation budget has been spent on trash-collecting boats and portable berms to stop the sludge and debris that flow into the bay.

Critics say they are cosmetic measures.

"They can try to block big items like sofas and dead bodies, but these rivers are pure sludge, so the bacteria and viruses are going to just pass through," said Stelberto Soares, a municipal engineer who has spent three decades addressing the city's sanitation crisis.

Mr. Soares said he laughed when he heard officials promise to tackle the sewage problem before the Games.

An earlier, multibillion-dollar effort financed by international donors yielded a network of 35 sewage treatment facilities, 500 miles of conduits and 85 pumps, he said. When he last checked, only three of the pumps and two of those treatment plants were still working; the rest had been abandoned and mostly vandalized, he said.

Asked what had happened, he threw up his hands. "In Brazil, they say sanitation doesn't get votes," he said.

Romario Monteiro, 45, a second-generation fisherman who has spent a lifetime plying Guanabara Bay, recalls when the waters were crystalline and the fish were plentiful.

Now his net often yields more trash than fish, including television sets, dead dogs and the occasional dolphin killed by ingesting plastic bags.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Keep Your Mouth Closed: Aquatic Olympians Face a Toxic Stew in Rio

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
"Foreign athletes will literally be swimming in human crap, and they risk getting sick from all those microorganisms," said Dr. Daniel Becker, a local pediatrician who works in poor neighborhoods. "It's sad but also worrisome." Government officials and the International Olympic Committee acknowledge that, in many places, the city's waters are filthy.

# data[].attributes.headline
I wonder how many people have visited the new Disney World park in China

# data[].attributes.subject
I wonder how many people have visited the new Disney World park in China

# data[].attributes.body
With millions of people living within a 3 hour radius, I would think the park is flooded with people on a daily basis

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Shanghai Disney Resort - The first Disney resort in Mainland China features classic Disney storytelling and characters with all-new experiences tailored specifically for the people of China. Shanghai Disney Resort is home to two themed hotels, a large shopping, dining and entertainment district with a Broadway-style theatre, Wishing Star Park and other outdoor recreation areas.

# data[].attributes.headline
I wonder how long it will be before their is a solar powered passenger plane

# data[].attributes.subject
I wonder how long it will be before their is a solar powered passenger plane

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Solar Impulse 2 is a solar-powered airplane. It has a greater wingspan than a 747 but only the weight of a car. This morning, it landed in Abu Dhabi, completing a flight around the world without using a drop of fuel.

It wasn't exactly a nonstop flight - it's taken a year and five months to finish the trip. (It's had a couple of breakdowns, it must fly in calm weather, and its top speed is 55 miles an hour.)

Nonetheless, the project shattered all kinds of records and, in the end, fulfilled its real mission-to highlight the promise of clean technologies.

Yesterday, "CBS Sunday Morning" aired my interview with the two men who created and flew the plane ( you can watch it online here). But as always, the interview was much longer and richer than TV has time for. So here, for your pleasure, its my edited interview with André Borschberg (left) and Bertrand Piccard (right) - a fascinating conversation about disruption, technology, common wisdom, and the future.

David Pogue: What was the aviation industry's reaction to the idea of this plane?

André Borschberg: They told us that it is impossible.

Bertrand Piccard: It's completely normal that the aviation world didn't believe in it. They have learned to make specific airplanes, to reproduce what they have done all their life. It's not the people who were selling candles who invented the light bulb.

AB: You know, when you want to make a disruption, you have to look for different solutions. I want to give you an example. We knew that the structure had to be built in carbon fibers. So I looked for the company with the best knowledge of the material.

And it was a boat builder! Not any kind of boat - the guys who designed and built the boats that won the America's Cup for Switzerland in 2003 and 2007. Very innovative, extremely good knowledge about carbon fibers.

But when I brought this company to my team, my engineers said, "Are you crazy? These guys don't understand anything about aviation!"

And on the other side, the boat builders told me, "Your engineers are great, but they have no idea about carbon fibers. This will never work!" It took me more than two years to create a bridge between the two teams.

DP: But neither of you had ever built a plane, had you?

AB: No. But it's an advantage in this situation. Because we were not bounded by the solutions that we knew. We could be open to anything.

BP: If you are told it's impossible, the people you attract to the team are creative people. If it's a conventional project, you bring conventional people.

DP: It's great that you're outsiders. But that might also have meant that it can't work!

BP: Of course we questioned ourselves. We had doubts, we had setbacks. But this is exploration. Exploration is not when you wave the flag of victory. Exploration is when you go into the unknown, you have no idea what's going to happen, and you try to use the doubt to stimulate your creativity and your imagination process.

DP: At its heart, Solar Impulse is meant to be a demonstration of clean technologies, right?

BP: Yes. If you take all the challenges that Andre's engineering team had to build a plane, it's exactly the challenges that our world has to be cleaner: insulation, LED lamps, intelligent use of energy like in smart grids. And all this could, today, already, cut in half the energy consumption and the CO2 emissions of the world.

DP: But you understand, don't you, that there are people watching you right now going, "Oh, blah blah blah, climate change, these liberal European guys. There's no climate change! Or if there is, it's all natural."

BP: I'm not here to say that climate-change deniers are right or wrong. I'm just saying that even if there was no climate change in this world, it would make perfect sense to replace the old polluting devices - like combustion engines, old insulation of houses, inefficient heating, and all that - with efficient technologies, because it's a new industrial market. People will make profit. They will make job creation. They will sustain economic growth.

A Tour of the Cabin
Piccard gave me a tour of the plane's cockpit.
BP: In some ways, you fly the plane like any plane, except that it has a lot of inertia, lot of adverse yaw. So it's quite challenging when it's turbulent. It's not easy to fly.

DP: How do you go to sleep?

BP: You put the seat back like this here [it folds backwards, flat]. You switch on the autopilot. You tell the team that the plane works well. You set the alarm clock for the 20 minutes. And I lie down like this.

DP: Wait. 20 minutes?

BP: Yeah. Twenty minutes at a time.

DP: Why only 20-minute naps?

BP: Because we thought that 20 minutes is the best to avoid going into very deep sleep that is difficult to get out of. And, if it's only 20 minutes, even if the autopilot disconnects, you don't drift too much.

DP: And you can do that for four or five days?

BP: Yeah. What helps is self-hypnosis. You just try to dissociate yourself from the outer world. I use a way where I focus on the fingernail of my thumb until I see nothing else. Then I take a big breath, I roll my eyes and I go back.

DP: And what about exercise?

BP: It's very important that you can keep the blood circulation correctly in the body. The best thing to relax is to put the feet up there like this [leans back, puts his feet on the ceiling].

DP: Yeah. I tried that on Delta once. They didn't like it.

BP: They don't like it? (LAUGH)

DP: There's actually a lot of room in here.

BP: Yes, yeah. It's a little house. In addition to flying, you cook your food, you go to the toilet, you brush your teeth, your sleep.

DP: Wait - you cook your food how?

BP: We have some special Nestle packages that have a chemical reaction in the package. So when you add a little bit of water, the chemical reactions makes heat, and it heats up your curry chicken, your rice with - mushrooms, your potato.

DP: And forgive me, but you did say you somehow go to the bathroom?

BP: Absolutely. You have a toilet bag here under your seat [it hinges open].

DP: Oh, I see. So you're basically sitting on a toilet for five days?

BP: You're sitting on a toilet. You can see it this way. (LAUGH) But you can also say that you have the best view in the world from the toilet. And you don't need to pull the curtains for privacy, because nobody's flying next to you.

DP: And what about the in-flight movies?

BP: The in-flight movie is not on the screen. It's the view outside. So when I'm flying, I'm not going to try to find a distraction. I want to enjoy it. I want to be aware of it.

DP: Is there a lot to do technically?

BP: At sunrise, you switch on the solar panels. You receive all the briefings from the mission control center in Monaco. Then it's the morning. You eat breakfast, this is beautiful. Cereals, pour the milk, you add some water, fruit. And then you have a little bit of time for interviews and for the gym.

As soon as you need to climb, you have to put the oxygen mask. You test it completely. Then you climb. You have all the checks through the different altitudes. You arrive at 28,000 feet. I take notes. I don't read anything, because I don't want to be distracted, but I write a lot of things for the book that we're preparing with André.

Then as soon as the sun starts to decline, you need to manage your energy very carefully. Because if you leave the throttle too high, you start to discharge your batteries. And then you start to glide for four hours, with its engines idle.

And then you arrive 5,000 or 6,000 feet at about 11 at night. And you know that you are at this altitude for the next eight or 10 hours, and then you try to sleep.

I take a lot of pictures also. Because you think that it's only sky, water and clouds, but actually that's not true. Sometimes you see some rain around you or below you. You have the sky - you cannot imagine what the sunrise looks like. It's fully black, and then you have a silver line coming, and then the top becomes pink. And suddenly you have the sun coming, and it brings all the colors to everything below. It's beautiful.

DP: What kind of contact are you in with Monaco [mission control] and the rest of the team?

BP: Monaco, it's a hot mic. If I'm taking my breakfast and the milk is falling on my flight suit, and I say, "Oh, sh**, what happened?" They say, "Uh, be careful. There are 2 million people listening live on internet. Watch your language."

DP: Do you have a parachute?

BP: Yeah. You wear the parachute all the time.

DP: And then how would you get out?

BP: Just push the door open with your foot, and
you jump.

DP: Wow. Well, thank you, Captain Piccard.

BP: You know Captain Picard from "Star Trek"
is named after the twin brother of my grandfather.

DP: Really? Oh, so that's not just a coincidence?

BP: No, no. My grandfather made the first stratospheric flight ever. And then his twin brother, who lived in the U.S., made the first stratospheric flight in the US. And he got very famous also in the U.S. And the creator of "Star Trek" took him as model for the Captain Picard of the enterprise.

DP: That's very cool. But he misspelled it.

BP: He did it on purpose. He explained to my cousin that he took only one C instead of two C's not to have any legal problem with the family. (LAUGH) And we told him, "Well, you could have spelled it right! There's no problem. It's an honor."

A Tour of the Plane
André Borschberg, the engineer, walked me around the plane's exterior.
AB: Everything is designed to save energy. That's how we fly a week, potentially maybe a month. It's almost a hybrid system, altitude and battery. So during the day, we charge the batteries and climb to 28,000 feet.

Altitude is another way to store energy. Altitude is potential energy. When I'm very high, I can glide down. I don't need the engine. After four hours, then I use the energy from the batteries.

But flying up high also takes you above bad weather, brings you above high mountains. And maybe you hold for awhile, to let bad weather pass by and continue. So again, no dependence on electric energy.

The wings have a structure made of layers of carbon fibers, like our bones. One layer weighs a third of the weight of a sheet of paper. The solar cells are not glued to the surface - they are the surface. Again, that's how you make it extremely extremely light.

DP: How do you land?

AB: We have one single main landing gear [wheel]. So when we land, we have to be well balanced. When we stop, we have people on electric bicycles. They ride up to the plane as we slow down on the runway and grab the airplane on each side - the wingtips.

Interestingly, in fact, this wheel can turn [relative to the plane]. So if we have cross-wind, the airplane can land at a crab angle. We don't have to de-crab. We just roll down the runway at that angle, which is quite strange as a pilot. But this solution works extremely well.

DP: What's the top speed?

AB: So the best speed is 24 knots [27 mph]. But this is at sea level. It goes faster when you are higher, because the air density diminishes. The maximum seed is about 50 knots - 55 miles an hour.

DP: This thing only goes as fast as a car?

AB: Twenty-four hours a day. You don't have to go down to refuel. You just keep going. The goal is not how fast you go to the destination. It's how you get to the destination.

The Partners

DP: Tell me about your relationship. Is it like a marriage? Is it like old buddies? Do you fight?

BP: Sometimes we fight, but not very often. I think in the 13 years that we've worked together, maybe we screamed at each other four or five times. But we very often disagree, which is the source of our creativity.

We are so different. He's an engineer, I'm a medical doctor. He's a jet fighter pilot, I'm an explorer. Andre comes with one vision of the world. I come with another one. And when we combine our visions of the world, we have a third one. So it's a relation where one plus one equal three.

AB: I'll give you one example. Bertrand is a person who will wait until the last minute to make a decision, because he wants to incorporate every possible opinion. Which is great, but it makes it
difficult for the people who work with him.

I'm on the other side. I will prepare strategy, prepare a plan, of course, share it with the team- maybe with the risk of missing certain inputs. But if you combine both - the plan, the strategy, the thinking, the intuition, then you have an optimum solution.

It's not easy. Don't think it's easy. I mean, we need to - what I call clean the tank - you know, share frustration or disagreement from time to time. So we say, "Okay, let's take an hour or two hours," and we discuss in a corner. And then, you know, we explain to each other, we share our feelings, and then we come a clean situation which allows us to continue.

DP: So what's the next step?

AB: Our next project is an unmanned plane, which would be so much lighter that it could fly six months nonstop, so high that it will be above the clouds. That could be ready in about three three to four years.

DP: Why an unmanned plane?

AB: It could replace satellites in a more flexible, sustainable way. You can bring these up in down, change the equipment. You can position it any way, any time, instead of satellites rotating all the time and not being at the right place at the right moment.

BP: Maybe they will be soon airplanes that can transport two or three people on solar energy.

DP: So you're saying this is only the first step?

BP: That's the first step. The Wright brothers, they also had a single-seater flying very slowly in good weather. And 66 years later, there were two men on the moon.

DP: You have a point. (LAUGH)

BP: I make the bet with you that in less than ten years' time, we have electrical airplanes transporting 50 people for 1,000-mile trips. And this will happen. And you know why? Because they will be able to land in the cities or very close to cities at night, disturbing nobody with no noise and no pollution.

DP: You're willing to make that bet?

BP: Yeah. I make that bet. Absolutely sure.

DP: All right, here we go. Ten years right back
here?

BP: Yes, yes. (LAUGHS)
David Pogue is the founder of Yahoo Tech; here's how to get his columns by email. On the Web, he's davidpogue.com. On Twitter, he's @pogue. On email, he's poguester@yahoo.com. He welcomes non-toxic comments in the Comments below.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How a solar-powered plane made it around the world without a drop of fuel

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Solar Impulse 2 is a solar-powered airplane. It has a greater wingspan than a 747 but only the weight of a car. This morning, it landed in Abu Dhabi, completing a flight around the world without using a drop of fuel.

# data[].attributes.headline
I wonder; what are all the national holidays

# data[].attributes.subject
I wonder; what are all the national holidays

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In the past week alone, social media have celebrated such illustrious holidays as #NationalWineDay, #NationalCellophaneTapeDay, #NationalBrisketDay, and #NationalPaperclipDay, but there's plenty more where that came from! Below, find the latest additions to the National Day Calendar. Now you'll have even more occasions to post something that lets everyone know that you know what day it is!
#NationalOldBatteriesDay
So many used batteries in this world, so little time. With this new celebratory day, no battery is too old or too broken to get a second chance. Fans of old batteries around the world can share their old-battery photos on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Bumble, Tik, Blarzy, Geeple, or Shnazz. Plus, every time you use this hashtag you're automatically entered for a chance to win a free pack of Double-A batteries from our partners at Duracell.
#NationalBucketofBeesDay
We all have a favorite bucket of bees, and this special day allows us to share that bee bucket with the world. When you post a pic of your most beloved bucket of bees, don't forget to add a caption detailing exactly what these particular bees have meant to you. And remember to save the bucket for later in the year when we celebrate #NationalBucketDay as well as #NationalBucketAppreciationWeek.
#NationalGoUpTheWrongWayOnAnEscalatorDay
There's already National Talk in an Elevator Day (July 29th) so why not take some time to celebrate the other thing that moves us up and down in buildings? No, not stairs. Fuck stairs! We're talkin' escalators. But this day doesn't just honor the escalator-no, that would be boring and stupid. This day gives us something fun and wacky to do on escalators. But don't forget: safety first!
#NationalBobBalabanDay
Great actor, Bob Balaban.
#NationalSlapAWatermelonDay
Some people like to eat a watermelon, but others, of course, like to slap it in its big green body! If you're going to slap a watermelon, don't keep it to yourself; make sure the whole world sees, by sharing that precious slap across all social-media platforms.
#NationalSackLunchDay
You know how in school you would sometimes go to the cafeteria for lunch, but other times your mom or dad would pack a lunch for you in a brown paper bag? This is a special holiday reserved for that, or something.
#NationalKDay
Whenever anyone asks which letter of the alphabet is most in need of some extra national support, you probably say "K." That's why "K" is getting its very own (much needed) day! Take a moment and consider all of "K" 's contributions to the English language: king, kitchen, key, kiss, kindness. Heck, even words that sound like they should start with "N" belong to "K"- knit, knife, knock. Where would we be without the letter "K"? Nowhere, that's where! Or worse: dead.
#NationalDayDay
Get out of here, night owls! This one is for the day-trippers, the days of our lives, the day-us ex machinas. Think of all the great things about days: sun, the outdoors, going to your job, lunch, dropping your kids off at school, and then, later, picking them up. Gotta love a day!
#NationalVartchDay
We needed a thing to fill out the calendar in the middle of May, so we added this one. Yes, it was controversial. Of course it was. The word "vartch" does not exist, and many members of the Committee considered that a strike against it. But why should that stop us? If enough people start saying the word "vartch," our work will have value. Please make "vartch" happen. We need this. It's for the calendar.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
New Additions to the National Day Calendar

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In the past week alone, social media have celebrated such illustrious holidays as #NationalWineDay, #NationalCellophaneTapeDay, #NationalBrisketDay, and #NationalPaperclipDay, but there's plenty more where that came from! Below, find the latest additions to the National Day Calendar. Now you'll have even more occasions to post something that lets everyone know that you know what day it is!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Perlite is an amorphous volcanic glass (SiO ₂) that has relatively high water content, typically formed by the hydration of obsidian. Perlite has the unusual characteristic of expanding and becoming porous when it is heated. It can expand to as much as twenty times its original volume. Expansion occurs when the glassy lava rock is heated to 1600 degrees F (871 degrees C) and the water molecules trapped in the rock turn into vapor causing the rock to expand. (This is the same principle as the water in popcorn that causes the kernel to pop when it is heated.) Before it is expanded, perlite is commonly gray, but can also be green, brown, blue or red. After it has been heated, perlite is typically light gray to white.

Description

Perlite is an amorphous volcanic glass (SiO ₂) that has relatively high water content, typically formed by the hydration of obsidian. Perlite has the unusual characteristic of expanding and becoming porous when it is heated. It can expand to as much as twenty times its original volume. Expansion occurs when the glassy lava rock is heated to 1600 degrees F (871 degrees C) and the water molecules trapped in the rock turn into vapor causing the rock to expand. (This is the same principle as the water in popcorn that causes the kernel to pop when it is heated.) Before it is expanded, perlite is commonly gray, but can also be green, brown, blue or red. After it has been heated, perlite is typically light gray to white.

Relation to Mining

Perlite is mined using open pit methods such as ripping or blasting, or both. If the perlite is soft and friable, brecciated, or extensively jointed, ripping is employed with significant cost savings. Blasting is required where perlite cannot be readily broken using rippers, but care must be taken to achieve fragmentation without production of excessive fines or oversized material. Once broken and sometimes crushed, the perlite is loaded on trucks or conveyor belts by front-end loaders, excavators, or scrapers for transport to the processing plant. Selective mining is used to minimize associated rhyolite or obsidian. If perlite textures vary, it is often blended to produce consistent milling characteristics and to meet market specifications.

The United States is one of the world's largest producers and consumers of crude perlite and expanded perlite. A number of western states including Utah and Oregon produce perlite, with New Mexico being the most important perlite-producing state. Other countries that produce large amounts of crude and expanded perlite include China, Greece, Italy, Philippines, Mexico and Turkey.

Uses

The majority of perlite is used in construction products, mainly ceiling tiles and roof insulation products, but also as refractory bricks (a refractory brick is a brick designed to withstand very high temperatures), pipe insulation, and filling in masonry block construction. Perlite is also used as an insulator to reduce noise and, since it is non-combustible, it also improves the fire resistance of different construction components in buildings. Perlite is an important commodity in the horticulture industry where it is mixed with soil. The addition of perlite to soil increases the amount of oxygen held in the soil, as well as the amount of water retained by the soil. This represents approximately 10% of annual perlite consumption.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Perlite is an amorphous volcanic glass (SiO2) that has relatively high water content, typically formed by the hydration of obsidian. Perlite has the unusual characteristic of expanding and becoming porous when it is heated. It can expand to as much as twenty times its original volume. Expansion occurs when the

# data[].attributes.headline
I wonder what the Juno spacecraft will discover about Jupiter

# data[].attributes.subject
I wonder what the Juno spacecraft will discover about Jupiter

# data[].attributes.headline
I wonder how long the Florida toxic algae has been an issue

# data[].attributes.subject
I wonder how long the Florida toxic algae has been an issue

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Fighting big farm pollution with a tiny plant

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Fertilizer runoff can fuel the growth of toxic algae nearby lakes. A teen decided to harness a tiny plant to sop up that fertilizer.

# data[].attributes.headline
I wonder if the magnetic barriers will really keep sharks out of swimming areas

# data[].attributes.subject
I wonder if the magnetic barriers will really keep sharks out of swimming areas

# data[].attributes.body
While watching Shark Week, I saw these scientists test out their new shark magnetic barriers. They proved that it did keep a shark from entering while a human was inside, but the sharks were not threatened. There was no evidence that the barriers worked with bait inside.

# data[].attributes.headline
I wonder how to effectively divide a Hosta plant

# data[].attributes.subject
I wonder how to effectively divide a Hosta plant

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Dividing Hostas Like A Pro - How & When To Divide Your Hosta Plants

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Watch Richard Merritt of New Hampshire Hostas as he shows you step-by-step how to propagate your hostas. Richard talks about the best time of year to transplant hostas, the tools to use and the soil and type of compost he uses at New Hampshire Hostas

# data[].attributes.headline
I wonder how they manipulate the shapes of fireworks

# data[].attributes.subject
I wonder how they manipulate the shapes of fireworks

# data[].attributes.headline
I wonder how to enhance the size of strawberries when growing them

# data[].attributes.subject
I wonder how to enhance the size of strawberries when growing them

# data[].attributes.body
As I was picking strawberries with my friend, she asked why are the strawberries in the grocery store a lot larger than the ones we can pick at farms?

# data[].attributes.headline
I wonder why salmon are attracted to lures traveling at speeds between 2 mph and 2.5 mph

# data[].attributes.subject
I wonder why salmon are attracted to lures traveling at speeds between 2 mph and 2.5 mph

# data[].attributes.body
My husband and I have a friend that kindly invites us on his boat to salmon fish in Lake Michigan. While we fish, he shares his fishing expertise. The most recent time we went out, our friend shared that the lures need to be traveling between 2 mph and 2.5 mph.

# data[].attributes.headline
I wonder why sea shells become thick masses

# data[].attributes.subject
I wonder why sea shells become thick masses

# data[].attributes.body
In North Carolina I found an abundance of thick sea shells. It soon became a challenge to find the thickest sea shell.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The larger of these two pencil urchins was exposed to currrent CO2 levels; the smaller was exposed to the highest CO2 levels in the study.

Credit: Tom Kleindinst, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Scientists have worried in recent years that rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which is increasing acidification of the ocean, will cause shells of sea creatures to be thin and brittle, potentially threatening the entire ocean ecosystem.

So a new finding has surprised the heck out of them.

Some shell builders, such as crabs, shrimp and lobsters, unexpectedly build more shell when exposed to ocean acidification.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) - the notorious byproduct of fossil fuel burning - dissolves in the ocean. That makes the ocean more acidic. It also reduces the number of so-called carbonate ions in seawater, and these ions are among the primary materials that sea creatures use to build their calcium carbonate shells and skeletons.

Previous studies have found the changing chemistry is thinning the shells of some microscopic sea creature that are key to the food chain. Other larger creatures are known to suffer this problem, too.

Yet seven of 18 creatures in the new study built more shell when exposed to increased acidification. Could be that the total amount of dissolved inorganic carbon available to them is actually increased when the ocean becomes more acidic, even though the concentration of carbonate ions is decreased, the researchers figure.

"Most likely the organisms that responded positively were somehow able to manipulate ... dissolved inorganic carbon in the fluid from which they precipitated their skeleton in a way that was beneficial to them," said Justin B. Ries, formerly of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and now an assistant professor in marine sciences at the University of North Carolina. "They were somehow able to manipulate CO2 ... to build their skeletons."

The results are detailed in the Dec. 1 issue of the journal Geology.

Organisms displaying such improvement also included calcifying red and green algae, limpets and temperate urchins. Mussels showed no effect.

"We were surprised that some organisms didn't behave in the way we expected under elevated CO2," said Anne L. Cohen, a research specialist at WHOI and one of the study's co-authors. "What was really interesting was that some of the creatures, the coral, the hard clam and the lobster, for example, didn't seem to care about CO2 until it was higher than about 1,000 parts per million [ppm]." Current atmospheric CO2 levels are about 380 ppm, she said.

The researchers say more study is needed, however, to determine overall effects of increased acidification. For one thing, increased ocean acidification has been fingered as a culprit in killing corals.

"I wouldn't make any predictions based on these results," Cohen said. "What these results indicate to us is that the organism response to elevated CO2 levels is complex and we now need to go back and study each organism in detail."

Gallery: Small Sea Monsters

Dangers in the Deep: 10 Scariest Sea Creatures

101 Amazing Earth Facts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Creatures Build Thicker Shells as Ocean Chemistry Changes

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Scientists have worried in recent years that rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which is increasing acidification of the ocean, will cause shells of sea creatures to be thin and brittle, potentially threatening the entire ocean ecosystem. So a new finding has surprised the heck out of them.