Barack Obama in Germany

German news agencies reported that 200,ooo people gathered to listen to this speech by presidential candidate Barack Obama in Berlin on Thursday:

Olympic Express

As the world prepares to go to the summer olympics in Beijing, China, some of you may be making plans for watching and reading about the games, the athletes, and all things "Olympic." If you are a summer olympics fan, you might enjoy this interactive Olympic magazine for kids and teens:

Olympic Express

The Lost Ladybugs Project

I was listening to National Public Radio this afternoon, and I heard an interview with a scientist from Cornell University about a neat science project called the Lost Ladybugs Project. If you are just hanging around outside this summer, you can help the scientists at Cornell University track down and study ladybugs. All the directions and information about the project are here:

The Lost Ladybugs Project

All the information that you need to take part in this really interesting and important project is right there. They explain how to catch them and how to photograph them. It is really pretty neat. Go look.

Amazing Math Patterns

Sometimes, things happen with really simple mathematics that just fascinate me. Take a look at the patterns and symmetry that these number sentences create -- 1 x 8 + 1 = 9 12 x 8 + 2 = 98 123 x 8 + 3 = 987 1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876 12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765 123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654 1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543 12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432 123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321 1 x 9 + 2 = 11 12 x 9 + 3 = 111 123 x 9 + 4 = 1111 1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111 12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111 123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111 1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111 12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111 123456789 x 9 +10= 1111111111 9 x 9 + 7 = 88 98 x 9 + 6 = 888 987 x 9 + 5 = 8888 9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888 98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888 987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888 9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888 98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888 1 x 1 = 1 11 x 11 = 121 111 x 111 = 12321 1111 x 1111 = 1234321 11111 x 11111 = 123454321 111111 x 111111 = 12345654321 1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321 11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321 111111111 x 111111111=12345678987654321