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15 Things We Learned This Week!

What did you learn this week? Let us know in the comments or at education@ngs.org.

This week, we learned …

… urine, not chlorine, causes itchy eyes in pools. Dive in!

New Yorkers take a break from the summer heat in the pool at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens, in 1951. Photograph by Howell Walker, National Geographic
New Yorkers take a break from the summer heat in the pool at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens, in 1951. Chlorine isn’t the worst thing you can find in pee, it turns out.
Photograph by Howell Walker, National Geographic

 

 

… how we talk about teachers, and why it might be worth it to pay them $100,000 … or more. Stay tuned to TeachingCenter for details.

 

 

… how “sushi” children defy Muslim divide.

Beautiful Muslim girls mug for the camera at Istiqlal Mosque, Jakarta, Indonesia, in this terrific image. Photograph by Henrik Hansson, courtesy Wikimedia. CC-BY-SA-3.0
Beautiful Muslim girls mug for the camera at Istiqlal Mosque, Jakarta, Indonesia, in this terrific image. Learn a little about Sunnis and Shiites here.
Photograph by Henrik Hansson, courtesy Wikimedia. CC-BY-SA-3.0

 

… where the worst beaches in America are.

Photograph by Mark Ordonez, courtesy Flickr. CC-BY-SA-2.0
This issue with Dempster Beach, Illinois, isn’t lovely Lake Michigan. “This could be a very lovely beach if it weren’t for two things: obnoxious, nanny-state lifeguards and a high entrance fee,” says one local. Get the scoop on beaches here.
Photograph by Mark Ordonez, courtesy Flickr. CC-BY-SA-2.0

 

 

… why onions make us cry.

 

 

… how Venice works, and how much we want tickets to the Ghetto production of The Merchant of Venice.

 

 

… 10 questions to ask before installing an education app, and how a geologist developed the perfect app for the window seat.

What in the world is going on here? If you had a window seat and the “Flyover Country” app, you could find out. Or, you could read our nice encyclopedic entry on craters. Formosat image © 2008 Dr. Cheng-Chien Liu, National Cheng-Kung University and Dr. An-Ming Wu, National Space Organization, Taiwan
What in the world is going on here? If you had a window seat and the “Flyover Country” app, you could find out. Or, you could skim our nice encyclopedic entry on craters.
Formosat image © 2008 Dr. Cheng-Chien Liu, National Cheng-Kung University and Dr. An-Ming Wu, National Space Organization, Taiwan

 

 

… how to nap.

Photograph by James L. Stanfield, National Geographic
Some people don’t need help napping. And some do.
Photograph by James L. Stanfield, National Geographic

 

 

… IBM can forecast the weather down to a city block.

A little fall of rain can hardly keep visitors from the Art Institute of Chicago. Photograph by Melissa Farlow, National Geographic
A little fall of rain can hardly keep visitors from the Art Institute of Chicago. Create your own weather map here.
Photograph by Melissa Farlow, National Geographic

 

 

… how Panama’s indigenous people are using drones to save the rain forest, and how the possible expansion of the Panama Canal will radically change world trade.

Illustration courtesy GroIntel. CC-BY-ND-NC-4.0
Why does the Panama Canal remain so important more than 100 years after it opened?
Illustration courtesy GroIntel. CC-BY-ND-NC-4.0

 

 

… having other teachers’ eyes means also having their ideas.

Brian Cushing, Tony Green, and Ronny Smith work together to challenge their students to be creative and design their own sustainable civilizations. Photograph by Lisa Coffey-Mahoney
Brian Cushing, Tony Green, and Ronny Smith work together to challenge their students to be creative and design their own sustainable civilizations. Click here to get the lesson plan!
Photograph by Lisa Coffey-Mahoney

 

 

… Crete is coming clean about soap.

A Minoan youth scrubs down in a majorly reconstructed fresco at Knossos, Crete. Photograph by Gordan Gahan, National Geographic
A Minoan youth scrubs down in a majorly reconstructed fresco at Knossos, Crete. More about the Minoans here—one of our favorite activities!
Photograph by Gordan Gahan, National Geographic

 

 

… how a childhood memory of LeBron helped a soldier through the Iraq War.

LeBron knows geography, as evidenced when he returned to Ohio after working in Florida: "In Northeast Ohio, nothing is given. Everything is earned. You work for what you have. I'm ready to accept the challenge. I'm coming home. Before anyone ever cared where I would play basketball, I was a kid from Northeast Ohio. It's where I walked. It's where I ran. It's where I cried. It's where I bled. It holds a special place in my heart. People there have seen me grow up. I sometimes feel like I'm their son. Their passion can be overwhelming. But it drives me. I want to give them hope when I can. I want to inspire them when I can. My relationship with Northeast Ohio is bigger than basketball. I didn't realize that four years ago. I do now." Photograph by Keith Allison, courtesy Wikimedia. CC-BY-SA-2.0
LeBron knows geography, as evidenced when he returned to Ohio after working in Florida: “In Northeast Ohio, nothing is given. Everything is earned. You work for what you have. I’m ready to accept the challenge. I’m coming home. Before anyone ever cared where I would play basketball, I was a kid from Northeast Ohio. It’s where I walked. It’s where I ran. It’s where I cried. It’s where I bled. It holds a special place in my heart. People there have seen me grow up. I sometimes feel like I’m their son. Their passion can be overwhelming. But it drives me. I want to give them hope when I can. I want to inspire them when I can. My relationship with Northeast Ohio is bigger than basketball. I didn’t realize that four years ago. I do now.”
Photograph by Keith Allison, courtesy Wikimedia. CC-BY-SA-2.0

 

 

… law students may have an expensive degree and nowhere to use it … or not.

 

 

… how to cook the world’s oldest curry, but unlike KFC in India, it doesn’t come with a USB charger.

12 thoughts on “15 Things We Learned This Week!”

  1. Now charging cell phone with food??? Seriously!!! Smart phones are most important for us maybe for some people more than oxygen.. Everytime everywhere Just phone phone and phone… Maybe getting a charger with meal box is a good technology but in my perception at least avoid it’s use while eating… Give your time to other things also….

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  2. So curry is food of our ancestors but in Rajasthani culture curry is not made from abuergine it’s something different… Made from flour of grams.. Our India has too much varieties in food so maybe different names of dishes in different cultures…

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  5. Panama canal is important for trade.. indeginioius people are using drones to save rain forest that’s really good.. Hope that they will achieve success.. Nature is for us we should protect it or least help those people who are working hard to save it…

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  6. Weather has impact on all most everything and mostly I think on the mood of people.. Too much summer raise the temperature of mind of people also and a rainy season makes us happy..

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  7. Ohh so napping is good for our better performance.. I hope teachers would understand if a student napps during class.. After all we are improving our skills.. Hehe..

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  8. Only onions can make us cry on it’s death.. It’s a chemical that makes us cry syn-propenthial -S-oxide.. But it’s structure is very fascinating just like cabbage layer than layer than again layer and so on.. chewing a chewingum can also prevent tears while chopping onions..

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  9. I wish I could enjoy at beach in this bloody hot summer… But unfortunately no beach here.. But I will definitely enjoy one day!!!!

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  10. Shia Sunni all are apart first we need to understand that we all are human… Religion in our lives is to make our selves better a good human being.. When we believe in God our conscience stops us to do something immoral.. Every religion is good all teaches about humanity.. We should respect all the religions and if we can’t respect than don’t even disrespect… We are living in a secular nation were are free to follow we believe… Violence is not because of religion it’s because of wrong politics….

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  11. Teachers are like candle for us who give light in our lives…. In India people consider teacher as God because it’s the teacher who told us about God… Except teacher’s day “GURU PURNIMA” is also a festival dedicated to teachers… This article was about 6 digits salary for a teacher but here in private school it’s just 4 digits.. Hope it will increase very soon…

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  12. OMG!!! I just hate it when people pee in the swimming pool.. Seriously guys at least think about others.. And it causes itching in eyes.. Make pool clean…

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