Category archives for People
Posted by August is National Inventors Month. To celebrate, the National Museum of American History built a giant light bulb model out of LEGO bricks on August 3. Museum visitors worked with LEGO Master Builders to assemble the multicolored model. The light bulb is 8 feet (2.4 meters) tall and contains over 300,000 bricks!
Get LEGO tips from a LEGO Master Builder on National Geographic Kids.
Visit the Smithsonian Institution’s Lemelson Center Invention at Play website.
Photograph courtesy of the LEGO Group
James May is building a new house in Dorking, Surrey, United Kingdom. This isn’t an ordinary house, though. This house will be made entirely out of LEGO bricks–bathroom included! May has received over 3 million LEGO bricks from the Czech Republic to build his house.
May is building the house for his BBC series, James May’s Toy Stories. On August 1, May is hosting a building day! The public is invited to work on the project.
Read more about the LEGO house on the Get Surrey website.
Check out the winning entries from the “Win a Trip to LEGOLAND” contest.
Three teams of geography buffs went head-to-head in Mexico City today. The teams, from the United States, Canada, and Poland, answered questions similar to the ones asked in the National Geographic Bee. The Canada team came in first place, followed by the United States in second, and Poland in third. Who quizzed the kids? Alex Trebek, from “Jeopardy”! Trebek also moderates the annual National Geographic Bee.
The National Geographic World Championship started in 1993 and is held every two years.
Read about winning team in the 2007 National Geographic World Championship on National Geographic Kids.
Watch a video of the winning answer from the 21st National Geographic Bee on News Bites.
Surf Dog is one lucky stuffed dog! He’s been all over the world, meeting new friends and exploring new places. Surf Dog began his latest journey, a road trip from San Diego, California to Seattle, Washington, in June. Surf Dog kicked off his travels by visiting a surfing dog competition in San Diego.
Rex Dubiel, a third-grade teacher from Hawaii, created Surf Dog as a
fun way to raise her students’ geography awareness. When Dubiel and
Surf Dog travel, Dubiel posts pictures of Surf Dog and commentary on
the places they have visited.
Follow Surf Dog’s adventures on the Surf Dog Sunset Beach blog.
Want to read about more adventures? Visit the Global Bros blog.
Photographs courtesy Rex Dubiel
Photograph courtesy Garry Whipple
Roller coasters have gone through a lot of twists and turns over the past 125 years. In 1884, Coney Island’s roller coaster, the Switchback Railway, cost only a nickel to ride, but it was a huge attraction that made its designer, LaMarcus A. Thompson a very wealthy man. Thompson received the patent for his design in 1885 and inspired a coaster race that continues today.
The Corkscrew (pictured) was the first roller coaster with two loops and opened at California’s Knott’s Berry Farm in 1975, but has since been moved to Silverwood Theme Park in Athol, Idaho.
See pictures of roller coasters on National Geographic News.
Piece together Fair Rides puzzles.
On June 10 and 11, National Geographic Explorers will be at National Geographic headquarters talking about their fieldwork as part of an annual symposium. Meet some of the people who talked about their projects today!
The winners of the 2009 Hands-On Explorer Challenge contest flew to Peru on May 22 to begin exploring the wildlife, culture, and history of this South American country! The talented 15 kids and two teachers have already visited Lima, where expedition team member Lijah was fascinated by the face-shaped pottery at the Rafael Larco Herrera Archeological Museum.
Tomorrow they’re off to Machu Picchu. Follow their adventures in the Hands-On Explorer Trip Blog!
Check out their blog entries on the Hands-On Explorer Trip Blog.
Read excerpts from the winners’ essays on National Geographic Kids.
Eric Yang, a 7th grader from Texas, won the 21st National Geographic Bee today. Eric received a $25,000 college scholarship and a lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society. He’ll also get a trip to the Galapagos Islands!
The second place winner was Arjun Kandaswamy, and the third place winner was Shantan Krovvidi.
Watch Eric answer the final question!
Watch last year’s final question on National Geographic Kids.
Do you have what it takes to be a bee contestant? Quiz Your Noodle and find out.
Learn more about the National Geographic Bee.
The 45 National Geographic Bee finalists are gathering at the National Geographic Society headquarters today for the final competition. All of the finalists were champions in their state geography bees. The ten who come out on top after today’s questions will progress to the final round of the Bee tomorrow.
Tomorrow’s first prize winner will receive a $25,000 college scholarship and a lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society. The second prize winner will receive a $15,000 college scholarship, and the third prize winner will receive a $10,000 scholarship.
Come back tomorrow to find out who won!
Do you have what it takes to be a bee contestant? Quiz Your Noodle and find out.
Learn more about the National Geographic Bee.
Sony Dong was arrested in March for trying to smuggle songbirds into the United States. He got caught when a Los Angeles International Airport inspector noticed feathers peeking out from the bottom of his pants and bird poop on his shiny black shoes. More than a dozen birds were strapped to his legs with buttoned cloth wrappings.
Exotic songbirds from Asia can earn high prices in the United States. The rescued birds might end up in a zoo.
Photograph by AP/Department of Justice
Read more about the bird smuggling case on National Geographic News.
Watch a video of macaws soaring above the rain forest.
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Lots of National Geographic Society employees brought their kids to headquarters for “Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day” on Thursday, April 23. They spent part of their visit with National Geographic Kids! Some of these kids became reporters for the day. Here’s their take on what it’s like to work at National Geographic.
The six winners of the 2009 Goldman Environmental Prize have been announced. This is the 20th year that the Goldman Environmental Prize has been awarded. Each year, a winner is chosen from each inhabited continent (making six prizes). It has been awarded to 133 grassroots environmentalists from 75 different countries.
This year’s winners are Marc Ona Essangui from Gabon, Rizwana Hasan from Bangladesh, Olga Speranskaya from Russia, Yuyun Ismawati from Indonesia, Maria Gunnoe from the United States of America, and Wanze Eduards and Hugo Jabini from Suriname.
Read the whole post »
Photograph by Jake Norton
Four mountain climbers who have climbed Mount Everest are now taking a shot at reaching the summit again. Peter Whittaker, Ed Viesturs, Dave Hahn, and Melissa Arnot began their expedition to the top of the world’s tallest mountain on March 30. Some of the climbers are going for records on their way to the summit! Dave Hahn is going for his incredible 11th Everest ascent, and Melissa Arnot is attempting to be the first American woman to reach the summit without extra oxygen.
Read more about the expedition and check out daily dispatches on National Geographic Adventure.
Quiz Your Noodle and find out how much you REALLY know about Mount Everest.
You have to break a lot of eggs to whip up the world’s largest pancake stack–about 100 eggs, in fact! In February, two chefs in Scotland created a 29.5-inch (75 cm) flapjack tower that just might beat the current record of 29.1 inches (74 cm). The grocery list of ingredients also included an incredible 11 pounds (5 kilograms) of flour and 6.6 pounds (3 kilograms) of butter.
See more crazy competition photos on National Geographic News.
Help National Geographic Kids set a world record!
Watch videos of more Guinness World Record attempts.
Photograph courtesy Danny Lawson/AP
The 2009 Iditarod winner has made it to Nome, Alaska! Musher Lance Mackey arrived at 11:38 a.m. on March 18, winning his third Iditarod race in a row!
The Iditarod Sled Dog Race takes place every March in Alaska. The race is an incredible 1,150 miles (1,851 kilometers) long, and it usually takes at least 10 days for the first musher to make it to the finish line.
Quiz Your Noodle and find out how much you know about the Iditarod!
Visit the official Iditarod site.
Mimi Ausland, 12, really loves animals! After visiting a website that donates rice to hungry people, she was inspired to create a similar website to help dogs and cats in animal shelters. When visitors answer a trivia question on Freekibble.com or Freekibblekat.com, they donate 10 pieces of kibble to Mimi’s project. Mimi’s sites have been a huge hit, and she has been featured in several articles both online and in print.
Mimi is passionate about her work collecting food for shelter animals. “I love helping animals because of how they cannot speak for themselves and people have to speak for them. I also love being able to help them get good healthy food and actually delivering the food myself to our local shelter–and I really like making other people aware that they need our help,” she says.
Photograph courtesy Kelly Ausland
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Today is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin. Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, led the country through the Civil War. Britain’s Charles Darwin is famous for his theory on evolution, which he published in the book, On the Origin of Species. Both men are remembered today for their impact on history.
Watch a video about Abraham Lincoln’s life.
Learn about the inspiration behind Darwin’s theory in National Geographic Magazine.
Dr. Goodall does not handle wild chimps. This orphan chimpanzee lives at a JGI sanctuary.
Photograph courtesy Michael Neugebauer
Jane Goodall, the well-renowned primatologist, has received the prestigious Leakey Prize for achievement in the fields of ape and human evolution. Dr. Leakey moved to the African jungle of Lake Tanganyika in 1960 to study chimpanzees, the closest living relatives of humans. Dr. Goodall has spent her career observing and documenting chimp behavior and working to conserve their natural habitats.
Dr. Goodall’s research showed us that chimpanzees use tools, hunt, and form complex family relationships. The Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research, Education and Conservation includes a conservation education program, Roots & Shoots, which works with young people around the world.
Want to learn more about chimps? Check out the Creature Feature.
Photograph by Jason Reed/Reuters
The citizens of the United States of America voted in record numbers yesterday, and they chose Barack Obama as the 44th president of the country. During his victory speech last night from Chicago, Senator Obama thanked his family, his vice president-elect Joe Biden, his campaign manager, and the people who came out to vote. He also congratulated Senator John McCain on his achievements during the presidential race.
President-elect Obama will be sworn into office on Inauguration Day, which is January 20, 2009.
