Architects of Air from the outside.

The interactive sculpture has been to over 35 countries and 2 million visitors have passed through the colored walls. The space inside Architects of Air is inflated with surprisingly quite fans. The beautiful and immersive colors are created by sunlight passing through colored panes of plastic (much like the light passing through colored panes of stained glass in a cathedral).

Sunlight passes through the colored strips in the ceiling of Architects of Air, making the whole sculpture light up in many colors.

Architects of Air is set up in the field near the Long Center through January 20th. Admission costs $8, kids 2 and under are free. We recommend getting their early (they open at 10am daily) – and bringing something to entertain your group in line.

Visitors explore the passages and chambers inside Architects of Air.

You can think of the ring around the moon like the Moon’s version of a rainbow. Rainbows appear when rays of sunlight are bent by water droplets in the Earth’s lower atmosphere (that’s why we see rainbows when it’s bright and wet). Rings around the moon are caused by rays of moonlight passing through clouds and ice crystals high up in the Earth’s atmosphere. You can learn a little more about Moon Rings over at Universe Today.

Hopefully it won’t be too cloudy out tonight to see the moon! The moon is supposed to rise tonight at 9:36pm – make sure to bundle up, it’s going to be cold! Leave us a comment with any moon observations.

A particularly impressive Moon Ring.

Since the dawn of civilization man has kept track of time by use of the sun, the moon, and the stars. Man noticed that time could be broken up into units of the day (the time taken for the earth to rotate once on its axis), the month (the time taken for the moon to orbit the earth) and the year (the time taken for the earth to orbit the sun).

Ancient civilizations, were able to create calendars by keeping track of the moon and the sun. The ancient Mayas invented a calendar of remarkable accuracy and complexity. At the right is the ancient Mayan Pyramid Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico. The pyramid was used as a calendar! Four stairways, each with 91 steps and a platform at the top, making a total of 365, equivalent to the number of days in a calendar year!

At the end of the year, these ancient civilizations also celebrated the New Year, just like we do, with feasts, dancing and festivities. Today, most New Year festivities take place on December 31, but in other cultures they take place on different dates.

• The earliest known record of a New Year festival dates from 2000 BC in Mesopotamia. In Babylonia the New Year began with the new moon closest to the spring equinox, usually mid-March.
• In Assyria it was near the autumnal equinox in September.
• For the Egyptians, Phoenicians, and Persians the day was celebrated on the autumnal equinox, which now falls on about September 23.
• For the Greeks it was the winter solstice, which now falls on about December 21 or 22.
• In early Rome, March 1 began a new year, but after 153 BC the date was January 1.
• The Jewish New Year, called Rosh Hashana, is sometimes called the “feast of the trumpets.” It starts on the first day of the month of Tishri, which may begin any time from September 6 to October 5. The celebration lasts for 48 hours but ushers in a ten-day period of penitence.
• In Japan the New Year festivities take place on January 1 to 3. The house entrance is hung with a rope made of rice straw to keep out evil spirits. Decorations of ferns, bitter orange, and lobster promise good fortune, prosperity, and long life.
• The Chinese New Year is celebrated for one whole month!. The official celebration begins in late January or early February. There are outdoor parades and fireworks to mark the occasion. Check out the cool dragon costume they dance with:

Finally, the American celebration of the New Year marks the end of the Christmas holiday period. Many people go to church on New Year’s Eve, and many attend parties. Now that you know the history of New Years, you can celebrate this holiday with the knowledge of the past.

You can have fun with a costume like the Chinese do, and download this neat New Year’s Mask, look through it so you can see what the coming year has ahead!

Elephants show joy all the time! When they are greeting of a friend or family member (even a human friend) that they haven’t seen in awhile, after the birth of a baby elephant or when they are playing games!

Typically this expression of joy takes place in the form of a greeting ceremony. When family members or friends meet, all the elephants gather around and celebrate. During this greeting the elephants involved will spin around, with their heads held high, and ears flapping they fill the air with a symphony of trumpets, rumbles, screams, and roars.

Also, elephants play games! They throw objects, twist, and interact with their elephant friends. Typically, elephants begin a playing session by trumpeting. Elephants can have fun playing with their friends or playing by themselves, they love to play either way!

Did you know:

•     The elephant is the largest of all land mammals
•     Life Span – elephants can live for up to 70 years!
•     Elephants are able to swim for long distances
•     Elephants spend about 16 hours a day eating!
•     They consume as much as 495 pounds of food per day
•     They live in tight social units
•     Their tusks are of ivory and are actually enormously enlarged teeth
•     The elephant’s eyes are small and its eyesight is poor
•     They have the largest brains in the animal kingdom!

Here at ACM we think these happy mammals are enormous and jolly and so very neat!

Did you know that the word “parfait” means “perfect” in French? This certainly makes sense because parfaits are a perfect dessert, you can create the perfect combinations of flavors to excite your very own taste buds.

A parfait consists of  layers of ice cream, whipped cream, syrups, fruits, granola, nuts, the combinations are endless!.  I bet this is sounding familiar to you isn’t it? Well parfait is basically a fancy word for a sundae!

While chocolate is my favorite, use your imagination to create a wide range of single and mixed flavors. I bet you have some Thanksgiving leftovers, wouldn’t a Pumpkin Parfait be marvelous?

If the delightful combination of delicious flavors in a parfait is not enough for you, try eating it over a sink. That’s right your kitchen sink! Not only is November 25th National Parfait Day, it’s also Sinkie Day.

Christmas shopping and Thanksgiving leftovers provide the perfect reasons to enjoy a quick meal. It’s the day many people discover the benefits of becoming a SINKIE and go on to many years of dining over the sink.

Who wouldn’t want to celebrate the day after Thanksgiving by eating a parfait over the sink? Enjoy!