June 29 - Scorpion Sting

"Dedicated to Scorpy & Lil' Scorpy"

Scorpion Sting - the scorpion's tail, comprising six segments, the last one containing the telson (stinger). The telson holds a pair of venom glands and the hypodermic aculeus, the venom-injecting barb. All scorpion species possess venom, which they use to kill or paralyze their prey so that it can be eaten; in general it is fast acting, allowing for effective prey capture.

However, for humans the stings of scorpions are rarely serious and usually result in pain, minimal swelling, tenderness, and warmth at the sting site.

Scorpion Queen - Nur Malena Hassan, a Malaysian woman, overcame 17 scorpion stings to set a new world record by spending 36 days in a glass cage with over 6 thousand poisonous scorpions.

June 28 - Smoke Haze

Smoke Haze - an atmospheric phenomenon where smoke and other pollutant particles obscure the normal clarity of the sky. It occurs when dust and smoke particles accumulate in relatively dry air. When weather conditions block the dispersal of smoke and other pollutants they concentrate and form a usually low-hanging shroud that impairs visibility and may become a respiratory health threat. Industrial pollution can result in dense haze, which is known as smog. Sources for haze particles include farming (ploughing in dry weather), traffic, industry, forest fires and grass fires.

June 26 - Fire Blaze

Fire Blaze - also known as wildfire, is an uncontrolled fire that pops up, often occurring in wildland areas, but which can also consume houses or agricultural resources. Common causes include lightning, human carelessness, arson, and volcano eruption. Heat waves, droughts, and cyclical climate changes such as El Nino, can also have a dramatic effect. Wildfires tend to be most common and severe during years of drought and occur on days of strong winds. With extensive urbanization of wildlands, these fires often involve destruction of suburban homes located in the wildland urban interface, a zone of transition between developed areas and undeveloped wildland.

Today it is accepted that wildfires are a natural part of the ecosystem of wildlands, where plants have evolved to survive fires by a variety of strategies (from possessing reserve shoots that sprout after a fire, to fire-resistant seeds). In 2004, researchers discovered that exposure to smoke from burning plants actually promotes germination in other types of plants by inducing the production of the orange butenolide. Most native animals, too, are adept at surviving wildfires.

Firefighters and smoke jumpers risk their lives battling these blazes to protect life and property. They are incredibly experienced at fighting these types of fires on the ground, and also by air using planes and helicopters to drop water and fire retardant powder.

June 25 - Wisteria Vine

Wisteria - a genus of about ten species of woody climbing vines native to the eastern US and the East Asian countries of China, Korea and Japan. Wisteria vines climb by twining their stems around any available support. They can climb as high as 20 m above ground and spread out 10 m laterally.

The beautiful flowers are produced in pendulous racemes 10 to 80 cm long, in purple, violet, pink or white. Flowering is in the spring (just before or as the leaves open) in some Asian species, and in mid to late summer in the American species and W. japonica. The flowers of some species are fragrant, most notably Chinese Wisteria. The seeds are produced in pods, and are poisonous.

June 21 - Summer Solstice

Stonehenge Summer Solstice Festival

A celebration of life - standing amongst the towering stones, a crowd of approximately 30,000 gather every year to watch the sun rise on this magical midsummer morning. It's great to be able to stand inside the sacred circle of sarsens as our ancestors did as dawn appears over the Heel Stone. A traditional way to celebrate the longest day of the year. There's an amazing communal excitement at the solstice sunrise as the spiritual ancestry of this prehistoric temple is celebrated - with whoops of joy, drumming, horn blowing, cheering and applause...it makes you feel good to be alive. This re-enacting of an ancient ceremony brings a mystical link, stretching right back through the eons of time, producing almost a celebratory communion with our ancestors.

June 18 - Hill Top

Hill - a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain in a limited area, and often has a distinct summit. Hills may form through a number of geomorhic phenomena: faulting, erosion of larger landforms, such as mountains, and movement and deposition of sediment by glaciers, or by erosion exposing solid rock which then weathers down into a hill.

There are various specific names used to describe particular types of hill, based on appearance and method of formation.

Drumlin - an elongated whale-shaped hill formed by glacial action.
Butte - an isolated hill with steep sides and a small flat top.
Tor - a rock formation found on a hilltop.
Puy - used especially in Auvergne, France to describe a conical volcanic hill.
Pingo - a mound of earth-covered ice found in the Arctic and also in Antarctica.

This conical hill located in the Orosi Valley of Costa Rica, is being used by a coffee plantation to maximize the sun exposure to the entire plant.

Vineyards near the hilltop town of La morra, Italy, produce some of the world's finest red wines.

June 14 - Ammolite

Ammolite - a rare and valuable opal-like organic gemstone found primarily along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains of the US and Canada. It is made of the fossilized shells of ammonites, which in turn are composed primarily of aragonite, the same mineral that makes up nacreous pearls. It is one of the three biogenic gemstones, the other two being amber and pearl. In 1981, ammolite was given official gemstone status by the World Jewellery Confederation, the same year commercial mining of ammolite began.

Ammonites - an extinct group of marine mollusks of the subclass Ammonoidea in the class Cephalodpoda, phylum Mollusca. Ammonites' closest living relative is the subclass Coleoidea (octopus, squid and cuttlefish). Their fossil shells usually take the form of planispirals. Their spiral shape begot their name, as their fossilized shells somewhat resemble tightly-coiled ram horns.

June 11 - Coriolis effect

Coriolis effect - the apparent deflection of objects from a straight path if the objects are viewed from a rotating frame of reference. The most notable example is the deflection of winds moving along the surface of the Earth to the right of the direction of travel in the Northern hemisphere and to the left of the direction of travel in the Southern hemisphere. This effect is caused by the rotation of the Earth, and is responsible for the direction of the rotation of hurricanes and cyclones. As a consequence, winds around the center of a cyclone rotate counterclockwise on the northern hemisphere and clockwise on the southern hemisphere.

Hurricane Season - The hurricane and cyclone seasons officially began on June 1 and end on November 30. All storms in the Northern Hemisphere rotate counter-clockwise due to the Coriolis effect.

June 8 - Myrrh

Myrrh - a red-brown resinous material, the dried sap of the tree Commiphora myrrha, native to Somalia and the eastern parts of Ethiopia. High quality myrrh can be identified through the darkness and clarity of the resin. However, the best method of judging the resin's quality is by feeling the stickiness of freshly broken fragments to directly determine the fragrant-oil content of the myrrh resin.

Myrrh is a constituent of perfumes and incense, was highly prized in ancient times, and was often worth more than its weight in gold. In Ancient Rome myrrh was priced at five times as much as frankincense, though the latter was far more popular. Myrrh was burned in ancient Roman funerals to mask the smell emanating from charring corpses.

Myrrh was one of the gifts of the Magi to the infant Jesus according to Matthew 2:11.

June 7 - Emerald Gem

Emerald - of the mineral beryl, colored green by trace amounts of chromium and sometimes vanadium. It is highly prized as a gemstone and by weight is the most valuable gemstone in the world. Emeralds come in many shades of green and bluish green. There is a wide spectrum of clarity, dependent on the inclusions and fractures in the crystal. Clear stones with dark yet vibrant color command the highest prices. Emerald is regarded as the traditional birthstone for May, as well as the traditional gemstone for the astrological signs of Taurus and Cancer.

Gachala Emerald - The most famous emerald in the world was found in 1967 at Vega de San Juan mine in Colombia, and is named after the mining district where it was discovered. This 858 carat uncut gemstone was donated to the Smithsonian Institute by New York jeweler, Harry Winston.

Jupiter Nearest - Jupiter will be at its closest point to the Earth for the year, on June 7.

June 6 - Fledgling

Fledgling - Young birds are "altricial": they are born completely helpless, without any feathers, and are unable to walk or eat.

First Flight - Young sparrows leave the nest seven to thirteen days after hatching, but unable to fly well, they remain dependent on the adults for about three more weeks.