As Monday’s solar eclipse draws near, many Phoenicians worry they won’t be able to find viewing glasses — or that they’ll get unsafe knockoffs instead. But Phoenix libraries are offering a fun and educational way for kids to get theirs.
Read/listen to my full story at KJZZ’s Arizona Science Desk:
Phoenix Libraries Offer Programs, Eclipse-Viewing Glasses For Kids
Weather. It can destroy homes and harvests, shut down entire regions and re-sculpt coastlines in a matter of hours. It’s small wonder we tend to be a bit superstitious about the subject, or that we’re loath to let go of the received wisdom of family, friends and the Old Farmer’s Almanac.
Then again, maybe those old wives tales contain a kernel of truth. Sometimes there’s a reason to the rhyme, as I reveal in this list of …
From antiquity to the present day, everyone from philosophers to scientists to spinners of yarns have claimed that stars can be seen during broad daylight, provided you look at them from the bottoms of mine shafts, tall chimneys, coal pits or cisterns. Folk tales have also described people spotting distant suns in light reflected in dark lake bottoms or deep wells.
Is there any truth to these tales, or are these well-wishers merely moonstruck?