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Smart Stuff with Twig Walkingstick: Dandy, Yes, But Not Before Bed (for the Week of April 15, 2007)
April 10, 2007 Q. Dear Twig: Why are dandelions called dandelions? A. The name comes from the French word dentdelion. "Dentdelion" means "tooth of the lion," which has to do with the shape of the leaf. The edge of the leaf looks like i ...
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Smart Stuff with Twig Walkingstick: Cuya-who-ga? (for the Week of April 27, 2008)
April 27, 2008 Q. Dear Twig: "Cuyahoggily"? I don't get it. A. "Cuyahoggily"? Last week? Eh? Eh? OK, it's a made-up word. But I sure do like it anyway. Say it 20 times in a row and see, just see, if you don't start to la ...
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Smart Stuff with Twig Walkingstick: Cool Cold Kiwis (for the Week of Feb. 22, 2009)
February 22, 2009 Q. Dear Twig: OK, here's your kiwifruit. So how can I grow my own kiwifruit? A. Thank you. Chomp. OK, here's your answer: It depends on where you live. If where you live has mildish winters — Oregon, say, or California or the ...
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Smart Stuff with Twig Walkingstick: Can the Grandma Not Get Run Over By the Reindeer? (for the Week of Dec. 9, 2007)
November 29, 2007 Q. Dear Twig: There's that song, "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer." How fast would the grandma have to run to not get run over by the reindeer? A.: If the grandma is running straight away from the reindeer, as if racing ...
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Smart Stuff with Twig Walkingstick: Bumbles Bounce, Will Santa Float? (for the Week of Dec. 23, 2007)
December 20, 2007 Q. Dear Twig: Did you hear that the North Pole is melting? A.: Yes. Yes, I did. The news, as I've read it, is this: Scientists say that the polar ice cap, the frozen Arctic Ocean water, that normally covers the North Pole is melti ...
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Smart Stuff with Twig Walkingstick: Build Your Own Bee House (for the Week of June 10, 2007)
June 6, 2007 Q. Dear Twig: How can I build a house for native bees? You mentioned it last week. A. Get a piece of untreated wood about the size of a loaf of bread. Say, 12 inches long and 4-8 inches thick. ("Untreated" means it hasn't had a ...
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Smart Stuff with Twig Walkingstick: Boubou? Funny Bird Names (for the Week of Dec. 2, 2007)
November 21, 2007 Q. Dear Twig: What's a flying steamer duck? Why should we beware of it? [See last week.] A.: It's simply a duck with a funny name. Does it fly? Yes. Does it steam? It does — like a steamboat, not a teapot. But no need to beware ...
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Smart Stuff with Twig Walkingstick: Blargh of the Albatross (for the Week of Jan. 28, 2007)
January 24, 2007 Q. Dear Twig: This one time, at science camp, an albatross (albatross!) threw up on my aunt. A. Whoa! Thanks for sharing. Here's what I think: I think that the camp took a trip to a rookery. (A place where some bird types, such as al ...
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Smart Stuff with Twig Walkingstick: Bio-who-ia? (for the Week of June 18, 2006)
June 18, 2006 Q. Dear Twig: OK, I'll bite. What's bio... bio... phlablahblah? [See last week.] A. For starters: You spell it biophilia. (Ah! Hard to spell!) And you say it, "BY-oh-FILL-ee-uh." (Ah! Hard to say!) Think of it, yes, as a ...
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Smart Stuff with Twig Walkingstick: Big Z's (for the Week of July 26, 2009)
July 26, 2009 Q. Dear Twig: What's the biggest zucchini in the world? A. The book called Guiness World Records 2008 lists it as having weighed 64 pounds, 8 ounces. A man in the United Kingdom named Bernard Lavery grew it in 1990. Also very big is a ...