FEAST OR FAMINE

Every four years the Gregorian calendar adds another day to the year. Each year is 356 days. But in reality it is 365.2422 days. Therefore every four years the extra day is added to February, making 366 days to the year. February has 28 days, but on leap years it has 29 days. This year, February 29 falls on Monday. But not every four years is a leap year. This year is a leap year because leap years are divisible by 4, except for years that are both divisible by 100 and not divisible by 400. Therefore the years 1700, 1800, and 1900 were not a leap year (they are not divisible by 400), but the years 1600 and 2000 were leap years. This is because the correction to add a day every four years actually overcompensates and the extra hours are corrected again using the divisibility rule. People who have birthdays on Febuary 29 in a leap year are called leaplings. They technically don’t have birthdays for three years out of every four, but choose to celebrate on February 28 or...

A baby male hippopotamus, born on January 28, 2016, at the Prague Zoo, Czech Republic, made his first public appearance on Wednesday February 24 ( Raycom News Network, February 25, 2016). He is yet to be named. His mother is Maruska and his father is Slavek. The baby hippo weighed 45 kilograms at birth (99 pounds) and is now, at almost one month old, weighs 80 kilograms (176 pounds). The family were separated before the birth, and were reunited on Friday February 19. So the whole family – Maruska, Slavek, and baby hippo – made their appearance for the public this week. His father led the family into the enclosure, while baby hippo stayed close to his mother. The baby hippo born at the Prague Zoo is doing well and is sure to be a major attraction for the summer. http://www.raycomnewsnetwork.com/story/31302902/prague-zoo-has-new-attraction-a-baby-hippo MARTINA NICOLLS is the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongo...

Seagulls have long been a problem in coastal Britain, with many calling them a menace. Can the seagull menace be controlled by psychology? In July 2015 I wrote about the British seagull culling debate due to attacks on pet animals, particularly in Cornwall. Seagulls are a protected species in England, but there was a need to control their attacking behaviour. The Dispatch Tribunal (February 23, 2106) revealed that psychology may be the answer to the problem. Over the next 18 months researchers at the University of the West of England (UWE) will conduct a psychological evaluation of seagulls in order to understand their history, lives, and behaviour. They will also create a map of seagull interactions with humans in Bath and North East Somerset. A focus of the study will be the nesting sites of seagulls, their feeding activity, and how people respond to them. Dr. Chris Pawson, head of psychology at UWE, said that council measures to detract seagulls over the past decade h...

The National Gallery in Tbilisi, Georgia, is holding a brief exhibition of Georgian artist, Giga Datuashvili, from 22-28 February 2016. The exhibition, Giga Datuashvili: 1976-2000, at the Georgian National Museum Dimitri Shevardnadze National Gallery, commemorates the 40th anniverary of his birth. It also celebrates the brief 24 years of his life. The works on display were created in the late 1990s. He commenced painting at an earl age, and also performed at the Children’s Music Theatre. Datuashvili studied in the Department of Painting Restoration at the Tbilisi State Art Academy. After graduating he contributed to the restoration of iconography in several churches, such as the Church of St. Nicholas in Martkopi, the Church of the Archangels in Gremi, and the Church of Sts. Quiricus and Julitta in Lagurka. Throughout his work he constantly sketched on paper. His diary entries explains his works: ‘working on paper requires a lot of work. The exterior effect is s...