Halloween's Blue Moon and Candy Slingshots 🎃 (10/29/20)
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Description
In today’s episode: 🎃 Get 5 ideas how to keep this year's Halloween spooky and fun 🌜 Hear some interesting facts about this Halloween's special blue moon (with Laine Farber of the Nature Nerds podcast) 💀 Learn more about Mexico’s celebration, Day of the Dead (Dia De Los Muertos).
Links
🌜 This is cool! Read how A rare "blue moon" will light up the Halloween night sky
🏚️ Don't be scared, but these are 31 of the Scariest Town Names in America
💀 Impress your friends with Top 10 things to know about the Day of the Dead
🎧 Listen to our guest Laine Farber’s exciting podcast exploration of plants and animals: Nature Nerds
📧 Do you have something to tell us? Email us at: hello@thetennews.com
🎇 Find us on Instagram: The Ten News on Instagram
Transcript
Bethany Van Delft: [00:00:00] Greetings my pretties! I'm Bethany Van Delft and this is The Ten News, the show where in the time it takes to carve a Jack O' Lantern, we find out what's up in the world.
[00:00:18] In today's episode, we'll check in on how some kids are making this Halloween a scream, get some facts about the full moon that'll make you howl, learn more about Mexico's Day of the Dead and find out where the real Frankenstein is located.
[00:00:33] Stick around till the end of The Ten.
[00:00:38] Okay, let's get into The Ten News.
[00:00:41] Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, four, three, two, one.
[00:00:49] Like pretty much everything else in 2020, this Halloween may be a little different from what we're used to. The Coronavirus is [00:01:00] still around, which makes traditional parties and trick-or-treating much more challenging. We asked some friends how they're celebrating this Halloween.
Aruna: [00:01:10] Hi, my name is Aruna I'm 10 years old.
Clio: [00:01:13] Hi, my name is Clio and I'm six years old.
Aruna: [00:01:16] We live in Lancaster, PA. This year for trick or treat we're not going, we're not going anywhere, but we're leaving small bags out on a table. Um, for the trick-or-treaters who are going outside.
Clio: [00:01:28] Slingshot them.
Aruna: [00:01:30] We're also going to have a small bonfire, here, um, with some of the friends that we have deemed safe, who we know who don't have Covid.
Clio: [00:01:38] We wear our masks and stay distance.
Aruna: [00:01:40] I'm going to be dressing up as the Black Widow from Marvel.
Clio: [00:01:43] Ooh I'm Hedwig.
Aruna: [00:01:46] I still am very excited because we are going to still see people.
Bethany Van Delft: [00:01:49] Thanks for sharing friends and to find out how else folks are getting creative this Halloween.
[00:01:57] Let's go to our correspondent Anya Schultz.
Anya Schultz: [00:02:06] Halloween might look a little different this year. Traditional trick or treating is pretty risky, according to our country's top health experts. I know you might be bummed not to be able to knock on your neighbor's doors and ask for candy like you did last year. But we're here to tell you just because Halloween might be different doesn't mean it isn't happening. In fact, Americans already bought more Halloween candy this year than they did last year, according to the National Confectioners Association. So here are five ways to have some safe, spooky fun. This Halloween.
[00:02:45] 1. Dress up. Even if you're not triggered treating, you can still get in costume.
[00:02:51] And there's only one way to know if your outfit is a winne.r Set up a virtual Halloween costume contest with your friends.
[00:02:58] 2. [00:03:00] Trick or treat inside. Decorate each room in your house or apartment in a different spooky style and pick up candy in each corner.
[00:03:08] 3. Make a candy scavenger hunt in your backyard. If you want to be extra spooky, try it after dark with flashlights.
[00:03:18] 4. Decorate your pumpkins, display them for your neighbors to see.
[00:03:22] 5. There's some pretty cool ways people can plan to safely handout treats. Some parents might build a candy delivery slide to shoot candy, to trick or treaters or dress up like a Medieval Knight and catapult the candy across the lawn.
[00:03:39] And if you are trick or treating, make sure to wear a face mask under your spooky mask, that way you can stay safe while having fun.
Bethany Van Delft: [00:03:53] Did you know that when an ant dies, it gives off a special scent that signals other ants to take its body, to the [00:04:00] ant graveyard? Yes, that's a thing. So this is kind of spooky. If you're not up for spookiness, skip ahead to the next thing. Back in the 1950s when a very mischievous and scholar figured out how to recreate that special scent and put a drop of it on a living ant to see what would happen, what! The other ants reacted to the scent by picking it up and taking it to the graveyard, even though it was totally alive.
[00:04:32] The poor ant kept trying to return to the colony only to be picked up and taken to the graveyard again. Apparently this went on until the ant was able to clean the scent off enough for the other ants to leave it alone, not a nice trick, shame on you, but it did shed light on how ants communicate through smell and that naughty scholar went on to revolutionize the study of ants.
[00:04:56] I hope he got a time out too. Not nice.
[00:05:03] [00:05:00] What could be more perfectly spooky than a full moon on Halloween night? Well, this year we're getting one. Awesome. And it's not just any full moon. Friend of The Ten Laine Farber from the Nature Nerds podcast has more.
Laine Farber: [00:05:18] Imagine this, it's Halloween night and you're out trick or treating your pumpkin shape bucket is filled to the brim with bite size candies.
[00:05:27] A couple of good pieces, but mostly boring things. And even a box of raisins. If only you could find that one special house, you know, the one I'm talking about, the one that gives out full-sized candy bars, the Holy Grail of Halloween candy. But that only happens once in a blue moon. Once in a blue moon, this common phrase is used to describe something that's rare, but where does this expression come [00:06:00] from?
[00:06:00] Well, surprise, surprise. The answer lies in our favorite subject science. What you see, when you look up at the moon in the night sky is actually determined by the sun. Sounds crazy, but it's true. Our moon acts like a giant mirror and reflects the rays of the sun. The shape of the moon looks like it changes because of its relative position to the earth and the sun.
[00:06:27] Some nights, the moon is a thin Crescent shape. Some nights it's a big, shiny circle. And some nights you can't see it at all. This is because the moon orbits the earth and the earth orbits the sun. Each month the moon rotates around the earth. During this time we get one full moon. As its name suggests a full moon is when you can see the moon in its full glory, big and round and [00:07:00] bright.
[00:07:00] A blue moon is the term given to a special type of full moon. But what makes a blue moon so special? Does the moon actually turn blue? No. Does the moon twinkle and sparkle like a diamond? No, not that either. A blue moon is special because it's a bonus full moon. Because of the way that the earth and the moon orbit there's almost always just one full moon a month, but every two and a half years, a blue moon happens. And that's when there are two full moons in one month. Pretty cool. Right? And luckily for you kiddos, the next blue moon falls on Halloween. So who knows, maybe you'll find that Holy grail of full-sized candy bars after all.
Bethany Van Delft: [00:07:58] Let's give a snap salutes to the full [00:08:00] size candy house. Hey, to learn more from Laine, check out our podcast, Nature Nerds. And speaking of the moon on Monday, NASA scientists announced that they discovered water and ice on parts of the moon where they didn't know it existed. It's a game changer for thirsty astronauts.
[00:08:21] Did you know that candy corn has been around since the 1880s back then, about half the population lived and worked on farms. Candy corn was originally marketed as chicken feed alongside other agricultural theme treats like candy turnips. I guess that's one way to get kids to eat their vegetables. Did you know Halloween isn't the only celebration happening this weekend?
[00:08:48] It's also a time for Dia de Los Muertos, The Day of the Dead, a Mexican holiday that begins at midnight on November 1st and actually spans for two days. And no, [00:09:00] it is not. Mexico's Halloween. It actually has nothing to do with Halloween at all. Dia de Los Muertos, Day of the Dead originated thousands of years ago and is based on a belief that the dead are kept alive in memory and spirit and can temporarily return to earth during Dia de Los Muertos, isn't that a beautiful idea.
[00:09:22] As part of the celebration, families create ofrendas, alters that honor the dead. And put food, marigolds, photographs, candles, all kinds of meaningful, personal items that are meant to welcome the spirits back to the land of the living. Day of the Dead, it's not a sad time. Not at all. It's a joyful celebration of life filled with food, music, dancing, costumes, and parades.
[00:09:49] If you've seen the movie Coco, you've seen a little bit about Day of the Dead.
[00:09:56] And now the time has come for your [00:10:00] trivial question of the day.
[00:10:06] Can you tell which of the following spooky us towns is real and which are fake? It's trickier than you think. Is it a) Sleepy Hollow, New York, B) Frankenstein, Missouri C) Tombstone, Arizona. D) Bat Cave, North Carolina E) Transylvania, Louisiana. Did you? Yes. The answer is, is
[00:10:37] A, B, C, D, and E that's, right. It was a trick question. They're all real towns. Tis the time of year for tricks and treats. Right. Would you want to live in any of these spooky towns? My pick is, Hm, I've already been to Sleepy Hollow, New York. I'd say. Bat Cave, North Carolina, maybe get a ride in the Batmobile.
[00:11:00] [00:10:59] You never know.
[00:11:04] Time's up. Ah, that's the end of The Ten for today. You can catch new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday. The Ten News is a co-production of Small, But Mighty Media in collaboration with Next Chapter Podcast, distributed by iHeart Radio. The Ten News Halloween episode was written by editorial director, Tracy Crypt-keeper Crooks with contributions from Stephen Tomb-kins, Anya the shadow Schultz and Laine Fear-her.
[00:11:35] Yeah. The creative producer is Jenner the friendly ghost Pascua. Marketing is led by Jacob Frankenstein with web support by frightening Adam Pharr. Editing and sound designed by mummified Pete Musto under the production direction of Jeremiah the Terrible Tittle. Executive producer, Donald all-dark and show creator Tracy Bleeds Kaplan rounds [00:12:00] out the team.
If you have questions about the show, a story idea, or a fun fact that you want to share with us, email us at helloa@thetennews.com. And don't forget to subscribe, rate and review The Ten News on Apple podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
[00:12:19] Professor Bethany Van Helsing. And thanks for listening to The Ten News. Now go get into some hocus, pocus.
