Short stuff

Kids' art on display

It's not a museum, but more than 27 works of art are on display, through the end of the month, at the US Department of Education's headquarters in Washington.

All were done by students, including Kaelyn Haddon, a sixth-grader from Nags Head, N.C., who painted "Monarch Migration," shown here.

Kids were presented a theme, "I Wonder Why..." Then they were asked by their teachers to create artwork that answered the question. Kaelyn's work answers the question, "I wonder why monarch butterflies head to Mexico in the winter?"

Thousands of students participated. The 27 winners were chosen by judges from the National Parent-Teacher Association's Reflections Program, "The Arts Through Children's Eyes."

To see other students' artwork, visit the PTA's website, www.pta.org/reflections06/ visualarts/index.asp.

London has a sticky problem – with chewing gum, that is. City officials in England's capital say it costs millions of dollars a year to clean the gooey blobs off streets and sidewalks.

Oxford Street alone – which is one of London's most popular shopping districts – had more than 300,000 pieces of chewing gum stuck to the pavement.

So officials recently started a campaign to encourage residents and visitors to throw their gum in a trash bin when they've finished chewing.

Anyone over the age of 10 can be fined up to £80 (or about $150) for dropping gum in the street.

Travel advice: You might opt for a mint or lollipop instead of gum. And remember to dispose of the wrapper properly!

Sure, Colorado and New York State may have been hit with massive snowstorms this winter, but their snow accumulations are nothing compared to some on record with the US Army Corps of Engineers.

In April 1921, Silver Lake, Colo., got more than 6-1/3 feet of snow in a 24-hour period.

Did you think it was always warm in California? In 1911, Tamarack got more than 390 inches of the fluffy white stuff in one month. That's 32-1/2 feet! Mt. Shasta Ski Bowl has the US record for the most snow accumulation in one storm: 189 inches, or 15-3/4 feet, in 1959.

But nothing on record tops Mount Baker, Wash., where more than 1,140 inches (or 95 feet) of snow fell in the winter of 1998-99. That would make one huge snow fort!

As sharks go, this was a rare find. Last month, a five-foot frill shark was found by a fisherman in Numazu, Japan.

The frill shark, also known as a frilled shark, usually lives at depths greater than 2,000 feet – and are not found at sea level.

Noticeably absent from this shark (see picture) is the characteristic "shark fin," or first dorsal fin, which many people associate with the fish. It's the fin that sometimes sticks up out of shallow water if a shark is swimming close to shore.

Some scientists say the frill shark has been around for eons: Its body shape and the number of gills are similar to fossils of sharks that lived more than 350 million years ago.

Want to work out on your next airplane flight? Bring some shorts and sneakers.

The world's biggest passenger plane – the Airbus A380 – took to the sky in France for its first public flight a few weeks ago.

The plane, which is taller than six double-decker buses and longer than a soccer field, was designed and built by experts from several European countries.

Inside, there's lots of room for people to relax. Some of the planes just like it could even have a gym with exercise equipment.

There's also room for more than 850 passengers. The next largest plane, a Boeing 747, has room for only 568.

Did we forget to mention that the wingspan of the Airbus A380 is as wide as 70 cars lined up side by side?

The giant plane, which cost more than $330 million to build, is expected to fly passengers and vacationers from London to Singapore later in the year.