Just two weeks after President Woodrow Wilson signed the congressional document creating Lassen Volcanic National Park (August 6, 1916), he set up the National Park Service on August 25.

Previously, the 14 other national parks were not uniformly serviced under the Department of Agriculture; now, the NPS, a bureau of the Department of the Interior, would create enforced standards to conserve and protect treasured areas for future generations.

Since its inception in 1872 with Yellowstone National Park, the system has grown to over 450 natural, recreational, cultural and historical areas, including parks, battlefields, memorials, monuments, military parks, seashores, scenic rivers and trails, parkways and the White House.

Every state has a park. Find yours and celebrate this special birthday on August 25. From concerts and special tours, to scavenger hunts and birthday cake, parks will party in different ways. The NPS has worked to ensure attendees know the Centennial is “more than a birthday.”

“We want people É to embrace the opportunities to explore, learn, be inspired or simply have fun in their 407 national parks, as well as understand how the É Service’s community-based recreation, conservation, and historic preservation programs positively impact their own communities.”
An engaged citizenry now will set the course for the next century.

* The U.S. Mint is commemorating the Centennial by issuing three limited-edition coins, a five-dollar gold coin, a silver dollar, and a half-dollar clad coin with various iconic images and the NPS’s logo, the Arrowhead.

* The U.S. Postal Service is issuing 16 new Forever stamps featuring national parks.

Suppose there were five people who live within two blocks of you who were all going to work at the same time and roughly the same place.

It would be so easy to share a ride. But so hard to get that group together.

Enter ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft. The companies are developing algorithms to locate neighbors headed to the roughly the same place at the same time.

The strategy has already reduced some congestion in larger cities.

A recent report by the American Public Transportation Association suggests that ride-sharing trips are replacing personal vehicles and public transportation.

Look for discounts on smaller cars this summer. Industry analysts say lower gas prices have shifted buyers to SUVs and trucks. This has created a glut of compact cars. Manufacturers have offered big cash back incentives, according to Bottom Line Personal.

Census data show 18-to-34-year-olds would rather live with parents than start their own households.

Census data won’t tell us why. Are they less romantic? Can’t find a job or hold one? Have they just decided not to live on their own until they reach 35? Or do they just want help to pay off student loans. A study by Pew Research Center is delving into the situation.

It was in 2014 when living with parents (32.1 percent) passed living with a romantic partner (31.6 percent) as the top arrangement among young adults.

The rest lived alone, with roommates or as single parents. It was the first time since 1880 that so many decided to live with their parents. The researchers said there was a dramatic drop in the share of young Americans choosing to settle down romantically before age 35 or with a spouse or partner. For whatever reason forming a new family is not nearly as important as it used to be for young adults, according to Richard Fry, senior researcher at the think tank.

He found that half those 18 to 34 were living with their parents while 25 percent of those 25 to 29 were. But both groups were much more likely to live at home in 2014 than in 1960.

Apparently, the young adults and their parents get along pretty well and often share the young person’s goals.

This month marks the 47th anniversary of Apollo 11’s historic flight into outer space. It’s mission? For astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to become the first humans to ever set foot on the moon. Pilot Michael Collins remained in the Command Module. They achieved this feat on July 20, 1969.

In May of 1962, President John F Kennedy expressed concern that our country was falling behind the Soviet Union in both technology and prestige. Putting a man on the moon before the end of the decade would change that. He was right. When the command module Columbia returned safely to earth, on July 24, 1969, the president’s objective was accomplished.

The Lunar Module, nicknamed the “Eagle,” touched down on the moon’s surface at Tranquility Base. Armstrong reported “The Eagle has landed.” After taking his first step, he said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” The Apollo camera broadcast this event to the world.

It created an ecstatic reaction. More than half the world’s population was aware of the mission’s success. The Soviet Union tried to jam Voice of America radio broadcasts, but word spread through newspapers and TV.

The crew spent 2.5 hours conducting experiments and collecting lunar surface material, then unveiled a plaque affixed to a leg of the descent ladder and read aloud, “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon, July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.” It was signed by Armstrong, Collins, Aldrin, and President Richard Nixon.

The astronauts also planted an American flag on the moon and received a call from President Nixon, who called it the “most historic telephone call ever made.”

The National Air and Space Museum holds approximately 3,500 space artifacts from the historic Apollo moon-landing effort, with 400 objects related specifically to the Apollo 11 mission.

Excitement has risen again for space fans. Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founder of Amazon and a self-described space enthusiast, has used his personal finances to search that Atlantic Ocean for the five engines that thrust the Apollo 11 astronauts into space.

Bezos’ salvage team found five of the Eagle’s engines 14,000 feet below the surface of the sea on March 28, 2012. He hopes to retrieve at least one of them so it can join other artifacts in the museum.

It is the computer age. We can make a phone call, play a game, save a report, and send data to Japan with about four words to our smartphone assistant.

Why are we still folding laundry?

Answer: There is just no app for that. But there could soon be a machine and, failing that, there are new strategies.

All the newest clothes dryers helpfully steam, de-wrinkle and freshen but somehow when they come out of the machine, they are not folded. According to the Wall Street Journal, most of the major appliance makers have not solved this problem. Same with unloading dishes into cabinets; it doesn’t happen.

During a lifetime, people spend 18,000 hours (375 days) doing laundry and half that time is manually handling each piece and folding.

A Tokyo-based company is developing the Laundroid to address an annoying gap in the market. The size of a refrigerator, the Laundroid takes several hours to fold a load of laundry. Drop shirts, pants, and towels into the machine and overnight they are folded.

Another strategy being developed in California, FoldiMate is a folding machine about the size of a washer. Users clip a dozen items to the outside of the machine. Folding takes 10 seconds per garment. Dewrinkling takes 30 seconds per garment.

Neither the Laundroid nor FoldiMate is on the market yet, but plans are to start production in about a year.

One mosquito bite and it seems we are exposed to an increasing host of bad stuff from malaria, West Nile and now the Zika virus. If that is not enough, Fido can end up with heart worms.

Is there any protection?

Yes. There is an effective repellent that has worked for 50 years on hundreds of millions of people with few, if any, side effects: DEET.

Some still don’t trust it.

Popular Science calls DEET the most effective mosquito repellent ever invented. But, like many chemical agents, DEET has come under suspicion in recent years, even though it has a long track record of safe use.

Developed by the US Agriculture Department in 1946, it was designed to protect soldiers. It has been available to the public since 1950. Hundreds of millions of people have used it safely since 1950. Today, it is applied 200 million times a year worldwide. Since its invention, it has literally been used billions of time, according to the Los Angeles Times.

So why the worries? The EPA says concerns are overblown, and DEET poses no health concern, especially when weighed against the dangers of mosquito-borne illness.

As a practical precaution, DEET should be used when necessary and not excessively. It should be washed off the skin after use. It should be not sprayed under clothes, but is fine on top of clothing.
DEET has been implicated in a handful of deaths during a 20-year study period, but never named as the cause. In all cases, the chemical was either deliberately ingested, or a heavy application was repeatedly applied to children.

In 1995, researchers reporting in the Journal of American Mosquito Control found 14 cases of individuals who had used DEET and suffered encephalopathy, a brain disease. All but one were under eight years old. Three died. The others recovered. The researchers wrote that the exact role of DEET was difficult to determine. It could have been other factors, or it might have been DEET.

A 2001 study in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene concluded that DEET has no adverse effects on the growth and development of children in the womb or a year after birth. The authors concluded it was safe to use during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy.

In the European Union, the repellent is approved for only 15 percent strength. In the US, DEET is sold in concentrations of up to 30 percent. The EPA approves DEET for use on human skin at 100 percent concentration.

Life hands every single person a sense of loneliness at some point, but other people can do a lot to help out.

In the United States, a 2014 survey by the National Science Foundation revealed that 1 in 4 of 1,500 people interviewed have no one with whom to talk about personal troubles or triumphs or to share confidences.

People become lonely or blue for many reasons. Some are introverts and find social engagement difficult or feel they don’t fit in. Some are depressed after the death of a loved one, a divorce, loss of a parent or job or when children leave the nest. Some suffer from a disease or physical limitation that doesn’t allow leaving home; others may be abused by a spouse and fear outside relationships.

Remember when people are lonely, they often long to share the things they love: That perfect rose bush, a fabulous soup, or a favorite book. So helping to relieve someone’s loneliness is often just being willing to share in their experiences.

What can we do to add cheer to the world or even just a stranger who needs a lift?

* Tell people when you value their work.
* Ask someone new to lunch.
* Visit a recently widowed neighbor.
* Take your talent on the road by dancing or singing at a senior facility, for example.
* Smile at store clerks, your restaurant waiter, and a seemingly unfriendly neighbor.
* Pocket your phone and never use it in public except for emergencies.
* Call someone, or visit. Go to dinner. Take time to admire the important things.
* Spend time talking and laughing or playing a board or card game.
* Ask what they need (a ride to the dentist or church, a grocery trip, or repair of a dripping faucet).
* Make this one day of cheering up one person an important part of your life. If you want something, give it sincerely to someone else.