How to make ice cream with just ripe bananas.  Link to an easy-to-read recipe Magic 1-Ingredient Ice Cream 5 Ways — Peanut Butter, Nutella, and More at http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-creamy-ice-cream-with-just-one-ingredient-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-93414

The announcement in 2015 of a new, original Dr. Seuss book sent a wave of nostalgic giddiness across Twitter, and months before publication, the number of pre-orders for "What Pet Should I Get?" continues to climb.  To keep up with demand, the book's first printing was increased from 500,000 to 1 million copies, Barbara Marcus, president and publisher of Random House Children's Books, said in a news release April 20, 2015.  When "What Pet Should I Get?" debuts July 28, it will be the first new, original Dr. Seuss book since "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" in 1990.  It features the spirited siblings from the beloved classic "One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish" and is believed to have been written between 1958 and 1962.  http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/20/living/dr-seuss-new-book-first-picture-feat/

A question is just a question, right?  Not according to one idea dating from ancient times, according to which there were two sorts of questions—those intended to obtain information, and those designed to elicit confirmation or denial.  A nineteenth century writer explained it like this:  Between a percontation and interrogation, the ancients made this distinction—that the former admitted a variety of answers, while the latter must be replied to by “yes” or “no”.  The Dark Ages, by Rev Samuel Maitland, 1844.  Though the term percontation might be useful to linguists and psychologists today, it was never popular and shortly after Maitland’s time vanished from the active language.  Its source is the Latin noun percontatio, the action of questioning.  Curiously, its root is contus, a long pole, either a boat-pole or a spear, lance or pike, prefixed with per-, meaning “through” in this case.  It appears that percontatio was so vigorous or uncivil that it was like being pierced with a pole.  In the late sixteenth century, the printer Henry Denham (some say his client, the translator Anthonie Gilbie) invented a punctuation mark to differentiate the open-ended question from the yes-no sort, called the punctus percontativus or percontation mark.  In shape it was a reversed question mark.  (Henry Denham was a pioneer in typography--he also advocated the semi-colon, an Italian invention.)  http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-per3.htm  See also 13 Little-Known Punctuation Marks We Should Be Using by Adrienne Crezo at http://mentalfloss.com/article/12710/13-little-known-punctuation-marks-we-should-be-using

The primary source of energy for nearly all life is the Sun.  The energy in sunlight is introduced into the biosphere by a process known as photosynthesis, which occurs in plants, algae and some types of bacteria.  Photosynthesis can be defined as the physico-chemical process by which photosynthetic organisms use light energy to drive the synthesis of organic compounds.  The photosynthetic process depends on a set of complex protein molecules that are located in and around a highly organized membrane.  Through a series of energy transducing reactions, the photosynthetic machinery transforms light energy into a stable form that can last for hundreds of millions of years.  http://www.life.illinois.edu/govindjee/paper/gov.html  

See also http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1988/

The biosphere is the space on or near Earth's surface that contains and supports living organisms.  It is subdivided into the lithosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere.  The lithosphere is Earth's surrounding layer, composed of solids such as soil and rock; it is about 80 to 100 kilometers (50 to 60 miles) thick.  The atmosphere is the surrounding thin layer of gas.  The hydrosphere refers to liquid environments such as lakes and oceans that lie between the lithosphere and atmosphere.  The biosphere's creation and continuous existence results from chemical, biological, and physical processes.  http://www.scienceclarified.com/Bi-Ca/Biosphere.html

detergent  noun   A water-soluble cleansing agent that combines with impurities and dirt to make them more soluble and differs from soap in not forming a scum with the salts in hard water.  Early 17th century (as an adjective): from Latin detergent- 'wiping away', from the verb detergere, from de- 'away from' + tergere 'to wipe'.  http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/detergent

Power struggle between laptop campers and store owners   Owner Mark Furstenberg just might ask you to move along.  The James Beard Award-nominated baker sees his Van Ness cafe as a neighborhood gathering place—not a second office for ever more prevalent teleworkers.  So during peak hours, when he spots laptop lurkers nursing now-cold cups of coffee and occupying precious table space, he asks them to leave.  Politely, of course.  Read interesting article by Maura Judkis at http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/you-ordered-that-latte-two-hours-ago-think-about-leaving-the-coffee-shop/2015/07/08/caa597bc-19ef-11e5-bd7f-4611a60dd8e5_story.html

The US50.com  Information about the fifty states that make up the United States of America   Click on a state to visit or select from the pulldown menu.  New state Study Guides and State license plates have been added to the Fast Facts pages.  http://www.theus50.com/

In the dense undergrowth of the tropical forests of Southeast Asia lives the world’s smallest hoofed mammal, the lesser Malay chevrotain (Tragulus kanchil).  Weighing around 2 kg (4.4 pounds) and measuring about 50 cm (1.6 feet) in length, the little arched-back creature teeters along on delicate, stilt-like legs, dwarfed by the oversized jungle vegetation.  The lesser Malay is one of 10 living species of chevrotains, which are also known as mouse deer, because of their small size and deer-like appearance.  And similar to deer, chevrotains have two-toed hooves and specialized stomachs that allow them to regurgitate and chew on partially digested plant matter to help break down undigestible cellulose--characteristics that classify them as ruminants.  Chevrotains, however, are the most primitive ruminants alive today, as evidenced by their lack of horns or antlers, their long upper canine teeth, and their three-chambered stomachs (as opposed to the typical four-chambered anatomy of other ruminants).  Kara Rogers  See picture at http://www.sciencefriday.com/blogs/02/21/2012/chevrotains-and-the-world-of-unusual-tiny-ungulates.html?series=2

July 11, 2015  In 2011, Southern New England Telephone suspended 183 employees who refused to remove T-shirts that said “Inmate” on the front and “Prisoner of AT$T” on the back.  The National Labor Relations Board sided with the phone workers, but the company appealed the NLRB’s decision in federal court.  AT&T defended its one-day mass suspension because the T-shirts “could cause customers to believe that AT&T employees were actually convicts."  This week, the federal court upheld AT&T's T-shirt ban, ruling that, even if people don’t think the phone company employees are fugitives from a chain gang, the message on their shirts “may harm AT&T’s relationship with its customers or its public image.”  Dennis Baron  https://illinois.edu/blog/view/25

The Toledo Museum of Art 2015  From the Collection:  Three Hundred Years of French Landscape Painting  July 17-Oct, 11, Gallery 18

GET AWAY @ YOUR PUBLIC LIBRARY

"Manhattanhenge" will be making its final 2015 appearance at sunset on July 13.  It occurs when the sun lines up with cross streets before setting.  The term "Manhattanhenge" was popularized by Hayden Planetarium Director Neil deGrasse Tyson.  The occurrence reminded him of Stonehenge, where the sun aligns with ancient stones.  See picture taken on July 11, 2014 at http://www.newsday.com/news/new-york/manhattanhenge-has-final-2015-appearance-at-sunset-1.10635036

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1323  July 13, 2015  On this date in 1787, the Continental Congress enacted the Northwest Ordinance establishing governing rules for the Northwest Territory.  It also established procedures for the admission of new states and limited the expansion of slavery.  On this date in 1923, the Hollywood Sign was officially dedicated in the hills above Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.  It originally read "Hollywoodland " but the four last letters were dropped after renovation in 1949.