a malaysian abroad

I just found out that today is Mole Day!  *giggle!*  It is marked between 6:02 am and 6:02 pm on October 23rd by a specific group of mainly North Americans.  Who are they, and what do you think this day celebrates? (don’t Google it, just play along, k? I’ve given some hints already!)

… Mole as in the blind burrowing animal?

… or as in the Golden or Marsupial not-really-moles?

Or perhaps it’s celebrating the SI unit used in chemistry for the amount of a substance?

Perhaps it’s a celebration for all who have raised areas of skin usually with a darker pigmentation?

Or do architects have a day to celebrate a pier, jetty, breakwater, or junction between places separated by water?

Perhaps various governments celebrate the success of their spies in infiltrating enemy governments or organizations?

Or could it be a celebration of the variety of Mexican sauces, where the well-known guacamole is just one of many types of moles?

What do you think? (Answer after the break!)

… and the winner is the SI unit used in chemistry for the amount of a substance!!

A mole has 6.0221415×10²³ atoms or molecules of the pure substance being measured.  6.0221415×10²³ can be reduced to 6.02×10²³.  6:02am? October the 10th month? The 23rd day? Yeah, it’s Avogadro’s number!!

And there you have it - the long-forgotten Chemist in me is chuckling in glee.  She just doesn’t remember any talk of this when she was studying Chemistry back in the early 90’s — maybe Mole Day has grown in prominence thanks to the internet?  According to wikipedia, Mole Day originated in an article in The Science Teacher in the early 1980s. Inspired by this article, a retired high school chemistry teacher from Wisconsin founded the National Mole Day Foundation (NMDF) on May 15, 1991.

To my delight, it also seems that some places celebrate Mole Day on June 2nd or February 6th (both written as 6/02, depending if you’re using MMDD or DDMM format), probably from 10:23am to 10:23pm.

Pity Pi Day doesn’t have as much flexibility!

… but HOW is this day celebrated? By cracking some lame mole jokes, by taking a moment of silence at 6.02 am and pm to ponder upon Avogadro’s contribution to science, and by eating a variety of molefood: watermolens, for example!

You might be interested in reading these related posts: How about an unambiguous date? and July 11th is 7-Eleven Day!

A huge tip of the hat to wikipedia for its Mole (disambiguation) page, as well as for being the source for the following images: Close-up of mole; Taupe doree, Kret workowaty, Mole (body part), Alameda Mole, Commercial Mole.

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