The Miller Report 12042025

 Miller's Mysteries Blog

 Greetings and Welcome! 
Greetings, fellow sleuths and seasonal wanderers, and welcome to Miller’s Mysteries Blog! 🌞 The sun’s shining, the wind is just cold enough to make hats mandatory, and the neighbor’s goats have become regular window critics. 🐐 
 Nyx

The cats are on watch duty, ensuring no suspicious leaves enter the house unnoticed. 🐱 My plan? Calendar House Shows, a side quest at AMC for buttery popcorn, and plotting out the most efficient route for Christmas shopping and decorating. 🎄🎬 So grab a mug of coffee, lace up your boots, and let’s get out and about in Southington before the cats start their coup!

  • Across my Desk!!

December full moon: Cold Moon on December 4, 2025, at 6:16 p.m. 

porch pirates
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/XqvCLbNhUvU

The Bible gives an accurate universe age of around 6,000 years.

I switched all the labels on my wife's spice rack.
I'm not in trouble yet, but the thyme is cumin.


  • The Reader

Jack reads Mindmyst Tales in the front seat of his Mustang during his lunch break, parked under a maple tree shedding bright red leaves. He unwraps a turkey sandwich and takes a bite while balancing a small notepad on his knee. His pencil marks are sharp and tidy, detective-style. The engine ticks as it cools, filling the silence of the moment. He scrolls through the blog, smirking at a line that hits a little too close to home. The air smells of autumn and cooling engine metal. This is the kind of evidence gathering he actually enjoys.  
  
 • Math of the Week

1. Snowy Shopping Sprint (Systems of Equations)
On a cold December afternoon, Bob and Michele race through the glowing downtown streets, garlands twinkling above the sidewalks and fresh snow crunching under their boots. Bob buys 3 scarves and 2 mugs for a total of $58, while Michele buys 2 scarves and 5 mugs for a total of $92. If scarves and mugs cost the same for both of them, how much does each item cost?

2. The Twinkle-Light Delivery (Linear Functions)
As snowflakes drift past the lit shop windows, Bob pulls a sled stacked with wrapped gifts down Main Street, while Michele times their route with her phone. Their walking speed is 4 feet per second, and the shop is 1,200 feet away. Write a linear function to model their distance from the shop over time and determine how long it takes them to arrive.

3. The Cocoa Budget (Percent & Exponential Growth)
Inside a cozy café glowing with candlelight and smelling of peppermint and cinnamon, Bob notices that holiday prices have risen. A box of gift chocolates cost $24 last year but increased by 12% this year. What is the new price, and how much more will Bob pay if he buys 4 boxes for gifts?

4. Wrapping Paper Geometry (Surface Area)
In their warmly lit living room, with a Christmas tree sparkling beside them and snow piling up outside the window, Michele wraps a rectangular gift box measuring 12 inches by 8 inches by 6 inches. How much wrapping paper is needed to completely cover the box if she wants 10% extra for overlap and mistakes?

5. The Midnight Gift Run (Quadratic Motion)
Late in the evening, with streetlamps glowing through falling snow, Bob tosses a small gift up onto Michele’s second-floor porch, which is 14 feet above the ground. The height of the gift in feet is modeled by

h(t)=−16t^2+24t+5
h(t)=−16t^2+24t+5,
where 

t is time in seconds. What is the maximum height the gift reaches, and does it make it onto the porch?

 


 • Now, This Week's Exciting Story

Over the weekend extraordinary discoveries in science 🚀🔬💫 

In the last couple of days, exciting science news includes the discovery of a new, small moon of Uranus and a finding that microbes begin shaping the brain before birth. Other recent developments include a Chinese AI that learned basic physics and a new way to create human egg cells from skin cells. 

Astronomy New moon of Uranus: Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have discovered a new moon of Uranus, named S/2025 U 1, which is about six miles (10 kilometers) in diameter. 

Since the JWST is the only telescope that can see this thing orbiting Uranus, I don't believe it's true.  There's no way they can prove it.


Biology and Medicine Early brain development: Scientists at Michigan State University have found that microbes start to shape the brain even before a baby is born. Human egg cells from skin: Researchers have successfully created human egg cells from skin cells. 

Oh great, because what the world really needed was another way for humanity to play cosmic LEGO with itself. Nothing says “we fully understand biology” like casually turning skin into eggs as if it were a weekend craft project. I’m sure nothing at all could go wrong with that level of scientific confidence. Just because you can do something in a lab doesn’t mean it’s not straight out of a sci-fi cautionary tale. Wake me up when the ethical fine print is bigger than the headline.


Advanced flu vaccines: mRNA flu vaccines are progressing through clinical trials. Needle-free insulin: A new needle-free insulin has shown promising results in animal tests, acting as quickly as traditional injections. 

Artificial Intelligence and Physics AI learns physics: A Chinese AI model has taught itself basic physics and can derive scientific laws from raw data using a tool called AI-Newton. 

Other Moss spores in space: Moss spores were found to have survived in space for nine months. 🌠🌌🌟

Oh sure—because nothing screams “alien invasion confirmed” like a stubborn little moss spore that refuses to die. Next, you’ll tell me it paid rent and filed a tax return while it was orbiting Earth. Apparently, “survived in space” now means “sat there doing absolutely nothing in a vacuum.” By that logic, my leftovers in the freezer are heroic space explorers too. Call me unimpressed until the moss starts voting or building a spaceship.





===========SHADOW
After discovering a dusty book in her attic, Amelia becomes obsessed with the tales of Connecticut’s forgotten abductions chronicled within its pages. Each entry describes horrifying encounters with pale beings, their eyes glowing like dying stars. Soon, Amelia finds herself plagued by vivid nightmares, reliving the moments leading up to her own abduction. As her screams awaken her in the dead of night, the book’s pages begin to turn on their own, revealing her fate anew.
    
SHADOW by Joseph Miller
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B4Z36PS3
Act fast and grab your copy today to dive into firsthand accounts that reveal the truth!


============SPACE TALES 2
The Martian delegation arrived to demand peace, but got distracted by cable TV reruns of Gilligan’s Island. 🛸📺

Space Tales 2 by Joseph Miller
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FKHGKSL3
Buy a copy now. Begin your next great reading adventure.


============Special Dark 
Jack had been shot at, chased, and double-crossed — but none of that scared him like Emily in a red dress. 🔥🔫

SPECIAL DARK by Joseph Miller
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FX9LTS74
Grab a copy now. Begin your next great reading adventure.


Visit and enjoy my Author Page 🍂📜 ♣️❤️♠️♦️
https://warlockpublishing.com/author-joseph-miller.html
📚📖📘📙📗📕📔📒📓📔📒📓📚 ✨🌙💥👣️👽️🛸🚀☁️ 🕵️‍♀️💕  All my books are listed except SPECIAL DARK.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FX9LTS74




============ sponsor

KelDel Creations
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090364412851

If you’re wandering the craft fair looking for something truly handmade with heart, you’ll want to stop by Kelly’s booth. She has a gift for turning simple materials into pieces that feel personal and welcoming. Every item she makes comes with a story, and she loves sharing it with visitors. Whether you’re shopping for yourself or someone special, you’ll find something that speaks to you. Her table is full of color, texture, and warmth—just like the season. Come explore, ask questions, and enjoy a moment of creativity. Kelly will be delighted to see you.

Dec 6 -- Oakville, Union Congregational Church
Dec 7 -- Kinsmen Brewery
Go support our local makers and community! Put this on your calendar!  We look forward to seeing you again!!  


============

 • Thank you for stopping by! 
Tonight’s road winds away beneath a cold moon, and the fire pit’s last sparks dance like fireflies. Thanks for visiting, for sharing stories and warmth. I’ll keep the kettle on and the soup bubbling for your next stop by.



 • Please do write a comment.  You could, if you dare, ask me a question. If I like it, I'll publish it right here in Miller's Mysteries Blog!
[send to mindmyst@yahoo.com]

Until next Thursday,    
Happy December!!! 

Joe Miller 🍻🎃️🦃🌲️ 

 • Quick question
 If you discovered your fridge could time-travel, would you use it to visit the past or the future, and what food item would you stash away for safekeeping? I’d probably grab a pizza from the Renaissance era and act like a gastronomic historian, analyzing ancient toppings! Who wouldn’t want to headline “History Pizza Night?"
 
 
 • weather forecast
 
 This weekend, a warm front meets a cold front, falls in love, and promptly elopes over the Atlantic.
Locally, we’ll see drizzle and mild heartbreak until Wednesday.
Umbrellas recommended — tissues optional.
 
 
 • Questions from readers:
 
 Joe, what’s your favorite Autumn writing snack?
👉 Anything that doesn’t drip mustard on my keyboard — which rules out 98% of cookout food.


   Joe