Ever picked a fight with an egg? No, of course not. Only a fool would do such a thing because they’re a lot, lot stronger than they look those little fellas, as the following activity will demonstrate …

You will need:

• 5 or more similar sized raw eggs (or hardboiled ones if you’re a scaredy cat!)
• 1 large egg carton
• A strong board
• Lots of heavy books or a small child

What to do:

1. Locationwise, this might get messy, so it’s best to do this investigation outside or in the bathtub …
2. Take an egg and squeeze it tightly in your hand – you’ll be amazed at how much pressure it can take. Does the way you hold the egg affect how hard you can squeeze it? We’ll come back to this in our second activity …
3. Pop an egg into each corner of a large egg carton, then place a strong board on top of it.
4. Pile books on top of the board until the board breaks. (Or a small child – but you’ll need a few more eggs for that).
5. Try weighing your books/child after the eggs have broken. You’ll be surprised how much weight they can support.

What’s going on?

Eggs have what engineers call an ‘arch structure’ at each end. This is an excellent design for supporting weight, which is why it’s the main type of structure used in many bridges. When a bridge with a single arch supports a weight, the force is transferred down each side of the arch into the ground. An egg, with its two arches, transfers any force placed on it through to the entire shell. This makes it very hard to break an egg by squeezing it longwise. However, once the first crack develops, the protective structure is destroyed and any further force will crush the egg easily.

So, eggs are really strong, right?

Challenge whoever you like to crush an egg held in their hand (one hand only, mind). Unless they’re an alien being with superstrong or strange shaped hands, they won’t be able to do it.

But YOU can! Just make sure you’re wearing a ring that can dent into the egg, triggering that first little crack …

Make sure you don’t draw attention to your ring though – and, just to state the bleedin’ obvious - make sure your opponent ISN’T wearing a ring.

Go on, have a cracking time!

A few months ago, the Science Museum in London opened its brand new 'Energy' Gallery, and it's been a big hit - but now they'd like to talk to some teachers about what THEY think of it.

Naomi Haywood, their Visitor Researcher, has been in touch to say:

"For the evaluation of our newest interactive gallery for kids, the Energy gallery we are looking for KS3 teachers to take part in a discussion group.

"The discussion group will be held on Sunday April 3rd between 3pm and 5pm at the Science Museum. It does not matter if teachers have not visited the Energy gallery since they will be given the opportunity to do so during the discussion group. Participants will be paid £25, travel expenses and free Imax tickets."

If you fancy helping them out, and helping yourself to those lovely Imax tickets, contact Naomi on naomi.haywood@nmsi.ac.uk or give her a ring on 020 7942 4852.

But hurry hurry hurry - it's SOON.

Meanwhile, you can read a bit more about the gallery on the Museum's website at:
http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/exhibitions/energy/index.asp

Ask the average person to name a famous female physicist, and they'll probably answer "Marie Curie". Ask them to name a second one though, and you might find you've got time to get the bus, go home, have a cup of tea, have a go at cold fusion, and return, before they've thought of an answer. But there certainly IS another notable female scientist to be found in the history of the science of radioactivity, as Ian Francis reveals:

Brooks was born on New Year's Day 1876, and became one the pioneer workers in the new science of radioactivity, a science that had begun in 1896 with the discovery of radioactivity in uranium.

She studied at university in Montreal, and went on to become a research worker for Ernest Rutherford, the father of nuclear physics and a man who was ahead of his time in his support for women working in science. In 1903 she arrived in England, and became the first woman to study at the famous Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge. She spent 1906 and 1907 in Paris working with the legendary Marie Curie, before returning to her native Canada and working with Rutherford once more.

Brooks studied the 'emanations' from the radioactive element radium (whose discovery had been announced in 1898) and other radioactive elements. At the time it wasn't known what these emanations were. She concluded that the emanation was a gas, and reckoned that its atoms were a little smaller than those of its radium 'parent'. The gas eventually came to be called radon.

Later on, she showed that radon in turn could change (or transmute) into other elements. This changing of one element into another was alchemy made real, though without the end product of gold atoms so desired by traditional would-be alchemists.

It's now known that radioactive elements form decay chains where atoms of one element break down and form progressively lighter atoms - atoms of different elements. Rutherford and Brooks jointly published some of the landmark discoveries about radioactivity. In particular, Brooks' studies of the recoil of particles undergoing radioactive decay helped nuclear scientists to keep tabs on what was happening and what it was happening with.

Brooks went on to teach physics at a women's college but was obliged under the rules of the time to resign her post when she got married. Unsurprisingly, it wasn't a situation she was happy with, and despite high level negotiations and a postponement of the marriage her intended science career was cut short. Because she stepped down from science following her marriage, her contribution to science isn't as well known as it could be, but in a relatively short time she certainly made her mark on the fledgling science of radioactivity.

Sadly the health risks of the career were little understood at the time. She died at 56, probably due to leukaemia caused by her exposure to radiation.

And so to something completely and utterly different:

This week, just for fun, your homework is to try out the FLASH MINDREADER - and eventually, to figure out how it works ...

Here's the link:
http://www.mandrgames.com/flashmindreader.htm

Enjoy that spooky music!

Last week's giveaway was five full sets of the 13 books on the Aventis Prizes long-list in the junior section.

As a prerequisite, entrants had to name the winner of last year's award.

The answer was 'Really Rotten Experiments' by Nick Arnold and Tony De Saulles.

The draw has now taken place, and the lucky winners are:

• Mrs Hazell, of Badminton Junior School in Bristol
• Jonathan Hunt of Warwick
• Mrs J Griffin, of Sandroyd School in Salisbury
• Mary Smith of St Lawrence CEP School in West Sussex
• Graham Cooksey of Glebe Primary School in Ickenham

Many congratulations to all of you - your books will be sent out to you shortly.

There's something fishy about this week's jokes, and we sure have trawled the depths ...

Here we go:

Mark had had an awful day fishing, sitting in the blazing sun all day without catching a single thing. On his way home, he stopped at the fishmonger's and ordered four mackerel.

He said, 'Pick four large ones out and throw them at me, will you?'

'Why do you want me to throw them at you?' the fishmonger asked.

'Because I want to tell my wife that I caught them.'

'Aha, I see. But I suggest you take four sea bass instead.'

'Why d'you say that?' Mark queried.

'Because your wife came in earlier today and said that if you came by, I should tell you to get sea bass. She'd prefer that for dinnerr tonight.'

... and three quick ones:

Q. What did the mummy sardine say to her children when they saw a submarine?
A. Don't worry, it's only a tin of people.

Q. If fish lived on land, which country would they live in?
A. Finland.

Q. What did one rock pool say to the other rock pool?
A. Show me your mussels.

That's all for now...

but like the man who fell into the upholstery machine, we hope you'll be fully recovered before too long. Please get in touch if you have any items for inclusion in a future edition of the newsletter, or any thoughts on what you've read today. Send your email to Anne McNaught on: anne.mcnaught@nesta.org.uk.

Have a great week!

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