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1. Crescent Moon Watch
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Are you taking part in Einstein Year's Crescent Moon Watch? You'll need to be looking up between 2nd December and 4th December. Look for the new crescent moon immediately after sunset in the western sky on the first three days after the new moon appears. After you've made your observation, go to www.crescentmoonwatch.org, to submit the details of what you've seen - it's supposed to be a good one this month!
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2. Winter Toasty Quiz
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Another new month and the next Planet Science Quiz is up and ready for your best head scratching guesses or knowledgeable decisive clickings, all on the subject of keeping warm. If you're hot on the answers and get ten out of ten, you stand to win a polar bear stylee hot water bottle, not bad for the work of three minutes... http://www.planet-science.com/quiz/
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3. Edge Into Space
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 If you have pupils who are into space exploration but need more of a push to get them into the science behind it, then this competition will really inspire them! Edge Into Space is a chance to win the experience of a lifetime; a fully-funded visit to the USA to explore NASA's Johnson Space Centre in Houston (home to Mission Control and astronaut training) and Kennedy Space Centre in Florida (the world's biggest space port, and launch site for all NASA's human space flights). Students will work with astronauts and space and rocket scientists, participate in mission simulations and explore the actual hardware at the forefront of today's space exploration. And every entrant will receive a certificate from an astronaut.
Sounds good? What do they have to do? Teams of two, three or four students should come up with ideas for inventions that can be made in space. They need to describe a possible real object or process that could be developed to either improve space travel, improve life in space, or improve life on Earth.
Three or four teams from each region will be selected for a National Final on 29th April 2006.
Finalists will set out their ideas in a presentation stand and describe them by making a presentation to a selection panel. A winning team will be chosen from each of the nine English regions.
The competition is open to all schools in England for students in years 9 to 12, and 16 and 17 year old students in their first year in college. It closes 3rd March 2006 and students can find out more at www.edgeintospace.com
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4. Nikola Tesla – Forgotten Genius of Electricity
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 Ian Fell, Former Assistant Director of the National Museums & Galleries of Wales and Chair of Moving Being Productions Ltd, is back to let us know how NESTA’s Tesla Project enthralled its audiences!
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 Snow Zaps Show But Tesla Glows!
Two schools’ performances of Alternating Currents were frozen off as Friday’s snow gripped South Wales last week. However, Moving Being’s promenade production about Nikola Tesla, ‘the Electric Shakespeare’, did successfully engage six schools’ audiences and three public ones, during a week of dramatic enlightenment at the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea.
It’s fair to say too that both educational and popular audiences were greatly enthused by the drama, which paraded them around the museum, interacting with the collections, whilst narrating the multi-media tale of the Serbian pioneer of AC electricity.
Technical Innovation
No actors were upstaged by the anxiously anticipated performance of the giant Tesla Coil – its electrical outpourings were reserved for a grand finale in the museum’s main hall. Certainly it proved most dramatic during the final show, when HVFX stuntman Sebastian Vittorini sat on an electrified pedestal and fired lightning bolts from his finger ends. Don’t try this at home, children!
It was a tribute to Tesla’s genius that several of the audience were able to record this dramatic climax on their mobile phones and send it to friends – for Tesla also pioneered the development of wireless communication.
The Educational Outcomes
Alternating Currents has not just been about dramatic diversion. It has engaged significant audiences with many scientific strands; technical, social and historical. Supporting workshops with the museum educationists were able to use drama techniques to explore the overarching theme of Energy.
And, as evaluation begins of the strengths (and weaknesses) of the project, future audiences - having viewed the documentary filming of the show and its protagonists - should be able to estimate the potential value of theatre in museums in the service of science interpretation.
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5. Activity: It's a Cracker!
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 Here is a little challenge you can set your colleagues at a party - it is guaranteed to make people laugh - although be warned, laughing while doing this can be a choking hazard!
You will need:
- A packet of crackers - dry and fairly big!
- A jug of water
- Some volunteers
- A watch with a second hand
What to do:
- Challenge your volunteers to eat three crackers in under a minute, with no water, butter or other lubricant.
- Give them a drink of water when the minute is up!
- If you volunteers go separately they can try different techniques like shoving the crackers all in at once or breaking them into small pieces first.
What’s going on?
It is almost impossible to eat three crackers in under a minute because our bodies do not manufacture enough saliva to get the crackers to go down. Saliva is a very clever substance; not only does it provide enzymes to start breaking down food in your mouth it is absolutely essential for lubricating the mouth and throat to assist with swallowing. It also helps us taste, and keeps down infections in the mouth.
Our bodies manufacture between 1 and 2 litres of saliva each day, most of which ends up in our stomachs and is digested again. Unfortunately the crackers are very dry, great for storage, but not so great if you are trying to eat loads at once.
If you want to delve a little deeper you can get one of your volunteers to keep a cracker in their mouth for a while, while the enzyme amylase in their saliva gets to work and turns the starch in their cracker to sugar. It should start to taste sweet.
Warning - don't try this alone and do have a drink of water ready as it can cause choking if you aren't careful!
If you can think of other party tricks or activities with a science slant please send them in to planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk and we'll put in as many as possible next week before the party season is over!
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6. Getting to Know… Alom Shaha
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NESTA awardee Alom Shaha took a sabbatical from physics teaching to become science filmmaker extraordinaire. During a break in filming, Ian Francis got to fire off these questions and feels duty bound to warn schools up and down the country that Alom (cue dodgy accent) 'will be back'.
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 What’s your job title, and what does it mean in plain English?
Development Producer - coming up with ideas for TV programmes and pitching them to TV broadcasters. After coming up with the ideas, I have to research them, write them up, find a suitable presenter if necessary and sometimes make short “taster” versions of the programme.
How close is your work to the ‘1% inspiration / 99% perspiration’ model?
I’d say that it’s probably 50% inspiration / 50% perspiration’
We’re testing the ‘mad scientist’ stereotype. Think of your maddest teacher at school, what subject did he/ she teach?
Latin
What was your most memorable science lesson at school or Uni, and why?
I remember very clearly the day when my Physics teacher explained to me that what we were learning about electricity was just a model and that familiarity with the model would help me “understand” it better. What he told me somehow made me feel less stupid for not “seeing” how electricity worked. This idea that science is not necessarily something that presents 'truths' about the world but instead provides a reliable model of how things work, was something that no other science teacher had explained. I think it was a key moment in my education, without which I may not have gone on to do any more science.
If you ruled the world, what would you do to make school students want to become scientists of the future?
I’d get all the most amazing, creative people I’ve met in my career to commit to teaching at least 2 years of science in a school. I’ve met lots of people who make science interesting, exciting and easy to understand. If we could get people like them to apply their creativity, skills and talents to science teaching, I bet we could improve the state of science education in this country.
What can we blag from you to offer as freebies to our readers?
I have a lovely glass thing filled with a green liquid that appears to boil when you hold it in your hand.
What’s the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to you ‘in the field?’
I once had a scaffolding pole catapulted between my legs as I tried to use a giant home-made pogo stick to leap over Adam Hart-Davies’ Science Shack.
What’s your favourite piece of pseudo science?
I don’t have a favourite piece of pseudo science because that would imply I liked pseudo science. I hate it all with a vengeance.
You’re on a hot date. How soon before you tell them you’re a scientist?
As soon as possible. Most women think that a Physics degree is dead sexy. Don’t they?
Besides the excellent PS site (of course) what science-y website would you suggest our readers visit?
www.inkycircus.com
Last week the interviewee was Professor Paul 'Grow Your Own Teeth Back' Sharpe, who set this question for you "What is the most ridiculous reviewers comment you received on a manuscript or grant application?'
Every time a commissioning editor rejects one of my brilliant ideas is ridiculous…
Please suggest a question you’d like us to put to our next interviewee.
If you made a science TV programme, what would it be about?
And finally for classification purposes…
| First record/CD ever bought? |
Michael Jackson with the Jackson 5 “I Want You Back ’88 Remix” |
| Fave footie team? |
Rocking Estate Play Association |
| Einstein or Newton? |
Einstein |
| Monarchy or Republic? |
Benevolent Dictatorship |
| Simpsons or Little Britain? |
Simpsons |
| Real Christmas tree or artificial one? |
Artificial (but I am always out-voted) |
| Christmas turkey or nut roast? |
Turkey |
| New Year resolutions: Keeping or breaking? |
Not making one the first place |
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7. Mouses at the Ready for: Flipside
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Without mentioning shopping days left until Christmas, we thought we might point you in the direction of Flipside for those teenagers who are so tricky to buy for! If you haven't heard of Flipside - where have you been? It's a fab magazine targeted at teens and we’ve had the pleasure of giving them out at conferences and whatnot to teens, only to watch their eyes get instantly glued to the pages, so it really does what it says on the tin. It's produced by the IEE and contains glossy, picture lead articles on music, films, sports, gadgets and loads more, all with a subtle science edge.
We have ten copies to give away if you'd like a taster, or you've read it before and want more! Open it up for Wallace and Gromit - a behind the scenes look at their horror film, microscopic sea life, F1 crashes and mythical monsters.
To get into the draw please send us an email to planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk with the subject "Cracking Good Fun". Please include your name and address and we'll pick the winner at random at 5pm on Thursday 8th December.
If you'd like to get a subscription for a teenage family member (£27 for 12 issues, and Flipside’s growing to 80ish pages per issue in 2006, so good value) you’ll find all the details on their website. http://www.flipside.org.uk/
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8. Mouses at the Ready for: A Mystery Prize
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 We have a mystery prize to give away to one imaginative reader! By reading Ian Francis's interview with Alom Shaha you'll see he has kindly offered us a special giveaway. All you have to do to win is answer a simple question in less than 15 words.
The question is…
Why is science special?
Alom Shaha will pick the best answer from a short list, and you could be waiting for something in the post!
Put "Why is Science Special?" in the subject and send your answer with your name and address to planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk before 5pm on Thursday 8th December.
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9. Countdown to Christmas
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 …and counting… Freelance science TV producer Jonathan Sanderson is back with a behind the scenes look at the 2005 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures.
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4 weeks to go
The Royal Institution Christmas Lectures started 180 years ago. One consequence of this - aside from the pressure of having Michael Faraday looking over one's shoulder - is that it seems everybody grew up watching past series. And most people seem to have a soft spot for them.
As a result, lots of the phone calls we're making, trying to borrow obscure pieces of equipment or rare artefacts, turn into an opportunity for people to reminisce about their favourite lectures from decades gone by. Our tentative enquiry then often turns into an entirely humbling display of generosity on the part of the supplier.
Take, for example, the terribly advanced new sweet being developed by a leading international flavour consultancy. 'We'll send you a few to samples,' they said, as they dispatched a box of a dozen. 'No, tell you what,' they continued, a day or two later, 'we'll just start making them as fast as we can, and by Christmas we should have a few hundred for you so you can hand them out to the whole audience.
Now, this is a product that's extremely clever, presents wholly unexpected and exciting flavours, and - according to the lecturer who's tried them - is downright delicious. Next year they just might be the new big thing in sweets…
...and we're being sent the entire world's supply!
As I say - humbling. But meanwhile there are another 328 props on the list, all of which we need to source. Back to the phones...
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Professor Sir John Krebs delivers the 2005 Christmas Lectures, “Truth About Food,” nightly from 26th December, at the Royal Institution in London. Tickets are available from the Ri’s website, and you can watch the Lectures live on Five, at 7:15pm from Boxing Day.
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10. Winning Ways with Whiteboards
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 With all this cold weather you might be missing hot summers spent lying on a beach… so relax and enjoy ICT Guru Roger Frost's wave offering this week.
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12. The Winners’ Enclosure
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The three winners of the fab 'Young Scientists Investigate' series of books are…
Maria Colloby, Cheltenham
Rosaleen Moore, Thundersley
Lucy Nelmes, Lydney
And there are three winners of the November Quiz each winning a bunch of RSC goodies!
Rhiannon Davies, Pontypool
Ann Williams, Kidlington
Michael Mollicone, Alford
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13. Joke of the Week
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And last but not least, another great joke - it works best on people who don't guess the punch line!
What is black and white and eats like a horse…
A zebra
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That’s all for another week! Thanks for reading and contributing and if you have know of any events, jokes, or activities please let us know at planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk
PS if you would like to unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time, just reply to this email with the word 'UNSUBSCRIBE' in the title.
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Einstein Year's website