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1. National Science Week Challenge Packs
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 Got 10th March ringed in red on your calendar? Of course you have, because that's the beginning of National Science Week...
As ever, this means a packed schedule of science-related events will be taking place around the UK, aimed at all ages and all interests from marine biology to forensics and the chemistry of cooking. Check out what's going on in your area by clicking to What's On
But why be a spectator when you can create a homegrown scientific fiesta for yourself?
To help you, the British Association, organisers of NSW, have created a range of seven 'challenge packs'. These give detailed instructions for activities and projects that make use of everyday objects but will nonetheless make your audience go 'wow' and 'cool!'
Each one focuses on a different area of science, including forces, colour, time, music - and naturally there’s the 'Einstein's Birthday Party Pack' of fun physics experiments ideal for celebrating Albert's birthday on 14th March.
The packs are free and easy to download. Just visit: NSW Challenge Packs
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2. Activity of the Week: Pouring Sideways...
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 He's back. Jonathan Sanderson, maestro of a million kids' science programmes, has another hands-on science demo to share with you. And this time, it could get very, very messy.
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 You will need:
- a balloon (blown up)
- a bin bag or old newspaper. In fact, make that several old newspapers ...
- A jar of treacle or pourable honey
What to do:
- Cover your table with the bin bag or sheets of newspaper. It wouldn't hurt to cover the floor too. Just in case.
- Blow the balloon up, and rub it on your hair / something woolly / the cat. With a bit of luck, you'll rub some electrons onto the balloon, and it'll become electrically charged.
- If you hold the balloon near a gently-running tap, you might just see the stream of water being deflected towards it. Sometimes this works rather well, but even so, it's not terribly exciting. Which is where the treacle comes in ...
- Hold the treacle jar high above the newspaper, and tip it so a very gentle stream of treacle drizzles out. Now, very carefully, bring the charged balloon near the flowing treacle. Go on, try it.
- You should see the stream of treacle bending right around the balloon. With a little practice, it's possible to make the treacle flow sideways and even slightly upwards, but you'll need a very steady hand. And yet more sheets of newspaper to catch the drips.
What's going on?
The (negatively-charged) electrons on the balloon attract the (neutral) stream of treacle, just as they attract the water from the tap. However, the treacle-factor has an important effect. Because the treacle is flowing so much slower than water, the force acts for much longer - so the drizzle of treacle bends much more than the dribble of water does.
Jonathan adds, "I've seen this referred to as the 'Doff Effect,' but I've never managed to find out who Doff was, nor why he or she kept balloons in their kitchen ..."
Any ideas?
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4. Mouses at the Ready for
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 Fancy dressing up as an animal and exploring the jungle in darkest Norwich?
Well, here's your chance. (The only catch is, you've got to be 8 or under - so junior explorers only).
'In the Jungle' is a brand new exhibition at the Inspire science centre, and the place has been transformed into a vibrant, lush, screeching tropical environment where spiders are huge and surprises are to be found everywhere ...
The rest of the Inspire centre has been refurbished too, so when you've finished in the jungle and peeled your children out of their costumes, you can visit the galleries devoted to Light, Forces, Perception and Medieval Engineering.
Read all about it at www.inspirediscoverycentre.com. And get into the draw for two sets of 4 tickets by sending an email entitled Jungle 4 Me to planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk. Remember to include your name and address so we can get the tickets out to you if you win.
The draw will take place on Wednesday at 5pm.
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5. Fatal Foods
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Had your lunch?
Hope so, because nutritionist Simone Baroke is back to lift the lid on another plateful of poison, this week courtesy of the sweet almond's evil twin. That's right, the oh-so bitter almond ...
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  "You've probably popped plenty of almonds in your life - raw, roasted, poached, salted, mashed-up into marzipan. Those are all delectable. But if you've ever chomped down on a bitter almond, it won't have been quite such a good experience. Because if you swallow a bitter almond, you set off a reaction inside your gut that releases cyanide into the body...
What makes bitter almonds so bitter is their amygdalin content, which is a cyanogenic glucoside. When this comes into contact with water, the amygdalin is converted to prussic acid, which with the help of digestive enzymes found in the human (or animal) gut, produces the highly toxic cyanide.
It would take about 50 bitter almonds to make a lethal dose for an adult, but as few as 10 could be enough to kill a child. And it's said that Napoleon was slowly poisoned by a number of toxic substances, including bitter almonds, which were given to him mixed in orgeat, an otherwise fashionable drink at the time.
The killer nuts have their above-board uses too though. They have an intense flavour, which comes from the non-toxic compound benzaldehyde. This is the nut's essential oil and is used in making almond extract for flavouring. And a word of reassurance: in cooking and baking, bitter almonds are generally safe because this kind of processing allows the cyanide to escape into the air.
PS: You may have heard somewhere that apple pips are poisonous, and it's true - they, too, contain amygdalin, as they belong to the same plant family as almonds. This also includes peaches, nectarines, cherries and apricots. The cyanide is concentrated in the kernels/pips. Great controversy exists regarding the use of these compounds as an anti-cancer treatment. Some sources say that amygdalin can selectively kill cancer cells. The evidence supporting such claims this is scant, but many sufferers resort to buying bags of apricot kernels over the Internet, which they consume in a desperate attempt to beat the illness. Inevitably, some experience the effects of cyanide poisoning."
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7. Winners Enclosure
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Last week we had six full sets of back editions of Flipside magazine to give away...
The draw has now taken place, and the winners were:
Peter Wood from Caistor
Jenny Fitzhugh (Jenny please send your address!)
Yash Gupta from Wakefield (Yash please send your FULL address!)
Emma Willing (Emma please send your address!)
Jay Airey from Birmingham
Louise Guy (Louise please send your address!)
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9. Jokes of the Week
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With notable success we continue our quest to find ‘short n funny' jokes - of a sciencey nature if at all possible.
From Hash Khalil of Nottingham:
Q. "Why did the bacteria cross the microscope?"
A. "To get to the other slide!"
and
Q. "What can you tell me about nitrates?"
A. "They're a lot cheaper then day rates!"
And from Ian Hemming:
Q: What do you call the random path that a cow makes as it grazes in the pasture?
A: Bovinian motion.
and
"Biology is the only science in which multiplication means the same thing as division."
and
Q: what's a biologist's definition of a graph?
A: an animal with a long neck
And from Clare Maltby-Wehner:
Q. Will an ammeter ever become professional?
Thanks to all of you, your New Scientist books, 'Does Anything Eat Wasps?' are on their way ...
And finally a couple of short science food jokes .... from last week's winner, Paul "Soupy" Campbell
What do physicists eat for tea? Nuclear fission chips!
What is an electrician's favourite food? Currents.....
Currents …. Of course, of course.
Anyone got any more Short n Funnies? We have prizes left to give away...
And finally, that crossword clue answer:
Remember last week's mysterious crossword clue? It was “HIJKLMNO (five letters)”.
And the answer was: 'water'.
Confused? Think of those letters as: "H to O" - ie H2O, gettit? Groan ... (Thanks Peter!)
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And that's all for today. If you have any topical or humorous contributions for future editions of the newsletter, please send them in to Anne McNaught 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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Hurry hurry hurry if you want to get your digits on some dosh to help promote exciting physics to the people...
A quick reminder that nominations are invited during the month of March for individuals, schools and even education authorities for a Scottish Education Award.