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1. Off the Wall
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 This is one for your 14 – 19 year old students.
“Off the wall” is an interactive session that explores how science and technology can be applied in an entrepreneurial fashion to address everyday problems. Switch on the TV and you will see that entrepreneurial business culture is very much the in thing, from The Apprentice to Dragons Den. This event aspires to find the entrepreneurial scientists and scientific entrepreneurs of the future, and inspire them to tackle both big world issues and problems closer to home. 14 -19 year old participants will have the opportunity to meet successful technology entrepreneurs, solve problems face challenges and change the world. This is supported by, you guessed, our mothership NESTA.
So we'd like ideas of problems from that age group to add to 'the wall'. Get them thinking in registration one day and see if they've come up with anything the next day and then get them to email the ideas to offthewall@nesta.org.uk. Contributors will receive a Flipside Mag if the problem comes with an address!
The problems can be big problems (global warming sized) or small problems (bad hair day sized). If their problem could be solved by science or technology we want to hear about it! And we want to hear about it in two sentences or less MAX!
“Off the Wall - How Science and Technology Can Change Our World” will be at the BA festival of Science 2 – 9 September in Norwich, visit http://www.the-ba.net/festivalofscience
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3. Awkward Question – Fairground Attraction?
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 At the first day of ‘SciCast’ prototype filming (hence no Jonathan Sanderson this week) the question of whether, theoretically, you could swizz water round in a cup and keep swizzing it so hard that you could turn the cup upside down and the water wouldn’t fall out. Your editor here and the lad who thought it up considered the idea had some merit, but we were both roundly mocked. It seemed so plausible – can anyone explain?
If you were on one of those horrible vomit inducing fairground centripetal drum rides where you ‘stick’ to the side, and the drum could be turned upside down, would you fall out – or still stick to the side? Is that the same question as the water in the cup above – or a different one? The answers will be revealed next week, but only if you write in with them! Pleeeeese! Planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk with Scream if you wanna go faster! in the subject line.
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4. Mouses at the Ready
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 Techniquest!
Oh, Techniquest is full of fun! As well as the hands on science exhibits and shop and café and special lectures and stuff, NESTA awardee Bronwen Bird, who combines musicianship with scienceship, has created some literally vibrant exhibits about sound and music, which are, from experience, very playable on.
If you’re in Cardiff over the summer and you’d like to enter the draw for three free family passes email planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk with TechniYES in the subject line.
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Interested in climate change? Join the debate…
Risky Business is getting busy! They’re now calling all teachers in Sheffield and Manchester, to join colleagues from Edinburgh and London regions and get influencing politicians.
How would you like to get involved in a shiny new 'Ideas about Science' approach to scientific literacy and the teaching of science and citizenship? And your students will get to see a new professional theatre performance in the process? Y Touring, a leading theatre company, will perform a newly commissioned play exploring risk and decision-making and climate change….training in the use of the highly acclaimed DEMOCS deliberative polling game….and best of all….get YOUR students influencing policymakers on issues of Climate Change!
The residential CPD day is scheduled for October 13th and 14th 2006, at the state-of-the-art National Science Learning Centre, York, and Y Touring will come straight to your school doorstep and perform for your students in November.
Risky Business is largely funded by the Government’s Sciencewise scheme and by NESTA.
To find out more contact Peter Finegold, Isinglass Consultancy Ltd on 020 3076 1100 or enquiries@isinglassconsultancy.co.uk
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The Grant Museum
You are warmly invited to take part in free holiday activities. Which is very nice of them, but Warning: PUN ALERT!!
Something Fishy is going on at the Grant Museum...Take part in fintastic activities with animal specimens from the world's seas, lakes, rivers and beaches. Have a whale of a time with the Grant Museum's dolphins, sharks, starfish, corals and lobsters. Suitable for gulls and buoys of all ages.
31st July to 11th August
Drop in on weekdays from 1pm to 5pm
Admission is free and there is no need to book.
Grant Museum of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy
Darwin Building
Department of Biology
University College London
Gower Street WC1E 6BT
Tel:(+44) 020 7679 2647
or Email: j.ashby@ucl.ac.uk
www.grant.museum.ucl.ac.uk
Opening Times: Monday to Friday 1-5pm
(Group visits including: schools, colleges, other universities, special interest groups, researchers, appointments: also Monday to Friday 9am-1pm)
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The British International Motor Show Careers Village
Just a shorty if you're going to the motor show and in particular taking your kids with you. The sector skills councils and other bodies representing the automotive industries in all their glorious variety have set up a Careers Village within the Motor Show, at stand 180. If you are harbouring budding engineers who'd just love to work with cars in any way, pop along. Once you've stopped oogling the cars of course!
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7. The Winners' Enclosure
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 Last week’s winners of the family passes to the Creetown GemRock museum are The Family Penwell from Newton Abbot - jolly super, and Piers Sharma and family of Radlett, good for you Piers.
Well done horses and foals!
The eight winners of the Aventis bookmarks and posters are:
Our old friend Dale Robinson, Heather Janes, S Ullyatt, Jane Griffin, Cath Pennington, Bob Granfield, Ning Yu and Linton Austen.
Good news though, The Royal Society has offered to send everyone who wanted bookmarks a bunch, so you’re all winners! Neighhhhhh!
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8. Joke of the Week
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Science is fun and wonderful as we know, but as this research scoop, from the US satirical online mag The Onion confirms, it can also be hard. Not the usual terrible old PS gag this, it actually made PSHQ laugh.
Thanks to my eagle eyed colleagues in the NESTA research dept for this. They really know their, er…onions.
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Once again very sorry for the accidental spamming last week from our tired old list server. If you have any items for the newsletter, serious, funny, or anything in between, drop us a line: planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk
Have a (mmmmm holidays!....) great week!
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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Ladies and Gentlemen, roll up roll up! Amaze your friends and family with your ability to turn a glass of water upside down over their heads without the water gushing out...
Nautie but Nice