As Harry Potter fever hits the UK you may run for sanctuary to the Planet Science newsletter.  Alas – we too are temporarily under the spell.  May we present Planet Science and the Newsletter of Knowledge.  Sciencia Commensus!

The line-up this week:

1. Creature Feature: Blast-Ended Skrewts, as if!
2. Activity of the Week: Self-slicing banana
3. Mouses at the Ready: Hollycombe Steam Collection
4. Noticeboard: FYI
5. Recommended websites of the week
6. The Winners’ Enclosure
7. Joke of the Week

Doffing our cap, or wizardy hat, to JK Rowling for a moment or two we thought we might spare a word or two for the Blast-Ended Skrewt. According to the stories, these creatures are the result of a hybrid of a manticore and a fire crab. Okay stay with it, we’ll get round to the science in a moment. The manticore is a legendary creature (think Sphinx for a moment) It has the body of a red lion, a human head with three rows of sharp teeth, and a trumpet-like voice. Maybe it has horns, or perhaps a scorpion tail. A fire crab on the other hand will expel a stream of flame from its posterior. Nice touch. Skrewts (the lovechild of the above) look like shellless lobsters and have no identifiable head. They have a natural mechanism to emit a strong spark from one end (hence their name), and the blast is typically strong enough to move them several inches. The males also sport a stinger at the other end and the females, although missing the stinger, have a sucker for blood on the underside. Now this may all be entirely fictitious but this isn’t the first time that writers have taken their inspiration from the animal world – take Doctor Who for example.

So what have we got to offer in return?  Well how about Lenny the Lobster? A diver has told how he 'wrestled' a metre-long lobster after it attacked him while he was swimming in the sea near Weymouth in south England. The sea creature, weighing more than 10 bags of sugar, swam towards Chris Hovard snapping its claws. The lobster, who has been named Lemmy, is now at Weymouth's Sea Life Park recovering from its ordeal. HIS ordeal?! What about poor Mr Hovard?

And blasting from the rear end? Bioluminescence is literally a 'cold fire'. Bioluminescent organisms like many lantern fishes emit a bright flash from the caudal (rear) photophores (self-luminous organs — complex eye-like structures embedded in the skin).

Hybrids? Well you can’t get stranger than a duck-billed platypus now can you?

However, the natural world is full of weird creatures just asking to pop up in another adventure.  How about the psychedelic octopus and the intriguingly named sea squirts (sounds like a 60’s pop group)?

We can’t refer to Harry Potter without mention of the word ‘wizard’.  So how about performing this little magic act?  What a wizard wheeze!

Self-slicing banana

Convince your more gullible friends that you own a new variety of genetically engineered bananas – they’re grown already sliced!

You will need:

• A banana
• A strong needle

What to do:

1. Carefully pierce the banana on one of its edges with the needle.
2. Push the needle into the banana and wriggle it back and forth, cutting through the flesh. Make sure you reach right over to the other side of the banana, but be careful to leave the skin intact.
3. Continue at regular intervals until you’ve sliced the whole banana.
4. Now peel the banana. You may be able to take the banana out in one piece and then gently pull off each slice. Or the banana might fall out in slices as you peel it.
5. You might like to practise with a couple first before showing your friends … and be careful not to pierce yourself.

What’s going on?

Banana flesh is made up of thousands of tiny hairs, which when ripe makes the fruit easy to tear. A needle can easily slice through it. And the holes the needle makes in the skin are small enough to pass notice at a distance!

Bananas are great for getting other fruit to ripen. If you have some summer fruit that isn’t ripe enough to eat yet, leave it in a bowl or bag with a banana. As the banana ripens it gives off a gas called ethylene, which acts as a signal to other fruit that it’s time to ripen too. This also explains why you can go away for a weekend and find that all your fruit has gone off by the time you get back.

This fantastic activity comes from The Planet Science Diner.

The weather may not be hot and steamy (or maybe it is where you are) but it’s certainly steamy down in Liphook, Hampshire, home of Hollycombe Steam Collection. And this Sunday 15 July  is Children’s Day at Hollycombe.

Hollycombe is a unique collection of working steam-powered attractions providing fun and entertainment for the whole family. The centre-piece is a complete Edwardian Fairground where you can experience all the fun of the fair from the 1870's; from the gentle "Golden Gallopers" to the first "White Knuckle" rides. Not forgetting the steam railways, and traction engine rides. Other attractions include period farming demonstrations, farm animals, sawmill and spectacular historic woodland gardens.  Find out more at www.hollycombe.co.uk/

We’ve got a family ticket (2 ad + 3 ch) to give away.  If you want to win it then send your answer in an email with your name and address, and the words ALL STEAMED UP in the subject line, to planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk.

The draw will take place at 5pm on Wednesday 18th July.

Look out for a new resource for kids about giving blood – Give and Let Live.

It’s a free educational resource for 14 to 16 year olds about donation - blood, bone marrow, organ and tissue. Did you know of the people who can give blood in the UK, only 5% do? Plus a teaspoon of blood can save a baby's life. Makes you think, doesn’t it?

Plus join in the fun with Billy Blood Drop – the official mascot of the National Blood Service.  You can play games or download the Billy Blood Drop Activity Book.

Try the Blood Spatter investigation in the Planet Science Do it Yourself Detective. By checking the size and pattern of the spatter it’s possible to deduce details of the crime.  We’ll say no more…