Farewell and thanks to Beth Askham as she heads back Down Under and welcome back to Katy Hewis as she once more takes up the reins of the Planet Science Express. Whoa there me beauties, steady at the back there! Easy now, easy! It’s no good – they’re off!

The line-up this week:

1. Creature Feature – Great White Shark
2. Stump the Scientist – making waves
3. Activity of the Week: Stanley’s Balloon Flute
4. Mouses at the Ready: Hands-on Oxford
5. Noticeboard: FYI
6. Recommended websites of the week
7. The Winners’ Enclosure
8. Joke of the Week

What do you think of when the word ‘Cornwall’ is mentioned? Pasties?  Clotted Cream? Great White Shark?… Hang on a minute, run that last one by us again. Surely you must be joking. The only great white things in Cornwall should be the English China Clay pits. Not a thumping great flesh-ripping beast. Apparently a holidaymaker filmed a fearsome fish leaping out of the water near a pod of dolphins about 182m from Porthmeor Beach at St Ives. Experts who've seen the footage said the 8ft-long creature could be a Great White, Mako or Porbeagle shark. However, coastguards say there have never been any confirmed sightings of Great White sharks off the Cornish coast. Now is this going to be the Loch Ness Monster all over again?  Come on scientists – tell us for sure.

Fishy Facts about the Great White Shark:

• Carcharodon carcharias (aka the GWS) is the largest known predatory fish in the sea
• Its universal all-white belly gives it its name
• It can maintain parts of its body (swimming muscles, stomach, and brain) at a higher temperature than that of the surrounding water, which classifies them as warm-blooded, like mammals
• Found in all cold temperate and tropical waters, from 60°N latitude to 60°S latitude.
• Their nostrils can smell a drop a blood in 100 litres of water
• They can pick up electrical charges as small as 0.005 microvolts so their prey can be detected by the electrical field generated by a beating heart or gill action
• They reach lengths of over 6.1m long and weigh up to 2268kg
• They have about 3000 teeth, arranged in several rows.  The teeth in the last rows rotate into place when front teeth are broken, worn down, or fall out

For more facts see the Oceanlink website.

For more toothy activities try the Sci Teach Bringing Science to Life Jaws – activities for KS2

Plus for those of you who want to be sure of the best place to go swimming WITHOUT being gobbled by a Great White then check out the International Shark Attack File.

Things seem to have gone a bit quiet on the old STS front of late.  Could it be that there’s nothing left to ponder any more?  Surely not.  Let’s ease ourselves back in gently with this timeless classic from Robert age 6  (and probably every other child sitting on a beach this summer…)

“Why does the sea have waves?”

Parents everywhere will sigh a collective sigh of relief to have a handy retort to proffer.  Otherwise we will be forever consigned to conversations along the lines of this one:

Child sitting on the sand patting down a sandcastle:  ‘Mum, why does the sea have waves?’
Mum looks up from her latest chic lit (It Parted with a Hiss -the heart rending tale of a Madagascan Hissing Cockroach who falls in love with a mineralogist) ‘Erm, I’m not sure really’
Child persists ‘Well there’s none in rivers – or lakes – or swimming pools – or … or puddles’
Mum slaps on another layer of Factor 100 ‘Well, I think it’s got something to do with the moon’
Child gives parent a hard stare ‘the moon! What’s that got to do with anything?’
Mum panicking ‘Oh is that an ice cream van over there? Quick go and get a couple of 99s’
Child disappears off eagerly into the distance
Mum settles back to her book ‘Phew! That was close! Must look that one up on the Internet when we get back…’

If you can help or if you have a burning question of your own then send us an email with STUMP THE SCIENTIST in the subject line to planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk

We just can’t rave on enough about the new Planet Scicast site. This week’s activity is taken unashamedly from there.

Stanley’s Balloon Flute

Make a flute to show vibration makes sound

You will need:

• A straw 
• A plastic cup or yoghurt pot
• A narrow cardboard tube (such as from cooking foil)
• A balloon
• Sticky tape or parcel tape
• Scissors

What to do:

1. Cut a hole in the bottom of the plastic cup big enough to insert the cardboard tube (but don't insert it yet).
2. Cut the top off the balloon and stretch it over the top of the cup. Tape the balloon around the rim so no air can get in.
3. Cut a small hole in the side of the cup big enough to squeeze the straw through and squeeze the straw through by a couple of centimetres. Tape this into position so no air can escape.
4. Finally insert the cardboard tube in the base of the cup, far enough so that it pushes on the balloon and tape this in position.
5. Blow down the straw and be amazed at just how loud this is!

What’s going on?

As you blow into the cup the pressure increases, and the balloon inflates very slightly. The balloon lifts away from the cardboard tube and the air escapes bringing the balloon back down on the tube. This vibration sets up a sound wave in the tube at its natural frequency and the result is loud hum.

Need a bit of help perfecting your wizard spells, lotions and potions? Lucky for you Hands On, Science Oxford, is running a 'Science of Wizardry' interactive exhibition during the summer holidays. You will finally be able to reveal invisible writing, defy gravity and fool your friends with loads of fun illusions. You can even have a go at making your own balancing dragon and lots more.

And on Saturdays watch out for the fiery Dragon's breath cannon (phew…what's that smell?), as well as those dastardly colour changing potions.

To win one of two family tickets to get in for FREE, just email us with your name and address, and the words WIZARD WHEEZE in the subject line, to planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk.

The draw will take place at 5pm on Wednesday 8th August.

Have you tried Engineering Interact? Interactive science and engineering for 9-11 yearolds. And the rest! Don’t let the kids have all the fun! Try Ocean Odyssey:  the evil Sea Serpent has stolen Mel Scale the mermaid's voice. Investigate the science of sound to solve the fishy goings-on...

Feeling creative? Have a look at www.sodaplay.com Build and race virtual models. Strangely addictive and incredibly beautiful.