Stardate Friday 23rd November 2007 Issue 258

We may all have lost the odd sock, our car keys, numerous brain cells - but 25 million sets of personal details? Well it wasn’t us, we were too busy spinning straws and leafing through The Void. Cue some bright entrepreneur to make sure it never happens again. Any ideas anyone?

The line-up this week:

  1. Making a Mint Rides Again
  2. Scicast Tip of the Week
  3. Stump the Scientist: Hang on a moment(um), is that right?
  4. Activity of the Week: Spinning Straws
  5. Mouses at the Ready: The Void
  6. Noticeboard: FYI
  7. Recommended websites of the week
  8. The Winners’ Enclosure
  9. Joke of the Week

1. Making a Mint Rides Again

Hooray! Another chance to make a mint out of …well…mint.

Planet Science and NESTA Future Innovators Team are running Making a Mint again and this time you get more time to order, plant, grow and use your mint.

This is a mintastic opportunity for 7 – 14 year olds to win £1000 for the school or clubhouse in either Amazon or Garden Vouchers.

Your mission as per last year is to grow your mint, then add as much value to it as possible, sell it and record the process.

The judges will be looking for a winning combination of growing success, good ideas and money making know-how, it might not be the team who make the most money who wins!
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2. SciCast Tip of the Week

If you're wondering what could be a fun project for the last week of term, something that will focus the mind yet be fun, teach science as well as those all important wider skills, then look no further that making a scicast film. Jonathan Sanderson is here to shove you into the shallow end.

"Filled with terror at the thought of committing your ideas to video? Don't be. Ease yourself in to the film-making lifestyle with our handy 'getting started' hints."

Thanks Jonathan

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3. Stump the Scientist

Oops. Remember last week’s thoughts on Jackie Rea’s question?

“I need to teach momentum to myself before I teach it to students!! On the moon mass (kg) is the same but weight (N) is 5/6 less - no problem with that!  

BUT If I kick a 1kg block of stone, will it move the same distance as on Earth and if I have bare feet, would it hurt as much as on Earth??  I think it should but cannot find any confirmation in text books or on the web!”

Ronald George replied

"The force on the stone is equal to its mass multiplied by the rate of momentum change of the stone when you kick it"

But Andrew Harmsworth disagrees saying

“This is not true! The force is actually equal TO the rate of change of momentum. He has muddled up the idea of force being equal to mass multiplied by the rate of change of velocity...”

Chris Dew agrees

“If you ignore friction between the rock and the surface that it is resting upon, then the effects on the Moon and Earth will be the same for both your questions. However, if friction is taken into account then the rock will travel a shorter distance on Earth because the Earth’s stronger gravitational field will pull the rock more into its surface and so produce a bigger frictional force than on the Moon. Kicking the rock on Earth will cause the speed of your foot to slow down more rapidly than on the Moon because of the greater frictional force. Therefore the rate of change of your foot’s momentum will be greater and since force equals the rate of change of momentum, the force on your foot will be greater. The bigger the force the more pain you will experience.”

On this occasion, the editor WAS well and truly stumped!

If you can help or 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
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4. Activity of the Week

Spinning Straws

You will need:

  • Two drinking straws - the ones which bend.
  • A pair of scissors.

What to do:

  1. Cut a 2cm long slit in the long end of one of your drinking straws.
  2. Squeeze it a little and push it inside the long end of your other drinking straw. Push it right in so there is a tight seal between the two.
  3. Bend the bendy ends of your straws so that they point at right angles to each other.
  4. Moisten your lips, put one of the ends loosely in your mouth and blow. The other bent end should point either to the left or the right.
  5. If you practice and practice and practice you should be able to make the straws spin without blowing the straw out of your mouth.
  6. Now try doing the same trick but by sucking. You may want to make the straws shorter and seal the join.
  7. Try not to hyperventilate.
  8. Once you get the idea try this with more and more straws.

What’s going on?

To understand what is happening here it is useful to think about the molecules in the air making collisions. The motion of the straw comes from conservation of momentum and the tiny impacts that the air makes with the straw before it escapes.

As you blow down the straw, the air exits out the other end. If the straw were straight the air would flow out the end and the straw would stay still. But the air molecules make numerous collisions on the way down the straw - most importantly with the final corner before the air escapes.

As the air molecules hit the bent end of the straw they collide with each other and are sent off in all directions. Some try to head back up the straw and are faced with more collisions, some hit the far end again and some head out towards the exit. Crucially some hit the side of the bend, and this is where the force comes from which moves the straw. As they hit the side, momentum is conserved, they change direction and some of the momentum is transferred to the straw during the impact. As more air molecules hit the side the straw starts to spin. Those molecules that do make this collision rebound off and may escape or may make loads of other collisions before they finally leave the straw.

If you can get the experiment to work by sucking (it is harder to give the air enough velocity - and therefore momentum and force during the collision) the same effect happens. It is the massive number of collisions within the straw at the lower bend which creates the movement. In the case of sucking the molecules are moving up the straw instead of down but the physics and the motion is exactly the same.

This activity can be viewed at Planet SciCast.

Keep checking back for new films and, whilst you’re about it - how about submitting one of your own? Early bird prizes for those submitting films before the end of November! Deadline for entering the 2008 SciCast Awards is 4th January.

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5. Mouses at the Ready

This week we have another great read for you. The Void by Frank Close is about what remains after you take away the Earth, the Moon, the stars and everything material. Oooooooer that’s the kind of thinking that could send you completely bonkers. In this book, the renowned particle physicist and writer Frank Close tells the story of scientists’ efforts to understand the Void.

If you’d like to win it then email us with your name and address, and the words ‘VOIDED’ in the subject line, to planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk.

The draw will take place at 5pm on Wednesday 28th November.
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Noticeboard

 

The Sticky Quiz

Stick it in your diary – Must enter the Planet Science November Sticky Quiz.  Time’s running out.

Answer all ten questions correctly and you could win a set of floor/garden/park/beach sized pick up sticks!

Ready? Steady? Get stuck in!
 

 

Want to win some aerogel? – Time’s running out!

Have you had a look at the Get Outside! Materials’?  It’s a great resource for trekking out and about looking for bits of wood, metal, textiles and whatever.  Afterwards you can proudly display your findings in your materials collection cabinet.   Talking of materials , you’ll remember us mentioning aerogel. What a material -99.8% air – whoa! Tie that baby down!

We have secured an expensive little chunk to send as a prize, to enter please send a photo of your materials collection cabinet, shelf, box or other to planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk with COLLECTOR’S CABINET in the subject line. ‘Get Outside!’ artist Pia Östlund and her Materials sidekick science teacher and writer Ian Francis will judge the winner.

Deadline 30 November.
 
 

Launchpad is back

Launchpad, the Science Museum's most popular hands-on, brains-on gallery, is re-opening on 24 November 2007.

From firm favourites to world firsts, Launchpad will be packed with over 50 interactive exhibits, plus electrifying shows and lively demos, all from the wonderful world of physics.

Launchpad is all about asking questions and making sense of the way things work. What am I looking at? What would happen if... ? What do my friends think? How could I... ? Launchpad is open to all, but is particularly aimed at 8- to 14-year-olds, plus their parents and teachers. Under-12s must be accompanied by an adult, and school groups need to pre-book their visit.
 

 

Free Posters!

Fancy brightening up your science lab? We have a number of packs of six SciCast Physics Posters going begging.  Email us if you’d like one. First come first served remember! Email us with your name and address, and the words ‘SCICAST POSTERS’ in the subject line, to planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk.
 

7. Recommended website of the week

Now they don’t call us ‘that excellent and most helpful website Planet Science’ for nothing. So this week in response to a plea from a teacher, we are looking at a useful resource for those of you struggling with the primary science unit 3E Magnets and Springs. Rummage rummage, hang on a tick we’re sure we’ve got it here somewhere… oh yes – thank you to the Kent NGfL here we have lesson ideas using the BBC Science Clips and also ideas for experiments and other useful weblinks. Plus some great PowerPoints. Hope it helps, Sarah!

Also try Channel4learning and magnazone
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Winners Enclosure

Remember last week when we were offering you a pack of GCSE Practice Papers from Letts?

The lucky winner is Rachel Barton of Upminster. Well done Rachel!
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10. Joke of the week

Do you recall last week’s joke?  Well some people were watching a little more closely than others. As John Williams of Bishop's Stortford College pointed out

“Great jokes this week but shouldn't the first one read 1 million million microphones = 1 megaphone“

Thanks John and actually we have to agree. Since micro is a millionth of something, a million microphones would actually equal a phone – so a million phones would equal a megaphone as would a million million microphones.  Oh dear.  We must get out more…

Also on the subject, Selwyn van Zeller of the intriguingly-named Maths in a Suitcase/Science in a Suitcase added a few others:-

8 nickels = 2 paradigms
1,000,000,000 piccolos = 1 gigolo
100 rations = 1 C-ration

Enough!

Here’s THIS week’s joke of the week:

The helicopter lost power while flying over a remote Scottish island and was forced to make an emergency landing. Luckily there was a small cottage nearby. The pilot walked over to it and knocked on the door. "Is there a mechanic in the area?" he asked the woman who answered the door.

She scratched her head and thought for a few seconds. "No," she finally said, pointing down the road, "but we do have a McArdle and a McKay."

Is this the worst joke we've ever had? Discuss or send us something funny, please! - Ed.
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That’s all for this week but remember – if you’ve got anything to add then drop us a line: planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk. We’re open to contributions 24/7.

Have a great week!

If you would like to view the Planet Science Newsletter Archive click: www.planet-science.com/about_sy/news/ps_index.html You can read back issues of Wired-Up for younger teens here: http://www.planet-science.com/randomise/wiredNL/archive/ Or you can read back issues of Hay-Wire for Under 10s: http://www.planet-science.com/randomise/haywired/archive/

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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