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1. Agri-Culture – What is the secret of a flock of sheep? Timing!
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 Let’s hand over to our math-magician Ben Craven to give us the lowdown on 29th February. Take it away Ben!
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 This Friday is special – the rarely-sighted 29th February. This elusive creature is only spotted once every four years (with some exotic exceptions). It’s called the leap day, and the years when it is seen are called leap years.
Even more reclusive is a Friday 29th February. How often is this shy creature to be seen?
The gap between two leap days is 3 ordinary years (365 days) and one leap year (366 days) – that’s 208 weeks and 5 days. This means that each leap-day is 5 days further through the week than the last one. February 29th 2004 was a Sunday, and this year it’s moved 5 weekdays forward, to a Friday. In 2012, it’ll be another 5 weekdays forward, on a Wednesday. Keep going and you’ll find that no day of the week gets left out, and 7 leap years from now (in 2036) the leap day will be a Friday again.
But why enjoy an extra day only every four years? With careful time-management, you could save up a whole extra day every year. 24 hours is 1440 minutes. Spread over 365 days, this means that if you save 3 minutes 56.71 seconds every day, you’ll earn yourself a whole extra day.
Some jobs, of course, can just be left out – who needs ironing anyway? Or try multi-tasking: how about eating breakfast and cleaning your teeth at the same time? As for me, it’s cold, dark, windy and wet today, and I squandered my 3 minutes 56.71 seconds under the duvet!
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Thanks for that Ben.
So basically you’ll have to wait another 28 years for another Planet Science newsletter on a Friday 29 February. Yikes! Scarce as hen’s teeth. Better print it out and save it for ebay.
More about leap year history.
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2. Shake it, shake it – the UK earthquake
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 Never let it be said that Planet Science is slow off the mark in getting the story straight from the horse’s mouth. We asked Dr Ian G. Stimpson of the Applied & Environmental Geophysics Research Group at Keele University:
“Why did it happen in Lincolnshire?”
The UK is being squashed from the NW (the mid-Atlantic Ridge) and the South East (tail end of the Alpine orogeny). There are also forces related to glacio-isostatic rebound (uplift) from the last ice age.
The UK has a long and complex geological history. At England's heart is a solid triangular Precambrian core - the Midlands Microcraton (with its upper apex somewhere near Manchester). Along the boundaries of the Midlands microcraton are a number of faults that have long and complex histories and tend to get reactivated by modern geological stresses. To the west is the NE-SW trending Church Stretton / Pontisford Fault system (e.g. Bishop's Castle 1990 earthquake), to the east is a NW-SE trending system (e.g. Market Rasen 2008, Dogger Bank Earthquake 1931). This triangle is also bisected by the N-S Malvern Line (e.g. Dudley Earthquake 2002)
So large earthquakes in the UK tend to be associated with lines of fundamental weaknesses in the English crust dating back to the Precambrian.
Thank you for that Ian.
Also those helpful folks at the Earth Science Education Unit recommended a couple of websites for further information:
Focal Plane Blog: Market Rasen Earthquake
Wikipedia: Market Rasen Earthquake
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3. Stump the Scientist
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 This question comes all the way from Australia where presumably they didn’t feel our earthquake.
Allan Gillard asks
“What causes a "blue glow" sometimes visible in ice cubes under pressure?
Sometimes, on a hot summer's night, I will walk out into the kitchen in the middle of the night to get an ice cube from the freezer to suck on. Since my eyes have become well adapted to the dark, I don't need to turn on the lights, and when I take the plastic tray from the freezer and give it a twist to break the ice cubes' adhesion to the walls of the tray, there will occasionally be a "blue glow" visible within the ice as the ice is placed under pressure by the twisting. Do you know what is causing this "blue glow”?”
Now don’t get us wrong but it is still winter over here (hot summer’s night indeed – purleaze don’t rub it in!) and ice is more likely to be seen outside than in our drinks. However, we suddenly find an urge to try this out. What does anyone think?
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
Under Pressure
Okay so this is not exactly earthquake-related but it’s still a darn good activity about pressure. Plus you can always look at the Structural Engineering in Action clip if you feel short-changed.
You will need:
- A bunsen burner and tripod (or cooker).
- A large beaker of cold water (or bowl of cold water).
- Tongs (or something to pick up the hot can with).
- An empty drink can.
What you do
- Pour a tablespoon of water into the empty drink can.
- Place the can on the tripod above the lit bunsen burner: have it hot enough to not create soot all over your can, but not so hot that the water boils too quickly. If you are going to put it on a cooker to heat it up, make sure there is no plastic or paper attached that could melt onto the surface.
- Let the water boil and mostly turn into steam, but don't let the can boil dry. It should take about 30 seconds. You'll know when it is boiling because steam will start to come out the top.
- Turn the bunsen burner (or cooker) off then lift the can off with the tongs. BE CAREFUL - IT WILL BE HOT.
- Turn the can upside down. BE CAREFUL - IT WILL STILL CONTAIN SOME VERY HOT WATER WHICH MAY SPLASH OUT.
- Place the upside down can quickly in your beaker or bowl of cold water.
- Watch as the can crumples.
What's going on?
Heating the can makes the water inside it boil, turning this liquid into gaseous water vapour. The water vapour adds to the number of gas molecules inside the can and pushes some of the air out of the can. The escaping air and water vapour keeps the pressure inside the can the same as the pressure outside. If the air hadn't escaped (perhaps if the can was sealed) the can would have started to inflate (just before it exploded!).
Putting the can upside down in the cold water seals the can; no more air can flow into it. Instead, the water vapour inside the can cools down as the sides of the can cool in the cold water. This gaseous water vapour turns back into liquid water and the pressure is reduced in the can. With no air able to flow back into the can, there is an imbalance between the air pressure outside the can and inside. The pressure outside pushes on the can until the can crumples.
The can will stop crumpling once it has reached a volume where the pressure inside equals the pressure outside (or that it is squeezed so tightly that the force from the air pressure can't deform it any further, but really you need a vacuum pump for that!).
Special Safety advice
Use protective eyewear when working with hot liquids and a bunsen burner. Don't touch the can with your hands whilst it is heating and when you are putting it into the cold water. Also be aware that the can and any remaining liquid in it will be warm. Do not touch the crumpled can until you are sure it is cool.
This activity was taken from the Planet Scicast site.
Keep checking back for new films and, whilst you’re about it - how about submitting one of your own?
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5. Teachers TV Science and Engineering Week 3- 9 March 2008
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 To support National Science and Engineering Week Teachers TV will be airing a series of programmes which explore the science behind everyday activities. They are available to watch online and download for free. www.teachers.tv/science
Teachers TV has teamed up with the British Association for the Advancement of Science to hold the largest nationwide experiment, which will take place during National Science and Engineering Week 2008. This programme looks at what can be done to improve learning by explaining the science behind the experiment and the roles nutrition, exercise and sleep have on children’s concentration, memory and reaction times.
This documentary reviews the European Union’s Annual Young Scientists and Inventors competition and introduces the national winners from four countries – Austria, the Czech Republic, Italy and the United Kingdom. The winners demonstrate their inventions - which include a device to use the waste from maize harvesting to create bio-gas; a refinement to the clutch of racing motorbikes to make them go even faster; a rocket that flies when propelled only by water; and a chemical process which removes poisonous chromium VI from water. How will the young scientists and inventors from the UK fare against the European competition?
This four-part series examines the technology behind new inventions and modern technology.
World Water
A look at the ways in which new technology is being used to make the human use of water more safe.
A look at new forms of bioengineering that have changed the way humans live, with a focus on the development of smart prosthetic devices.
A look at the benefits of telemedicine - a new and fast developing healthcare that allows surgeons to perform medical operations remotely.
A look at the recent advances in our understanding of how the brain sends and receives signals.
ONE TO WATCH
A group of teachers tell is like it is in this funny and touching selection of anecdotes about life in a school.
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6. Mouses at the Ready
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 This week we have a pack of two books for you. Nice little engagement present?
Jacquard's Web by James Essinger (Oxford University Press) is the story of some of the most ingenious inventors the world has ever known, a fascinating account of how a hand-loom invented in Napoleonic France led to the development of the modern information age.
The Infinite Cosmos – questions from the frontiers of cosmology by Joseph Silk (Oxford University Press) describes how from time immemorial, poets and philosophers have looked in awe and wonder at the Universe. Such awe is shared by astrophysicists, too, as they seek to understand its nature, and whether it has any limits.
If you’d like to win it then email us with your name and address, and the words ‘INFINITE WEB’ in the subject line, to planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk.
The draw will take place at 5pm on Wednesday 5th March.
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Aah… March! The month of magnetism! (Well, it is here on Planet Science anyway.) If you haven’t played Polarity yet then this is your big chance as it’s the prize for our new magnetic majestic quiz. Positive people who feel the force most strongly and attract all the right answers will go into the draw to win a game.
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The Big Experiment – Pledges Needed
The Discovery Channel is launching a new series, called The Big Experiment.
Can you help i.e. by answering the question 'how has science affected you?' Sign up here.
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National Science and Engineering Week 7-16 March
Vampire vegetables, circus science and the gory truth about the food we eat. Not only could you find out how some plants have taken to eating each other, and even animals, but you could also cycle the solar system, learn how new cancer drugs are developed, and explore the science of the circus – just how do acrobats balance on a tight-rope? This year’s theme is “A Question of Science”.
See for more information and to pose your questions. Find out what’s going on in your area and to access the free resources, visit .
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Earth Science INSET KS3/4 teachers – Keele Uni – Free!
Earth Science INSET training for teachers, at Key stage 3 and 4, and includes a free lunch! Find out more here.
Saturday 19 Apr 2008 10.45am
West Midlands Science Learning Centre
Keele University
Also check www.earthscienceeducation.com for details of in-school free INSET training.
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European Schools Script Contest
Participate in the EUR-OCEANS film script contest. A delegation from the winning classes in each participating country will be invited to defend their films at the European final event, early june 2008 in Brussels, in front of European Commissioners.
Write a 4-6 minute film script on “climate change and human activities impact on marine ecosystems”.
Deadline 7 April 2008
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8. Recommended website of the week
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This week’s RWW is Earthlearningidea.
ELI aims to publish a new idea for teaching Earth Science on the Internet
every week during the International Year of Planet Earth, 2008. The ideas are for use in those classrooms that have minimal resources and should develop scientific understanding and thinking skills. Each one will encourage discussion, through a blog, to develop a global network of those interested in science education and Earth Science education. This initiative is being run on a voluntary basis, with no outside funding, so all help is welcome!
And how topical is this activity in the Earth-related activities section?
Quake shake - will my home collapse?
When an earthquake strikes - investigate why some buildings survive and others do not.
ELI will publish Earth-related teaching ideas, designed to be practical resources for teachers and teacher-trainers. These will be publicised on their blog site at earthlearningidea.blogspot.com.
By the way, if you use a great website and you think others might benefit then send it along to us at planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk with RWW in the subject line. Thank you very gladly.
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Remember last week when we were offering you two family passes for Explore-At-Bristol?
The lucky winners are Suzanne Marke of Tiverton and Cath Pountney of Colchester. Make sure you keep the tickets in your genes pocket!
The winners of the Lurve Quiz 2008 – well done, spot of proposing in order? Illustrated Medical Dictionaries winging thier way to: Tom Hanlon of Crosby, Alan McWilliam of Dundee, David France of Welshpool, Donna Mileham from Great Yarmouth, Claire Woods of Norfolk, Tina Carr from Morecombe, Joanne Homer from Nelson and Katie-Ann Poynter from Shropshire.
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10. Joke of the week
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And after the proposal…
"Darling," said the young man to his new bride. "Now that we are married, do you think you will be able to live on my modest income?"
"Of course, dearest, no trouble," she answered. "But what will you live on?"
Have a great week!
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