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1. What’s new? – all the latest at Planet Science
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To celebrate NSEW we’ve saved up our new features on the site for a bit of a splurge to help make your week scientriffic! First up is the sweetest little watering can you ever did see.
A new interactive game for our very youngest visitors to Planet Science. The Little Watering Can will run around collecting raindrops, and then water your plant. The plant will only grow as much as it can with the water you collect – can you make it grow so much it produces a flower? This new game will be part of our popular ‘Playbox’ area in the Under 11s section, introducing science ideas to the pre-school, pre-reading age group.
Moving on to careers – are you fed up with answering the age old question Miss/Sir…why do we have to do science? If so, have no fear – look here
This feature is for secondary science teachers, and comprises a collection of activities and profiles of role models. The skills science gives you can stand you in very good stead in your career whatever you choose to do. Attention to detail, a proper appreciation of risk, doggedness, problem solving, collaboration…in short those very skills that make you more likely to be a successful innovator in your future! Job profiles include a novelist who became her own PR representative to sell her book, a TV chef, an artist and an animator.
Anyone up for a party? Natch. Here’s another party idea from the stable of Party Plans for Parents.
A party for children (and adults!). There are ideas for engineering-based games and activities, food, décor, invites and more. This adds engineering as a featured subject to our ‘Little Horrors’ Halloween party, ‘Little Darlings’ girls sleepover party, the Undersea Party, and Space Party, all jam packed with as much science as we can er…spanner in.
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2. SciCast: The SciCast Pack
Have you been thinking about becoming a SciCast film producer? You might be a teacher, a club leader or one of the team. It’s not brain surgery of course, but how would you like a bit of info on how best to get a team to make a short film of real science?
As Michael Corcoran a Year 9 Student said
“We all agree that we couldn't have had a better time, or spent our final few weeks more productively than by working on the SciCast project. So thanks so much for getting the very best out of us - some of us are even keen film makers now!”
The SciCast Pack is designed to prepare potential ‘film producers’ and consists of a specially written ‘Producers Handbook’ from the Planet SciCast Team outlining our experience so far and giving our best advice for success. There will also be attention grabbing posters to encourage summer participation in SciCast and SciCast Physics, a “Scilence! Filming in progress” sign and information about engineering careers in the creative industries. Planet SciCast not only cements all that science learning, but provides an opportunity for collaboration, problem solving, creative thinking and lots of fun in a science context. Something for the late summer term perhaps?
To get a free pack you need to register your interest in making a film for SciCast.
Happy Filming!
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3. Royal Society Prizes for Science Books 08
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 Do you know a group of young people who would jump at the chance to read some new science books? Once again Planet Science has teamed up with the Royal Society to offer readers the chance to submit a junior judging panel for the Junior Prize 08. Last year the winner was ‘Can you feel the force?’ by Richard Hammond, but who will it be this year?
The Junior Judging Panels are responsible for reading, assessing and judging the six books that will be shortlisted for the Junior Prize of the Royal Society Prizes for Science Books 2008. The Junior Prize is for the best science book aimed at young people aged up to 14 years old, that was first published in English in 2007. So if you’d like to take part then apply at the Royal Society site.
25 Planet Science panels will be selected to receive a set of books, and a judging pack. And once you’ve taken part in the judging process you get to keep the books! Brilliant!
Deadline for application: 6pm on Thursday 13 March 2008.
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4. Stump the Scientist
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 Last week Allan Gillard asked
“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”?”
Dr. Andrew J. Alexander from the University of Edinburgh has the answer
“It is called "triboluminescence", although this is a bit of an historical misnomer because the Greek "tribos" implies rubbing. A more accurate name is "fractoluminescence" which is light emission due to fracture (sometimes we also speak of "mechanoluminescence", which is light emission due to mechanical action).
The exact mechanism for this type of fractoluminescence can vary from material to material, depending on the symmetry properties of the crystal. Some crystals are piezoelectric which means that they generate electrical charge when put under strain (the quartz crystal in your watch is piezoelectric, and is used to produce oscillations when a voltage is applied). If the piezoelectric material fractures while under stress, it is possible that some of the charge will separate and cause an emission of light. However, not all fractoluminescent materials are piezoelectric and vice versa. In fact regular ice is not truly piezoelectric, but there are other ways in which materials can produce amounts of electrical charge when strained: this is due to impurities or defects in the material or as a result of the strain itself causing local deformations that can become charged.
So, we need some local electrical charge. As to what emits the light, there are two cases. Case (1): it can be due to electrical discharges (like a lightning bolt), so we would most likely see the same blue/white colour that are emissions from nitrogen gas in the air that are excited by the discharge (just like lightning you see in the sky). This is most likely what is being seen with the ice. Case (2): it is also observed that some fractoluminescent materials will emit a different colour of light, usually because the material itself is fluorescent. This can either be due to the material absorbing the light emissions from the nitrogen and re-emitting a different colour, or in some special cases the material itself will use the charge to emit its own light directly.
I don't believe this is happening with the ice, since it is not fluorescent and probably does not have enough of the right impurities to cause this special type of emission.
One way to verify that it is Case (1) as above would be to freeze and crack the ice under neon gas (taking care to remove all nitrogen by bubbling neon through the water before it freezes). If the flashes are due to electrical discharges as I suggest, then under neon the flashes will be red.”
Thank you so much for that Andy, on this occasion the scientist definitely was NOT 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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5. Activity of the Week
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 Centripetal Force and a Bucket of Water
You will need:
- A bucket with a handle
- Some water
- A strong person who isn't afraid of getting wet
What you do
- Fill the bucket about a quarter full of water.
- Hold the bucket by the handle and spin it around in a large vertical circle (so that sometimes the bucket is the right way up and sometimes upside down, above your head). You'll need to do it fairly quickly so the water doesn't pour out.
What's going on?
The object of this experiment is to not get wet when the bucket is held upside down over your head. To do this the water in the bucket must be moving in a direction parallel to the ground. Although still acted on by gravity and falling towards you, the water will be travelling out in front or behind you. Although when the bucket is upside down the water is being influenced by gravity - pulling it towards your head - the motion of the bucket is rapid enough to prevent any meaningful spills. Instead the water falls, but the bucket catches up - keeping the water in the bucket and your head dry.
It is this catching up that prevents the water from spilling. However, it is your arm that supplies the forces necessary to keep the bucket in motion. The most important one is the centripetal force that pulls the bucket towards the centre of its motion (your shoulder). Without this force the bucket would fly off at a tangent. But there is, or at least was, the force which started the motion in the first place. Without air resistance or gravity once a force has produced the initial circular motion only the centripetal force is necessary to keep the bucket in the circle. In a classroom there has to be the addition of a small constant force keeping the bucket going (particularly at points when the bucket has to be lifted against gravity) - this force should always act at a tangent to the motion at that point - if it doesn't it can mess with the neat circular motion and water can spill.
A space shuttle in orbit is a near perfect case of circular motion in action. Once launched it needs very little other propulsion to keep it in its circular orbit. The centripetal force is supplied by gravity. The shuttle is constantly being pulled towards the centre of the Earth but its motion to the side means it constantly fails to hit the ground. It is said to be in a state of free fall.
Special Safety Advice
Do not let go of the bucket. Make sure the bucket and handle are strong enough to take the weight of the water and be swung in the air.
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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6. Mouses at the Ready
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 Would you like a big body poster? Not a poster of a big body but a BIG (and we mean big – it’s door-sized!) poster of the human body. This poster comes in two parts and is labelled with all the major organs and bones. Thanks to the Sunday Herald for this.
WE have THREE to give away. If you’d like to win one then email us with your name and address, and the words ‘BIG BODY’ in the subject line, to planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk.
The draw will take place at 5pm on Wednesday 12th March.
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March Magnetic Quiz
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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Making a Mint packs
Roll up! Roll up! Get yer Making a Mint packs here! Nice packet o’ seeds madam? Luverly poster sir? Everything must go. Go on you’ll kick yourselves in the morning. This is a mintastic opportunity for 7 – 14 year olds to win £1000 for the school or clubhouse in either Amazon or Garden Vouchers. Or if you don’t want to enter the competition then it’s still a fantastic poster and a packet of mint seeds for FREE. Sign up here.
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Practical Science Survey – help needed
Would you like to help shape a national strategy that SCORE will be recommending to Government before Summer 2008 on how to improve practical work in science education?
If so complete the SCORE practical science survey on the ASE website.
and call for evidence on Royal Society website.
Deadline 28 March
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Fossil Forage at Grant Museum – free family event
Sieve through our genuine fossil-rich sediment from a time when London was patrolled by sharks and rays. Find a 50 million year old shark's tooth and take it home! Come to the Grant Museum of Zoology and see what you can find in a day of free hands-on activities for the whole family.
National Science and Engineering Week Activities
Grant Museum of Zoology, Darwin Building, University College London, Malet Place, WC1E 6BT
8th and 15th March
10am to 4pm
Free and no need to book.
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SciencePod competition – 14-16 year olds
Entrants make a short podcast on one of four health-related topics:
- Diet and cancer – does it matter what we eat?
- Should smoking be totally banned?
- Is the cervical cancer vaccine a good idea?
- Should under 18s be allowed to use sunbeds?
There’s an mp3 player for the winner, plus prizes for second and third place winners.
Entries should be no more than 4 minutes and only UK entries can be accepted. The competition launches on 7th March.
Closing date is 30th April 2008.
There are further details on www.sciencepod.org.uk
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8. Recommended website of the week
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 CE Electric UK have great website for learning more about electricity and electrical safety.
The Fusebox lets you know more about electricity through the ages. The History Timeline charts everything from Faraday to the first microwave oven, and beyond!
Interested in how everyday objects use electricity to work? Explore the 'How do electrical objects work?' section to find out how a torch lights up, or how a doorbell rings. After that, why not try your hand at Circuit Builder? Finally, find out more about the process of lighting up your house in 'How Electricity gets to your Home'.
By the way, if you’ve got a good website to recommend 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 a pack of two books Jacquard's Web by James Essinger and The Infinite Cosmos by Joseph Silk? The lucky winner is Gary Donnelly of Nottingham. Happy reading!
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10. Joke of the week
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A man who had been in a psychiatric hospital for some years finally seemed to have improved to the point where it was thought he might be released. The head of the institution, in a fit of commendable caution, decided, however, to interview him first.
"Tell me," said he, "if we release you, as we are considering doing, what do you intend to do with your life?'
The patient said, "It would be wonderful to get back to real life and if I do, I will certainly refrain from making my former mistake. I was a nuclear physicist, you know, and it was the stress of my work in weapons research that helped put me here. If I am released, I shall confine myself to work in pure theory, where I trust the situation will be less difficult and stressful."
"Marvellous," said the head.
"Or else," ruminated the patient. "I might teach. There is something to be said for spending one's life in bringing up a new generation of scientists."
"Absolutely," said the head.
"Then again, I might write. There is considerable need for books on science for the general public. Or I might even write a novel based on my experiences in this fine institution."
"An interesting possibility," said the head.
"And finally, if none of these things appeals to me, I can always continue to be a teapot."
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