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01. ACTIVITY OF THE WEEK: PLASTIC MILK
This week we have a dairy-related activity, courtesy of our very kind friends at Scientriffic, Australia's brilliant hotspot for science fun and education. What you need: 100 ml milk 10 ml vinegar A saucepan A thermometer A rubber band A piece of cloth for straining A spoon A paper towel for draining An adult to help What to do: 1. Warm the milk to about 50ºC with your chosen adult's help. (Use the thermometer to determine when the milk is 50ºC.) 2. Add the vinegar and stir. 3. Use the rubber band to fasten the straining cloth loosely over the saucepan and strain the mixture through it. 4. Squeeze out as much liquid as you can in the cloth. 5. Put the solid on the paper towel to dry. 6. Press small amounts of this substance into thin, flat shapes and leave to dry in the sun for a couple of days. What's happening: The substance you have made is called casein (pronounced KAY - sin). Casein is the name for a group of proteins found in milk that are also used to make cheese. Casein is mixed with other stuff to make a type of plastic that's used for buttons. Shape the casein you made into discs, and you can use them for game counters, or for decorating, or stick some holes in the middle and you really can use them as buttons! You can add colour, too, by rubbing food colouring into the casein before it dries, or by painting the discs after they're dry. Thank you Scientriffic! Want more ideas for activities? Then check out the full collection of things to make and do at: http://www.csiro.au/scientriffic/HTMLs/sfc_activities.html.  |
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| 02. FREE FAMILY PASSES TO GLASGOW SCIENCE CENTRE If you've not been to Glasgow Science Centre yet, it's time you went! It's big, it's silver, and it's packed with over 300 manifestations of science grooviness, such as an 'invisible' harp, a DIY toothpaste-maker, and even a device that allows you to morph yourself into Britney Spears ... Plus they have loads of interactive workshops, live science shows, labs, an amazing 'Virtual Science Theatre' and their in-house e-Learning Centre. Special features currently on or coming up soon are: * 'MENTAL', an exhibition from Planet Science's favourite fashion designer-turned-polymath Helen Storey. This amazing collection of pieces explores human creativity through the melding together of science and art... * Daily 'MARS IN THE SKY' shows to coincide with National Astronomy Week (23 - 31 August) and the closest approach of Mars to Earth in 60,000 years... (of which more later) * Special EVENING ASTRONOMY LECTURES on 28 August and 4 September. * Throughout HEALTHY CITY WEEK (7 - 14 Sept) the Centre will be pulsating with shows and demonstrations involving blood, bile and body bits... ... and as if that's not enough, at the end of September the new Imax film 'Bugs 3D' will be launched with a creepy-crawling BUGS WEEKEND. "Are you brave enough to handle a giant hissing cockroach or eat a crunchy cricket?" they ask... Well, are you?! Find out more about everything that's going on at their website: http://www.gsc.org.uk. And get your name in the draw to win one of four 4-person family passes by sending an email entitled GLASGOW TICKETS PLEASE! to anne@planet-science.com. Make sure you include a note of your name and address so that we can get the tickets to you if you've won. The draw will be made at 10am on Friday 29th August. Good luck! |
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| 03. ALL NIGHT STAR PARTY Back to news of Mars, and the BBC/Open University's big event tomorrow evening (Saturday/Sunday) the 'All Night Star Party'. Live on TV and online, the fun begins at 11.20pm on BBC2. The programme will be coming broadcast from the Jodrell Bank Radio Observatory, with lovely presenter Chris Riley happily stationed out on La Palma in the Canaries at the massive Isaac Newton Telescope. Amongst many other things, Viewers will be able to direct the latter to explore exactly what they want, while viewers using the web will be able to home in on other research telescopes around the world. Read all about the programme and how to get involved at: http://www.open2.net/starparty/ - enjoy the party! |
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| 04. THIS WEEK IN SCIENCE HISTORY The 29th of August is the anniversary of a discovery without which you wouldn't be reading this - and you wouldn't be able to work your hairdryer, operate your hammer-action power drill or deploy your heated hostess trolley either... What oh what could this super-civilising discovery be? It clearly changed the world in many, many ways... Find out by clicking through to: http://www.sciencenet.org.uk/onthisdayinscience/0803/2908.html Did you guess right? |
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| 05. RECOMMENDED WEBSITES OF THE WEEK You are feeling sleepy... your eyelids are heavy ... you are opening your wallet... and taking off your diamond earrings... Did you read about the Russian hypno-thieves who seem to be able to make people believe it's in their interest to hand over all their money and valuables to a pair of strangers? If not, here's the freaky story as it appeared in the Guardian today: http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1027220,00.html A stark warning to anyone prone to daydreaming in the street, and it seemed like a good idea to delve into the mysteries of the mind this week with a look at: HOW HYPNOSIS WORKS. This is from the How Stuff Works site and while the authors acknowledge that science does not yet fully understand the phenomenon, they do explain the basic idea and a few theories as to what might be happening inside the brain during the process of hypnosis... Have a look at: http://science.howstuffworks.com/hypnosis.htm And, if you're fascinated by all things brain-related, we have two more sites you might like to check out. First of all BRAINS RULE at http://www.brainsrule.com/. This is colourful and highly animated, good for kids and teacher-friendly too. There are various sections, but the most elaborate is the games department, and if you want to learn about the insides of the human brain, this is where you want to be. The games are definitely on the 'educational' side as opposed to being any sort of high-action white-knuckle funride but they're good for junior brain-fans all the same. The site also contains brain-career features and they promise a question-answering service in the near future. (Plus they say you can get a free t-shirt by simply sending an email - but we can't vouch for that, not least because they're based in the US.) Worth a look though... And meanwhile on the BBC's site, they have a Hot Topics file on Artificial Intelligence which you might find interesting. Here's the link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/hottopics/ai/ |
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| 06. JOKE OF THE WEEK First of all a leftover WANTED poster from last week, this time from Rosie Sargent (11) from Pate's Grammar School, Cheltenham. Here it is: WANTED Reward $10,000 Invisibility Cloak Thank you Rosie! And thanks to Katy Hewis who's been at it again, and brewed up the following moments of madness: She says: I really like the 'Wanted' jokes but how about some text books e.g. 'Is there life on Mars?' By Frank Lee Know 'Life beneath the Sea' By Chris Stations 'Water-based Solutions' By Miss Sybil Lickwids 'Sealed Vessels' By Lydia Dessicator 'Origin of the Universe' By L. F. A. Bang What a great idea - and that's the challenge for next week then. Please send any similarly groan-tastic textbook titles in to anne@planet-science.com and we'll even see if we can rustle up some prizes from somewhere for the best three... That's all for now. Please send any contributions for future newsletters to Anne McNaught on the above email address. Back next Friday, meanwhile have a great week! |
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