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01. COLDS AND FLU - CATCH 'EM HERE
Colds and flu can be a misery as we all know, but the newest arrival on the Planet Science website will have you sniggering through your snuffles... If you don't know the difference between a virus and a bacteria, you will after sneezing* your way through the many salient facts surrounding these most common agents of infection. And if you've been malingering lately and telling people you've got the "flu" - our guest doctor Graham Easton will put you straight on how a doctor can tell whether you have the genuine article or not. (Hint, if you're well enough to make it to the doctor's surgery, you probably haven't.) Have a look - it's not contagious! In fact it's just a click away * NB your computer will need a soundcard if you want to hear those sneezes...  |
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| 02. ACTIVITY OF THE WEEK: CUSTARD GONE CRAZY! If you were onboard Planet Science way back when it was Science Year, you'll probably have heard about this activity quite a few times - and if you ever saw one of our live shows, you may even have been hauled up on stage to try it for yourself. It was pretty much Science Year's hallmark science demo - and that's because it's very easy, very bizarre, and very scientific too. Also, it allows kids to play with a food substance and make quite a bit of mess, which seems to go down well. At least with them. You will need: Custard powder or cornflour (but NOT instant custard powder). Water An eggcup A bowl A spoon Food colouring (optional) What to do: 1. Measure 8 eggcups of custard powder or cornflour into the bowl. 2. Slowly add 3 eggcups of water, gently stirring the mixture as you add the water to make sure you don't get any lumps. (Still too dry? Add a little bit more water.) 3. Stir well... or at least try to. As you'll see, the resulting goo is a strange yellow substance that can act like a solid if you punch it quickly or roll it into a ball, but will also act like liquid if you touch it gently. Try rolling a bit into a ball. It's solid, it's solid... and now it's dribbling through your fingers. Weird. PS If you proportionally increased the amounts of custard powder and water, you could in theory fill a paddling pool with the mixture, and run across the top without falling in. (If you ever do this remember that you can jump up and down ok, but when you stop jumping you will sink into the mixture! To remove your feet pull gently or you may be stuck there for good... ) What's going on: When you stir the mixture around slowly the custard powder particles are able to move in the water quite freely, and so it acts as a liquid. When you move the mix faster or hold it in your hand tightly, the solid particles rub against each other causing friction. This makes them stick together and act - temporarily - like a solid. A solid-liquid mixture that behaves in this way is called 'dilatant'. Another dilatant mixture is quicksand - a mixture of sand and water. If you are ever stuck in a patch of quicksand, don't start to thrash about wildly! The sand particles stick together and it will be harder to get out. But if you move very slowly, the quicksand behaves like a liquid and you can get out, or just lie back and float on it if you prefer. This experiment came from the Little Book of Experiments, which is a brilliant online resource for both teachers and parents looking for ideas for activities. |
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| 03. AN ASTRONOMICALLY GENEROUS OFFER... LOOK OUT AND LOOK UP! Galileo had one, Kepler had one, and where would Sir Isaac Newton have been without his? No, not a wig. Or even a beard. The answer is: they each had a very impressive TELESCOPE. And now, you can have one too... Chris Knight of Greenweld Ltd, purveyors of all sorts of groovy technological items, have offered Planet Science an amazing selection of lightweight telescope construction kits to give away in a very generous free draw. The kits containing various different lenses (depending on which telescope) but which can each be niftily made up in a few hours... Take a closer look here: http://www.greenweld.co.uk/telescopes.htm Chris says, "The basic telescopes (Galileo and Kepler) are fairly simple to make and would be suitable for younger children say 7-12 (or younger with parental help) but the Newton Telescope is a more complicated construction and requires a little care in the set-up to get the best image so would be more suitable for 12+ to adult." We have on offer 2 Newtons, 5 Keplers and 5 Galileos ... and all you have to do to get into the prize draw is answer the following question: When was the last lunar eclipse visible in the UK? Was it: a. 8/9 November 2003 b. 11 August 1999 c. 31 May 2003 (NB a previous edition of the newsletter contains this information!) If you think you know the answer, send an email to anne@planet-science.com with the title TELESCOPE TEASER! in the title. Please include your answer, your telescope preference and of course your name and address. NB multiple entries will be eliminated from the draw. The draw will take place on Thursday 11th December at 5pm. Feeling lucky? Well, give it a go! (AND LOOK OUT BELOW - EVEN MORE ABOUT GALILEO, NEWTON AND KEPLER COMING UP VERY SHORTLY...) |
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| 04. GRANTS FOR SCOTTISH SCHOOL SCIENCE If you're associated with a school in Scotland, and have an idea for a project that could enhance school science for pupils making the transition from primary to secondary, here's news of a small grants scheme that could help you bring it to fruition. The Scottish Executive Education Department (SEED) is working with Careers Scotland and the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts (NESTA) to make the awards, and there's a total of £270,000 on the table for distribution over the next three years... The idea is for primary and secondary schools to work together on projects which will improve pupils' attainment in science and stimulate their enthusiasm for the subject. Schools can apply collectively as a school cluster group or a single school may apply on behalf of that school cluster group. The grants will be awarded on a competitive basis, ranging from £500 to £2500 in size. Needless to say, fresh and innovative ideas will be looked upon extremely favourably... Not sure whether your idea is fresh or innovative? Don't worry - to help give guidance and support, NESTA has contracted a consultant, Briony Curtis, who will advise SEED, Careers Scotland and individual school clusters not just on how to apply for the grants but also on how to make the most of them once they have been awarded. Interested? Read the full details at: http://www.scienceeducation3-18.com/latestnew.html or drop Briony an email at briony.curtis@bes8t.co.uk. |
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| 05. ROYAL SOCIETY A.S.E. BURSARY SCHEME Meanwhile, in another move aimed at promoting excellence in science education, The Royal Society are offering science teachers and technicians the chance to apply for a bursary to enable them to attend the Association for Science Education's Annual Meeting 2004. The meeting is being held at the University of Reading from Thursday 8th to Saturday 10th January 2004, and as ever, it aims to provide all sorts of opportunities for professional development through a wide range of talks and events. Royal Society bursary awardees will also receive a special invitation to attend the Royal Society's annual event 'In conversation with....', which this year features His Most Eminent Astronomerness, Sir Patrick Moore. Please note attendees will be encouraged to take full advantage of the drinkies, canapes and general schmoozing on offer at the associated reception! The bursaries are worth up to £175 and are for covering payment into the conference, whether for one, two or all three days. More information can be found at: http://www.ase.org.uk. For a bursary application form, please contact Beth Jones on 020 7451 2683 or e-mail beth.jones@royalsoc.ac.uk. The closing date is Wednesday 10th December, so hurry hurry hurry. Please note that this offer is only open to NON-current members of ASE. Well, you can't have your canape and eat it! |
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| 06. THIS WEEK IN SCIENCE HISTORY: HE WASN'T KIDDING... Are you old enough to remember the event? It certainly was certainly big news at the time. On December 10, 1979 Eddie Kidd succeeded in jumping more than 24 metres, above a 15 metre drop, on a motorbike. The stunt was performed in Essex in front of fans, press and even his family, who apparently succeeded in keeping their eyes open the whole time. Making a jump like that requires lots of research; the motorcycle has to be going at the right speed, it has to take off at precisely the right angle, and there are many unknowns like the direction and strength of the wind. Eddie landed safely with only a minor leg injury - but swore he wouldn't do a stunt like that again! Jumping over a gorge on a motorbike is rather like throwing a ball as far as you can. To get it far away you need to throw it fast, but the angle is perhaps the most important factor. The best angle for throwing is 45 degrees above the horizon. Any higher and all the energy makes the ball go up and come straight back down again, any lower and the ball drops to the ground before it reaches its maximum distance. Then there's the wind to consider. A steady wind will slow down or speed up the ball, and it may even change its direction slightly. But the gusts of wind that Eddie experienced made the bike move unpredictably, even making it rear up dangerously. Unlike throwing the ball, Eddie Kidd had some control over his flight while in the air. So while the skill in throwing a ball is making sure everything is right at release, Eddie had to concentrate the whole time. And not look down of course... For a biography of Eddie Kidd have a look here: http://www.cyclejumpers.com/eddie.html Here's a lovely little programme which demonstrates the physics of projectiles. You can change the speed, the angle and even add air resistance! http://www.phys.virginia.edu/ Good old Eddie - he was a soaring scientist! |
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| 07. RECOMMENDED WEBSITE OF THE WEEK And what's this? Here's ANOTHER daredevil, ascending to great heights to try and accomplish a feat that many of his spectators just do not believe possible... It's that Italian guy, Galileo Galileo! Up the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, with his two cannon balls and a feather... Have a look: http://www.slb.com/seed/en/watch/skydiving/galileo_pisa.swf Gorgeous colourful graphics, eh? Now drag two of his droppable items towards his hands ... and when you're ready, click DROP! Will the bigger cannon ball hit the ground before the smaller one? If you don't know the answer, let Galileo try it out for you... Now compare the feather. And now try enclosing the whole tower in a vacuum and try again. What a great historical-scientific drama, you could base an entire BBC4 documentary on that! This is just one page from Schlumberger's multilingual online Science Centre - which we've recommended here in the past. Have a look around the rest of the site while you're there, by clicking to: http://www.slb.com/seed/en/index.htm . There are loads of experiments and other activities, and you can brush up on your Spanish or French while you're there. C'est magnifique! Meanwhile if you'd like a bit more background information about Galileo's life and times, here's a good page with information: http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Galileo.html (Click through on the portrait and you'll see so many drawings and paintings of the man you'll start to feel you already know him!) And just so no-one feels left out, here are the pages relating to those other two pre-eminent telescopic gentlemen: Isaac Newton http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Newton.html Johannes Kepler http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Kepler.html |
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| 08. OVERHEARD IN THE SUPERMARKET... And so to curly kale. Kay Budge has been in touch to share a cringe-worthy moment with all newsletter readers... She says, "I overheard this in Tesco's some time ago now .... and winced accordingly! 'The trouble with curly kale is that it goes cold so quickly', she said. He replied, 'It must be because it has such a large surface area to volume ratio!'. People, please ..... no wonder scientists are thought of as a sad subspecies!" Can YOU beat that? If you've overheard anything similarly wince-worthy while pushing your trolley around the supermarket, please send it, perhaps we can work up to a full Sunday lunch menu! |
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| 09. CAPTION CAPERS If you'd like to guess which clever illustration Lesley Ford produced the caption 'Genetic Engineering had just produced a cow-less udder' for, then do click here You'll find the caption competition to provide witty captions for Gorazd Planinsic's physics based artworks. The competition is still running so get your humour synapses buzzing and give it a go, details of prizes and how to enter are all on the page. |
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| 10. JOKE OF THE WEEK And finally, guard your ribs - they're about to be tickled! Marc Atkinson has emailed, saying: "I have a biology?????? joke. A man walks in to a bar with a lizard on his shoulder. He says to the barman "I'll have a double whiskey and Tiny here will have half a Guinness" so the barman asks him "Why do you call him Tiny?" and the man replies "Because he's My Newt!" Thanks Mark (and for your kind words about the Planet Science website too - you're very kind.) And one for the road... A juggler was driving to a show when he was stopped by the police. Inspecting his car, the policeman peered inside the car, looked at the back seat and demanded to know: "What are matches and lighter fuel doing in your car?" "I'm a juggler," replied the driver. "Oh really?" said the policeman. "Let's see you prove it." The driver collected his props and began juggling three blazing torches at the roadside. Just at that moment an elderly couple drove by. The husband turned to his wife and said, "Heavens above - I'm glad I've given up drinking. Look at the test they're giving now!!" That's all for this week. If you have any news, recommended websites, jokes or eavesdroppings from your local supermarket, please send them straight through to Anne McNaught on anne@planet-science.com. Have a great week! |
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