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01. GNATURALLY GNEW GNASHERS
It was the science story of the week, and it must have brought a smile to millions of Bank Holiday revellers throughout the UK. The headline was 'Grow Your Own Teeth', and the news is that a novel form of stem cell technology has been developed here in the UK that could shortly mean enable us to re-grow lost teeth. Planet Science is very proud to be (indirectly) associated with this, as NESTA, our parent organisation, was one of the two major backers who funded the work. If you managed to miss the story or would just like to know more, here's the original press release as it appears on the NESTA website: http://www.nesta.org.uk/mediaroom/newsreleases/4278/ ... and here's one of the front page stories that resulted, in this case in the Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/medicine/story/ All this talk of teeth ties in spookily well with our currently online challenge too, the mouthy LAUGHING GEAR QUIZ, which you can here. So hurry hurry hurry and have a go, if you think you know what's good for you!  |
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| 02. ACTIVITY OF THE WEEK: MAGNET MAGIC This week, use your magic (magnetic) powers to impress your friends and family with a handful of coppers... You will need: * A table * A magnet (a fridge magnet will do) * A number of 1p and 2p pieces * A small dish * A pencil * A willing volunteer What to do: 1. Before your volunteer arrives, sort your coins into two piles: one dated 1992 and later, the other dated 1991 and earlier. 2. Take a few of the coins dated 1991 or earlier and lay them out on the table. 3. Place the pile of coins dated 1992 and later in the dish. 4. Now call your volunteer: show them the coins on the table and get them to examine them, and even swirl them around to satisfy themselves that there's nothing dodgy about the way you've arranged them. 5. Now offer them the dish of coins dated 1992 and later and ask them to pick one. 6. Get them to mark the back of the coin in pencil with their initials, then place the coin on the table with the others and shuffle them around, while you look away. 7. Announce that you, the Mighty Mysterious (INSERT NAME HERE) will pick their coin out WITHOUT looking at it. Prepare yourself for mutters of disbelief. You could don a blindfold here for extra showmanship... 8. With a flourish, produce your magnet and move it over the coins on the table. The marked coin will stick to the magnet. (If you are super-skilled in sleight of hand you could of course conceal the magnet in your hand - but you'll need to practice that one!) 9. Remove blindfold and ask the volunteer to verify it is their coin. Bask in admiration. NB: Remember to wash your hands thoroughly after handling coins. What's going on? The secret lies in the year the coins were minted. British copper coins minted after 1992 are made from copper-coated steel, and steel is magnetic because it contains iron. Prior to this copper coins were made from bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, which is not magnetic. Other things to try: 1. Make a magic wand for your trick by using a rolled up piece of paper and taping a magnet to the inside of one end. 2. Challenge someone to sort a pot of mixed copper coins into coins dated pre- and post- 1992 in the fastest time. Try not to snigger too much as they start peering at the dates... Warning: In 1998 bronze versions of 2p coins were made for a short time due to operational reasons. Approximately 55% of 1998 2p's are bronze, and 45% are copper plated steel, according to the Royal Mint. Not a lot of people know that! |
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| 03. MOUSES AT THE READY FOR: RIOTOUS ROBOTS Look out, look out, there are Scholastic books about... From the creators of the Horrible Science and Horrible History books, comes: 'Riotous Robots' - an automated adventure around the inner and outer workings of the world's biggest, smallest, cleverest, strongest and grooviest robots. Robots began as just a twinkle in the eye of science fiction writers many decades ago, but now they're everywhere, doing all those tasks that humans can't or won't do - or just wouldn't do quite so well as a precision-engineered automaton... What's more, because of their nerves of steel, not to mention microprocessors, photovoltaic cells, and ability to withstand environmental extremes, they're able to reach the parts we physiologically challenged human creatures just can't, like outer space, and the bottom of the ocean. Written by robo-doc Mike Goldsmith, 'Riotous Robots' is currently sitting pretty in the shortlist for the Junior Aventis Book Prize, and thanks to our friends at Scholastic Children's Books we have ten copies to give away. If you want to get yourself into the draw, all you need to do is send an email entitled I'M FEELING RIOTOUS! to anne@planet-science.com by Thursday 13th May at 5pm. Your email should include your name, address, and school (if you belong to one). Good luck! |
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| 04. RECOMMENDED WEBSITES OF THE WEEK If you're a parent of a child in the early stages of primary school, here's a great site that's full of ideas and activities to help you complement at home the learning that's going on at school. It's called HELP YOUR CHILD DISCOVER... The site has been produced by the DfES, so it's specifically geared towards parents whose kids are at schools following the National Curriculum, but regardless of where you are, we think it's got a lot to offer. A whole range of subjects are covered, including Portraits (Art), Romans (History), 'Festivals' (Religious Education), 'Settlements' (Geography) and five science-based ones: Electricity Light & Sound Materials Planets Solar systems Each one runs through what's being taught at school in that particular subject, and the main concepts to be learned, but that's just background reading before you get onto the activities and experiments that will help your child understand the subject better - and have a lot of fun in the meantime. In 'Light & Sound' for example, you'll find activities and explanations involving rainbows and shadows; instructions for making your own kaleidoscope and ideas for creating a range of home-made musical instruments (and a quick soundproofing device for the rest of the house - only kidding). It all fits together to make a really useful resource, and to make things even easier, all the pages are print-offable in PDF form. Here's where you'll find it at: http://www.parentcentre.gov.uk/discover/index.cfm Secondly, we recommend NOISE - BRINGING SCIENCE TO LIFE. This groovy website for teenagers really does present a powerful case for studying science at school and beyond. It's a factfile of interesting and perhaps surprising areas of science and technology that need scientifically literate people to work in them, with a range of case studies of role model-esque people who have enviable jobs - the type of job that you just know they'd be doing for a hobby if they couldn't get paid for it... which they luckily can. And you could too. Some are students right now, while others are taking their duties seriously as eg. a chocolate tester (yes!), a submarine technologist, an explosives investigator and a surf science expert... The site is designed to make everything look bite-sized, but there's a lot of information there, and it's really nicely presented. Here's the link: http://www.noisenet.ws/ |
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| 05. AWKWARD QUESTION OF THE WEEK Still scratching your head from last week? Relief is at hand... Here's a reminder of the question: A wildlife photographer leaves his tent one morning to look for wild bears. He walks 10 km south. He finds nothing so he turns 90º and walks east for 10 km. Still no sign of any wild bears, so he turns 90º and walks directly north for 10 km. He is surprised to find himself back at his tent. How did he end up back at his tent by travelling 10 km south, 10 km east and 10 km north? Here comes the explanation: The answer is easy if you realise that the photographer is looking for polar bears and is at the North Pole. This puzzle is therefore about the curvature of the Earth... First he walked 10 km south and turned 90º. To walk true east he would have walked in a line that was always 10 km from his tent. When he turned 90º and walked north, a 10 km walk would have brought him back to his tent. If he had been looking for penguins the same thing would have happened at the South Pole! How did you get on? Here's this week's teaser... Mr T is receiving hypnotism for his fear of flying. The hypnotist starts by dangling a pendant on a chain in front of his eyes and swings it right and left like a pendulum. The hypnotist and her hand remain completely still, but the pendulum suddenly swings backwards. Why is this? ? ? ? ? The answer will appear before your eyes next week. 'Til then, mystery-lovers! |
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| 06. WINNERS Last week's fabulous offer from the publishers of Focus magazine was of five free 1-year subscriptions, and five sets of science books. Thanks to everyone who entered, and here - drumroll - are the names of the winners: For a 1-year subscription: John Roden, Yardleys School in Birmingham Andy Moore, The Kings School in Gloucester Linda Holden, St Georges College, Surrey Kathy Winter, Noel Baker Community School, Alvaston Kevin Straw, The Gedling School, Nottingham For £20 of science books: Matthew McGurk, Marsden Primary School, Whitburn Pauline Williamson, Costessey High School, Norwich Louise Brackenbury, Impington Village College, Impington, Shamash Alidina, St James School, Twickenham Mrs M Hughes, Saddleworth School, Oldham Congratulations to all of you. Your goodies are in the pipeline. |
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| 07. JOKES OF THE WEEK Welcome back to Dave Hart, who's been listening to Radio 2 and has borrowed a joke for you. Thanks Dave (it's not your fault it's sooooo rubbish!) Man: I'd like a packet of helicopter flavour crisps please. Shopkeeper: Sorry, I've only got plain. Probably sounded better on radio, but all the same we couldn't possibly leave you on that dismal note, so here's another: A prisoner in jail receives a letter from his wife. "I have decided to plant some lettuce in the back garden. When is the best time to do this?" she writes. The prisoner, knowing that the prison guards read all mail, replies, "Dear Wife, whatever you do, do not touch the back garden. That is where I hid all the gold." A week or so later, he receives another letter from his wife: "You wouldn't believe what happened, some men came with shovels to the house, and dug up the back garden." The prisoner smiles knowingly to himself, and writes back: "Dear Wife, now is the best time to plant the lettuce."  And that's it for this edition of the newsletter. If you have any contributions for future newsletters please send them in to Anne McNaught on anne@planet-science.com. Have a great week! |
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