SCIENCE YEAR NEWSLETTER - ISSUE 43 Week ending Friday, 16th November 2001 Boo! Back again - where did that week go? As ever it's been a packed seven days and once more there's a full range of hot n spicy topics on the menu in this week's update. 1. Microscope Update re: England 2. Free Microscopes for Scotland 3. New Co-ordinator of Sicence Year in Scotland 4. Harry Potter and the magical Science Year cinema ads 5. Yippee.... Science Year website has new Search Engine 6. 'Walking With Beasts' on a TV near you now 7. 'Technogames' workshops being held 8. Faraday Award nominations sought 9. Science Year Nobel Prize Quiz reminder 10. Technicians Discussion Group 11. Science Line Question 12. Recommneded Website of the Week 13. Joke of the Week UNDER THE (DIGITAL) MICROSCOPE First of all a quick update on the free electronic digital microscopes being distributed as part of the Science Year 'Kit Pot', in England. These have now been sent out to maintained secondary schools, middle deemed primary schools and middle deemed secondary schools in England. Orders have also been placed for microscopes which will be sent out to maintained and non-maintained secondary special schools, pupil referral units, hospital schools and city technology colleges. These microscopes will be dispatched during the next few weeks. And just to repeat, they ARE free and that's official, so you don't need to phone Science Year to double check. MICROSCOPES FOR SCOTLAND How many aggrieved emails did we get from teachers in Scotland wanting to know why only secondary schools in England had been sent a free digital microscope as part of Science Year? A few, to say the least. Apologies for any confusion, but as explained before, the reason for such apparent unfairness between the UK nations is that although Science Year is a UK-wide initiative, it's organised separately in each nation, including choices about funding, eg for distribution of digital microscopes. So rest assured there will be good stuff on offer wherever you are. However, if you're a science teacher at a state secondary school in Scotland... you WILL now get a microscope, plus resource pack and slides. The letter has just been sent out to headteachers by Fiona Selkirk. FIONA SELKIRK THAT'S WHO! Who's Fiona Selkirk? Only the newly appointed Co-ordinator of Science Year in Scotland... A huge welcome to Fiona taking up this key role, which is based at the SETPOINT at the Glasgow Education Business Partnership. Fiona's background is in science and education-related organisations such as London Zoo, the journal 'Nature' and Glasgow University. She's also a part-time Regional Officer for the British Association for the Advancement of Science in Central and South Scotland and she says, "The opportunity to be involved with Science Year as Coordinator in Scotland was just too good to refuse. I fell in love with the excitement of science at an early age and seem to have spent my whole life trying to get others to share my enthusiasm for it. I hope that everyone out there who wants to be involved too will get in touch so that, together, we can make Science Year in Scotland a big success and get the message across that science really is relevant, important and can be great fun!" If you want to contact her, her details are as follows. Email: scotland@scienceyear.com Tel: freephone 0800 731 2773 or snailmail: Science Year Scotland, Glasgow EBP, Partners in Learning Centre, The Adelphi, 12 Commercial Road, Glasgow G5 0PQ. At short notice Fiona was unable to help the newsletter out with a 'favourite science joke' but she says she's going to find us a fantastic one for next week. So no pressure there then. HARRY POTTER AND THE MAGIC CUSTARD No need to remind anyone that the most eagerly awaited kids' film of the century opens this weekend. Harry, Ron and Hermione will be wizarding their way throughout the UK, and ... if you're going to see the film in England over the next four weeks, and the popcorn queue leaves you enough time to catch the adverts, you could have an extra treat in store. Namely, you may find yourself watching the Science Year Put Your Teacher on the Spot Custard Experiment Ad... It's not quiddich but it's still pretty cool! If the title of the ad sounds familiar, it's probably because it's one of the five short films of the same name currently being screened during C4 schools' programmes, each of which zooms through the instructions for a funky home experiment which will baffle your friends and family... and possibly yourself. Though (hopefully) not your science teacher. Let's hope it gets them running towards the Science Year website. And to make it a triple publicity whammy, a poster and freebie postcard campaign is running alongside. That custard gets everywhere. SEARCH ENGINE How can I get to the Planet 10 game? When were the 'Who Am I?' teachers' resources sent out? What was that thing about why electric eels don't electrocute themselves? And where's the full-size Ewan McGregor downloadable hologram kit...? These and any other questions about content on the Science Year website can now be answered at the tap of a keyboard. We present: the new search engine. The search box can be found on every page beyond the homepage. That plus the 'Help & Site Map' pages should, we hope, make finding exactly what you want easier than ever before. Give it a go ... (Bizarrely, it didn't bring up any references to that Ewan McGregor kit a moment ago ... could it have just been a dream?) WALKING WITH BEASTS Did you see it? Or did you miss the first one? Doesn't matter, you can still catch the repeat ... Following in the footsteps of the ratings-busting, award-winning success of 'Walking With Dinosaurs', is BBC TV's new 'Walking with Beasts' series. If you've not heard of it already, it's a similarly time-traveling journey back in natural history, this time to 49 million years ago, long after the demise of the dinosaurs. As before, the team involved in the series pushed back the boundaries of technology in animatronics and computer-generation, and took the cameras and the 30+ 'creatures' to locations around the world in a quest for authenticity - plus stunning backdrops. There are six episodes in the series, and here's when they're on: First showing: BBC1 Thursdays 8.30pm Repeated: BBC1 Sundays 4.30pm (watch listings though for slight variations) Look out also for two programmes about the science behind the series. The first is 'The Triumph of the Beasts' and it's on Wednesday 21st November at 8pm. And if you've got the technology you can also watch 'Walking With Beasts Interactive' - the first time a factual programme has been given the interactive treatment. It's available on all digital platforms and will continue to be available for a week after broadcast. The website for information, resources and games for all ages is at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/beasts . TECHNOGAMES Meanwhile on a vaguely related topic, the BBC programme 'Technogames' is running workshops in the west of Scotland in the coming week to prepare the ground for creation of the next generation of robo-competitors. Technogames, which is the sister show to 'Robot Wars' (the live tour of which was proudly sponsored by Science Year this summer in case you could possibly have missed all our offers of free tickets at the time!) are holding two workshops aimed at teachers and others who will be helping young people enter the challenge. The venues are as follows: Wednesday 21st November, The Big Idea in Irvine. (Further Information: 08708 403118) Thursday 22nd November, The University of Glasgow (Further Information: SETPOINT 0141 330 5370) And for more info on all things robotic, visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/robots FARADAY AWARDS - NOMINATIONS SOUGHT Who's your favourite science communicator who's also a practicising scientist? The Royal Society annually presents their Michael Faraday Award to 'the individual working scientist who in the opinion of the Council of the Royal Society has done most to further in the United Kingdom an understanding of the role of science, engineering or technology in society'. Winners over the past few years have been Lewis Wolpert, Robert Winston, Susan Greenfield, David Phillips, Steve Jones, Ian Stewart, Walter Bodmer, Ian Fells, Richard Gregory. So as you can see it's pretty well become a Hall of Fame for those eloquent and popular scientists who devote time to communicating their subject to the public, and whose books/lectures/broadcasts jump off the shelves/pack out/dominate the ratings the minute word gets out... You have a chance to be involved in choosing the next one because the Royal Society are currently seeking nominations for the 2002 award. Find out more at: http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/royalsoc/faraday2002.htm NOBEL PRIZES It may not be as good as a Faraday Award, but if you suspect you may not be in the running for a Faraday, how about the Science Year Nobel Prize competition? Entries have been pouring in since the weblines opened last week. Even a few with all the answers correct!... As mentioned last week, the prize at stake is a set of the funkiest Royal Mail stamps EVER (the scratch n sniff one being a comparatively middle-of-the-road example) PLUS the stamps come with an experiment pack full of colourful and make-able bits and pieces, presumably sort-of aimed at kids, but nevertheless we fought over them in the office here, so draw your own conclusions! If you've not had a go yet, but you think YOU know what eg. Niels Bohr did with those two gold medals ... what are you waiting for? There's only one more week. Get quizzing - Go to Quizzes and Competitions in our Wired section TECHNICIANS DISCUSSION GROUP Are you a science technician? If so, you might be interested in joining a free discussion group service that's been set up specifically for technicians to liaise and discuss relevant issues, and already has over 350 members from around the UK, Europe, Australia and China. The group was set up by Valery Cobb, a lab technician at a school in Caistor, Lincolnshire, because, she says, "I feel some of us are rather isolated in our jobs and it would be good to share problems and information." The idea is that if you have a technical problem or a good tip you'd like to share, you email your message in, and it's distributed to all the other technicians on the subscription list. They can then reply either to you, or to the group as a whole. Valery says, "If you would be interested in being on this list, please email me as soon as possible. Then, I will contact you again just before I put you on the mailing list. Please enclose your school name, telephone & fax number." Her email is: vcobb@lineone.net WHY PHONE A FRIEND WHEN YOU CAN PHONE SCIENCE LINE? This week the question we've chosen from the Science Line files is designed to take your mind off the cold weather... and transport you to sunnier climes. At least for a moment! Here it is: "If hummingbirds only eat nectar, where do they get their nutrition?" Hmmmm? The correct answer can be found at: www.sciencenet.org.uk/database/Biology/Original/b00105d.html And if you have any other science-related questions of your own, Science Line is there to help. And it's FREE - with no strings attached. Their phone number is 0808 800 4000 and the lines are open from 1pm - 7pm Monday to Saturday. Alternatively visit their website at www.sciencenet.org.uk. RECOMMENDED WEBSITE OF THE WEEK Our recommended website of the week this week is the University of Wisconsin's award-winning site, The WhyFiles. Regularly updated, the site explores and explains issues in science, particularly the science behind current news stories. For example at the moment, it features stories and information about anthrax and the fight against it, and there are also general features on heart transplants, and the Moon. Check it out at: www.whyfiles.org/ JOKE OF THE WEEK - LIMERICKS "Please don't go back to the jokes, we'll do almost anything to avoid that," says Kieran Salter of Aston Clinton School. (Eh?? What exactly was so un-amusing about the cross-eyed dog joke or that one about the meteor?) Anyway, seems we're still on the limericks and as ever we welcome all contributions. And here are the Kieran's colleagues' barnstormers: 1. Tribute to Orville and Wilbur Wright and their 1903 triumph: There were two brothers named Wright Who made the world's first controlled flight They flew in 'The Flyer' And went higher and higher They must have been quite a sight! By Rosie Ewles - Science Co-ordinator 2. Tribute to all the scientists involved in space exploration and to Science Fiction writers inspired by them An Alien landed on Earth And said, "What's this spaceship worth? It shines up a treat And I keep it quite neat Only one careful owner since birth!" By Linda Borley - Governor 3. Tribute to Thomas Crapper who invented the first flush toilet which he installed in Royal Households There was a man named Crapper Who was by all accounts dapper He invented the flush For the Royals, a must That clever dapper Crapper! By Julie Goode - Parent Keiran also suggested the newsletter start up a SCIENTISTS' ANNIVERSARY SLOT. Which seems like an excellent idea ... but we haven't had time to research any yet so as Big Brother would say, we'll Get Back To You on that. ANY OTHER BUSINESS As ever, if you have AOB for the newsletter, we want to know about it for next week. Please send information about events, news items, non-libellous science gossip, weblinks, jokes or any suggestions for the website to: anne.mcnaught@scienceyear.com And have a top week!