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SCIENCE YEAR NEWSLETTER - ISSUE 61 Week ending Friday, 5th April 2002  Welcome to another Science Year newsletter, this time highlighting a number of free events you may like to attend if you're around Dundee, Harlow or London. And featuring a spring-like preponderance of news and information about small furry animals, small tadpoley animals and small feathered animals. Oh and Rolf Harris, a large hairy broadcasting star. Here's what's hatching: • RSPCA – plea re. baby animals in the wild • RSPCA – plea re. fledglings • ANIMAL HOSPITAL • DELIGHTS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FAMILY FUN DAY • FREE TICKETS still available for DUNDEE SCI/ART LECTURE • What makes a NOBEL PRIZEWINNER? • SCIENCELINE Question of the Week • Recommended WEBSITES of the Week • CAT JOKE of the Week • AOB LEAVE BABY ANIMALS ALONE The Easter holidays are a great time to get out and about in the countryside, and with spring now well and truly underway there’s plenty for anyone with an interest in nature to enjoy. And of course, this is our chance to make up for days lost last year when the foot and mouth no-go precautions were in place… But while you’re digging out your wellies and planning your route, the RSPCA have a plea: leave baby animals alone. Walkers, they say, at this time of year frequently come across young foxes and badgers who appear to be without parents nearby and are too small to survive alone. With the best of intentions many people then bring these young animals to the RSPCA thinking that they’ve saved them from early death. Last year, for example, over 700 of these apparently ‘orphaned’ baby mammals were taken from the wild to three of the four RSPCA wildlife hospitals – and those numbers were down on the usual annual tally due to foot and mouth. 
However, appearances can be deceptive. These young animals are usually doing fine, and may just be out exploring on their own, with the adults nearby. Fox cubs for example often play above ground in daylight and vixens may leave their litter alone for short periods - a recent investigation showed that out of 61 fox cubs found alone, only 3 were parentless and in any danger. Removing animals from the wild obviously breaks up family groups, but there are other problems caused by taking healthy baby animals into captivity. Some animals become too used to human contact while being looked after and then have to be rehomed in sanctuaries rather than released into the wild. Those that are released into the wild are not always equipped with necessary skills for survival that their parents would have taught them, had they been left alone. >top LEAVE FLEDGLINGS ALONE TOO! 
The first fledglings are now being hatched, and between April and July each year, around 20,000 baby birds are passed to the RSPCA. Again, most of these are perfectly healthy, but instead of being fed by their parents and learning to fend for themselves in the wild, they suffer stress from contact with humans.RSPCA senior scientific officer Tim Thomas says: "Baby wild animals are best left alone. Only intervene if the youngster is injured, in danger or truly alone. Wild animals can suffer greatly by being handled and this should be avoided at all costs." Anyone who finds an animal in distress should contact their nearest vet or call the RSPCA on 0870 55 55 999 (calls charged at national rate). For more information, have a look at the RSPCA website at: http://www.rspca.org.uk >top ANIMAL HOSPITAL And if you’re an animal-fan, but prefer to watch them from the comfort of your sofa, a quick reminder that Rolf Harris is back with another series of Animal Hospital on BBC 1. The series started last night, and more information can be found online at http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/programmes/tv/a_hospital/ . The AH site links through to the Beeb’s extensive Pets pages which have all sorts of information on animal care and a range of wackier stuff eg. Your pets anti-social (humanwise) habits and how to cope with animal phobias … And to keep up the baby animal theme, we’ve invested in three copies of the ‘Animal Hospital – Baby Animals’ video in an attempt to perk up the quality of the Joke of the Week part of the newsletter – more about that later. Meanwhile, news of three events you may like to go to: FAMILY FUN SCI-TECH DAY - ESSEX If you’re around Harlow in Essex here’s advance warning of exactly where you’ll want to be on Saturday 20th April. Namely, at the ‘Delights of Science and Technology Family Fun Day’. This is a free event to celebrate all fun and intrigue of hands-on science and technology. Children of all ages are welcome to attend, with any old fogies they may wish to tow along with them. The fun will be underway from 1pm – 4pm, and the activities will include: Things to make: torches, towers, kites, bridges and Disgustascopes (yes, that’s what it says here!) Things to investigate: skeletons, electricity, forensic science Things to take part in: the T-Rex Trek, The Waste Game, fun homework-related challenges and a science quiz Things to see: the Study Centre Eye and Harlow Web It’s all happening at Harlow Study Centre, Netteswellbury Farm, Harlow, Essex CM18 6BW. (This is just off Tripton Road, follow the signs from Second Avenue. A map can be found at: http://www.streetmap.co.uk) >top ROLL UP ROLL UP FOR SCI-ART And you’re around the Dundee area on the afternoon of 23rd April, here’s a reminder about a Science Year lecture you’d be crazy to miss!
The theme of the evening will be embryonic development – and how a scientific, symbolic and captivating concept like this can lends itself to both scientific and artistic exploration.
After the lecture, Dr Gill Samuels from the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, will guide an open discussion on how we understand scientific advances and the relationship between science and art. The event is being held at Dundee Contemporary Arts Centre, and will begin at 3pm. If you’d like tickets for this event, send an email to: scotland@scienceyear.com. (And by the way, there are still a small number of tickets for two other Science Year lectures, Professor Sir Christopher Evans’ lecture on 16th April, and Simon Singh lecture about probability and maths on 24th April. These are both happening in London, and if you’d like more information and/or places, please email keynote@scienceyear.com) >top WHAT MAKES A NOBEL PRIZEWINNER? The Science Museum and the Royal Society have got together to hold an event that may shed some light on the brains, dedication and work that goes into winning that coveted Swedish medal... The UK's two most recent winners of the Nobel Prize for Medicine, Paul Nurse and Tim Hunt will be interviewed by the Guardian's science editor Tim Radford at the Science Museum in London on 24 April at 7pm. The event's taking place in the IMAX theatre, and costs £4.00, and they're taking bookings right now on 0870 870 4868. (And just a reminder that you can find information about both of them and all other Nobel Prize Laureates through the years at: http://www.nobel.se/medicine/index.html.) >top SCIENCE LINE QUESTION OF THE WEEK As you probably know already, Science Line is a free information service the entire raison d'etre of which is to answer beaucoup des questions that you may wish to pose them about matters scientific. They are on constant alert waiting for your questions, so any time you have a science query – get on to them. Phonewise, their lines are open Monday - Saturday, 1pm-7pm and the number is 0808 800 4000 or you can visit their website at http://www.sciencenet.org.uk and type in your question there.  This week, to continue our animal theme, we'd like to bring to your attention a couple of their recent Q & As, one about amphibians, and the other wondering whether their household pet is working properly. Amphibianwise: 'Why do frogs sing and are they territorial?' ... And the answer to that question can be found at: http://www.sciencenet.org.uk/database/Biology/ And for all cat-owners: 'My cat sleeps all the time, is it normal?' The answer - plus very effective pie chart - can be found at: http://www.sciencenet.org.uk/database/Biology/ It's a cat's life eh? >top RECOMMENDED WEBSITES OF THE WEEK Anyway ... if your cat won't talk to you, you can always leave the house! Enhance your enjoyment of our great national outdoors with UK SAFARI, an extensive website which as the name suggests is packed with factfiles, alerts and information all about the UK's wildlife. Check it out at: http://www.uksafari.com/frogs.htm . Find out more about frogs and tadpoles at: Kids Ark - Toad and Frog Tadpoles http://web.ukonline.co.uk/conker/pond-dip/tadpoles.htm And if you want to find, bring home and look after up a few tadpoles till they're old enough to hop out on their own, here's an American site with more practical advice. How to Raise Tadpoles: http://allaboutfrogs.org/info/tadpoles/index.html >top CAT JOKE OF THE WEEK A cat dies and goes to heaven. God meets him at the gate and says, "You've been a good cat all of these years. You can have anything you want. What would you like?" The cats says, "Well, I lived all my life with a poor family on a farm and had to sleep on hardwood floors." God says, "Say no more." And instantly, a fluffy pillow appears. A few days later, 6 mice are killed in a tragic accident and they go to heaven. God meets them at the gate with the same offer that He made the cat. The mice reply, "All our lives we've had to run. We've been chased by cats, dogs and even women with brooms. If we could only have a pair of rollerskates, we wouldn't have to run anymore." God says, "Say no more." And instantly, each mouse is fitted with a beautiful pair of tiny rollerskates.  About a week later, God decides to check and see how the cat is doing. The cat is (naturally) sound asleep on his new pillow. God gently wakes him and asks, "How are you doing? Are you happy here?" The cat yawns and stretches and says, "Oh, I've never been happier in my life. And those Meals on Wheels you've been sending over are brilliant!" * * * * * That was obviously a BRILLIANT joke. But if you have any other animal related jokes of a clean and amusing nature, then we have three Rolf Harris 'Animal Hospital - Baby Animals' videos up for grabs as rewards. If not for you, then how about for a young relation...?! So what are you waiting for? Get emailing. >top ANY OTHER BUSINESS If you’ve got it, we want to hear about it. News, events, information and cool school science teaching ideas are all welcome - send them through to anne.mcnaught@scienceyear.com . Have a great week! >top  |
