SCIENCE YEAR NEWSLETTER - ISSUE 77 Week ending Friday, 26th July 2002 Welcome to another groovy instalment of the Science Year newsletter. This week we take a leaf out of the Commonwealth Games' book and bring you: diving, cycling, coaches' tips for all types of athletics - and something alarming in the swimming pool. And if you're quick you could win some free tickets - not to the Games - but arguably to two even MORE exciting places. So, here with go with all the news that's fit to sprint through... • SCIENCE YEAR NAME CHANGE - update • CONFERENCE CALL - BA, Leicester, September • CONFERENCE CALL - NAICE, London, October • MOUSES AT THE READY 1: Free tickets to 'Jet Age to Genome' • MOUSES AT THE READY 2: Free tickets to Bletchley Park • SCIENCE CLUB STUFF TO DO THIS SUMMER • ACTIVITY OF THE WEEK - Fast food divers • SPORTY QUESTION OF THE WEEK 1 • SPORTY QUESTION OF THE WEEK 2 • RECOMMENDED SPORTY WEBSITES OF THE WEEK • JOKE OF THE WEEK • A.O.B. SCIENCE YEAR NAME CHANGE UPDATE First of all thank you to everyone who wrote in with their thoughts and suggestions regarding the new name for Science Year as it rounds the bend into another lap and another 11 months... All comments and ideas have been considered extremely seriously - and a shortlist are now being considered extremely seriously by those higher up than us on the shopfloor. We'll keep you posted. Meanwhile it's safe to say that no two comments received contained the exact same preferences or suggestions... Perhaps Abraham Lincoln was reflecting on a similar sort of re-brand/marketing quandary when he made his 'you can't please all the people all the time' situation-summary. Well, watch this space! And so to two conferences about science education, including a look at Science Year and its first term results... >top 1. LEARNING ABOUT SCIENCE IN SOCIETY If you're involved in science education, our partners, the BA (British Association for the Advancement of Science) would like to invite you to a 2-day conference, which is taking place during the BA's annual festival in September. The conference is entitled 'Learning About Science in Society' and will be held on the 10th and 11th September 2002 at the University of Leicester. The two days' activities will comprise presentations, panel discussions, and reports on several current science-education initiatives, such as 'The Young People's Review of the Curriculum' and 'Science and Engineering Ambassadors'. Tickets are £30 per day, though a limited number of free places (including Cover) are available to teachers in maintained schools. For more details contact the festival hotline 020 7973 3052 >top 2. LEARNING ABOUT SCIENCE IN SOCIETY On a similar note, you're also invited to the annual NIACE conference, 'Life, the Universe, and Almost Everything: the Value of Adult Learning in Science.' NIACE stands for the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education so not surprisingly their focus is particularly on the post-school age-group. Here's what they say: "Science is all about life and the world around us, but many adults feel learning about science subjects is not for them. Knowledge about science and technology is important to enable everyone to understand and participate in critical debates for our future. Following publication of NIACE's policy paper, this conference aims to promote wider participation in science subjects and to share examples of some user-friendly programmes aimed especially at adult learners." Speakers include Susan Greenfield, Andrew Morris, and Science Year's own Director, Mike Tomlinson. For further details and booking information look up the NIACE website at: http://www.niace.org.uk/Conferences or contact Philippa Cattell on 0116 204 4245 (tel), 0116 254 8368 (fax) or email: philippa.cattell@niace.org.uk. >top 'JET AGE TO GENOME' - FREE TICKETS Imagine travelling back in time to a family sitting room in 1952, and interrupting their Coronation festivities to tell them about how their lives are going to be changed by technology over the next few decades. Their reactions would be well worth observing - though they probably wouldn't believe you... First you could explain about TV becoming commonplace - in colour and stereo of course - with a remote control and optional tv dinner on your lap. Or the advent of satellites, breathalyzers, mobile phones and barcodes in something called 'supermarkets'... And if they were still taking you seriously, you could tell them about cloning, xenotransplantation and how they've just teleported a laser beam (let's face it, they'd be more likely to go for that than 90% of the UK population transfixed by a programme called Big Brother...). 50 years of innovations that have changed the world is the focus of 'Jet Age to Genome', an exhibition currently on display at Birmingham's ThinkTank science centre. It was designed to mark the Queen's Jubilee, and it contains one innovation from each year of her reign. It was funded by Science Year and NESTA, which is why we're particularly proud of it, and it has its own website you can visit at http://www.jetagetogenome.com. If you're around the Birmingham area, why not go along in person? We have 15, yes FIFTEEN pairs of tickets to give away free to the first 15 people who email us (one pair each of course). Quick, quick, quick - email: anne.mcnaught@scienceyear.com with the words 'Jet Age tickets' in the subject field, and a note of your postal address. >top BLETCHLEY PARK - MORE FREE TICKETS Another great place to visit is Bletchley Park near Milton Keynes. This old mansion and the pre-fab huts that were set up in its grounds formed the top secret home of the Allies' codebreaking activities during World War 2. If you've seen the film 'Enigma' you'll know all about it already... Nowadays, all secrecy has been removed, and the Park welcomes visitors of all ages. So much so that they have decided to offer Science Year newsletter readers: A free double pass, valid until 3rd December - to the first three people who email in NOW. As before, email anne.mcnaught@scienceyear.com with your name and address, and this time put 'Bletchley Park tickets' in the subject field. ALSO: as an ongoing offer, Bletchley Park have very kindly decided to give all Science Year supporters (that's you!) one free child ticket for every adult ticket bought at the Park. You need to let them know when you're planning to visit though so they can sort it out for you ... have a look at the homepage of the Science Year website next week. >top SCIENCE CLUBS ARE BURSTING OUT ALL OVER Are you having a SciZmic summer? That's what the science clubs network co-ordinator Ros Mist wants to know. Because if it's science-related activities for kids you're after, there are a zillion opportunities this summer. Ros says, "Nine science centres in England and Wales are running sciZmic summer clubs - is there one near you...? Here are a few tasters, and you can find the others via the sciZmic website at http://www.scizmic.net. * The Observatory Science Centre, Herstmonceux (July 30th and Tuesdays in August) http://www.the-observatory.org * Kelham Island Industrial Museum (Tuesdays in August). http://www.simt.co.uk * The Look Out nr Bracknell (Aug 9, 16, 23, 30) and Snibston Discovery Park in Coalville (Aug 8, 12, 13, 14 & 15) "If these aren't close by," she says, "don't worry, with 80 science and discovery centres in the UK, something WILL be happening near you! Visit http://www.ecsite-uk.net to find your nearest science centre. >top SUMMER ACTIVITY OF THE WEEK Hope you've had hours of fun with last week's 'Catapulting Canisters' activity. This week, in tribute to the medal-winning divers who piked, reversed and twisted their way to glory in Manchester yesterday... May we present: The Cartesian Diver It's an oldie but goodie. It was called 'Bottle Imps' in the 18th Century - but here it is again with a modern, and some would say slightly fruity, twist. You will need: • a ketchup sachet (like the ones you get with fast food - not that we're recommending fast food) • a 2-litre plastic bottle • water • a glass or other clear container • raisins • clear fizzy drink. What to do: fill up the bottle with water. Drop a sachet of ketchup into the top, and put the lid tightly back on. Squeeze the bottle and observe how the sachet dives down. Let it go, and the 'diver' comes back up - a bit like Tony Ally popping back up to the surface to see what score the judges have given him. It's that simple! What's going on science-wise: Things sink if they are denser than the fluid around them. If you drop some ketchup into a glass of water, the ketchup sinks and stays sunk (and makes a lovely mess at the bottom of the glass.) But your sachet of ketchup is actually 'ketchup + packaging + an air bubble' so overall it's less dense than ketchup on its own, and floats somewhere around the middle of your bottle. However, if you squash that bubble, you'll change the density of the 'ketchup + packaging + air bubble' diver. When you press the sides of the bottle you make the volume of the bottle smaller. The lid is still on the bottle so the water cannot overflow or push air out to give it space. Everything inside the bottle is compressed (squashed). But gases compress more easily than liquids, so it's the air bubble inside your sachet that gets squashed the most. Now the air bubble is denser, your 'ketchup + packaging + air bubble' is also denser than before, so isn't as buoyant (floatable), and sinks. Now for the amazin' raisins: Drop a raisin into a glass of FIZZY water. It'll go right to the bottom, but then ... it'll rise to the top again. That's because carbon dioxide bubbles from the drink attach themselves to the raisin, making a brand new entity of 'raisin + bubbles' which is overall less dense than the water, and so it floats. When it gets to the top, the bubbles will burst, and it will sink again. And round and round it goes until - who knows when? >top SCIENCE LINE SWIMMING QUESTION OF THE WEEK Hair today, alien tomorrow? 'Is it true that swimming pool water can make bleached hair go green?' The truth is out there... Have a read for yourself at: http://www.sciencenet.org.uk/database/Biology/9706/b00749d.html >top SCIENCE LINE TRICK CYCLIST QUESTION OF THE WEEK 'How do you do bunny hop jumps on bikes?' Here's the answer: http://www.sciencenet.org.uk/database/Physics/9812/p01268d.html As ever, our questions of the week were pulled out of the archives of our trusty partner Science Line, whose mission and business plan in life is simply to answer questions of a scientific nature, speedily, and free of charge. So if you've ever wondered why your hairs grow at different speeds, what makes milk go off, or whether some people really do have 'heavy bones' ... give them a ring or visit their website at http://www.sciencenet.org.uk. >top RECOMMENDED WEBSITES OF THE WEEK If you love sport, but particularly from the confines of your chair, check out Sport Science at http://www/sportsci.org Have a read and dream for a moment that you're in charge of coaching for an entire national squad. There are papers and comments from experts around the world, exploring and debating a wide range of sporting hot potatoes. Take nutrition. 'Should Athletes Nibble or Gorge?' is one discussion paper you can dip into. And nasal strips. Do they help breathing? Apparently not, but they do help cool the brain. Or that's at least the view put forward by one contributor - it's fascinating stuff. For kids, we recommend the slightly gory but subsequently very popular Smartplay site at http://www.smartplay.net . It's all about sports injuries - the main types and how they're treated, plus how to avoid becoming a statistic... >top JOKE OF THE WEEK Q. What are the small rivers that run into the Nile? A. The juveniles! AND Q. After the flash on his camera malfunctioned, what did Satan get back from Boots? A. Prints of darkness! >top A.O.B. That's all for now - if you have any contributions for next week, drop a line to anne.mcnaught@scienceyear.com. Have a good week! >top