STARDATE 324 | Friday 18th September 2009 Yarrr! Slap me thrice and hand me to me mamma, 19 September is Talk Like A Pirate Day! Aye! ‘Tis a poor lookout for any scurvy sailor not taking part. So be warned - hoist the Jolly Roger and grab yerselves some vittles and a firkin of rum for we’ve a rare thirst. The line-up this week: Gimme Five – Fascinating facts about phobias Confused Copy Mouses at the Ready – Tickets to Intech Planet Pick of the Week – Planet 10 Activity of the Week – Foil Boat Noticeboard – FYI Recommended websites of the week The Winners’ Enclosure Joke of the Week Planet Science Newsletters, Advanced Warning... Planet Science Website and Newsletter will be moving from NESTA to another organisation in the near future. Please be aware that we will be asking you to register for the newsletters again if you wish to continue receiving them. (We can’t legally hand over your data to another organisation, even if you might want us to!) Don’t try to sign up again yet or anything, look out for further instructions by special email and in the newsletters. Back to Top   1. Gimme Five Fascinating facts about unusual phobias 1. Arachibutyrophobia - Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth. No comment. 2. Dextrophobia - Fear of objects at the right side of the body. Here’s a tip - turn round. 3. Genuphobia - Fear of knees. Does it make any difference if they are short, fat and hairy? 4. Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia - Fear of long words. Then how in tarnation would you tell anyone you had it? 5. Zemmiphobia - Fear of the great mole rat. What the Sam Hill is a mole rat? we hear you ask. It’s a bald, beady-eyed, sightless rodent with huge teeth of course. Want to know more? The Phobia List www.phobialist.com Have you got FIVE facts about anything/everything? Preferably science-based of course (we’re not called Planet Science for nothing y’know). If so, send it along to us at planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk with GIMME FIVE in the subject line. Back to Top   2. Confused Copy What they really mean Second in our series dealing with journalists using science vocabulary in the wrong context. Here’s Ian Francis to explain. They say “The new policy on health represents a seismic shift in government thinking”. What they mean is that the new policy represents a big change to what has gone before. But, seismic movements are those of the various ‘plates’ that move continental and oceanic crust around our planet. While the things being moved are indeed big, the speeds that occur (a few centimetres a year at most) mean that the shift would not be noticeable comparing before and after maps, unless you’re prepared to wait around a few million years, (or at least, longer than governments last). Thanks Ian. More next week. Back to Top   3. Mouses at the Ready World Space Week is 3rd - 12th October and Intech, the Science Centre and Planetarium near Winchester, in conjunction with Astrium, is holding lots of exciting events. The event will be launched at 10:30am on Saturday 3rd by TV's Jon Tickle (Brainiac) and distinguished guests. INTECH will be filled with a huge variety of exhibitions, displays and activities from Astrium and others. There'll be special live planetarium shows presented by real space engineers, a chance to meet people who work in space science and the famous “Bridget ” - Astrium's life-size prototype Mars rover robot. They will also be joined by Rebel Legion, the costumed Star Wars group. Visit this link for more details We have two family tickets to give away! If you’d like to win one then send your name and address and the words ‘BRIDGET’ in the subject line, to planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk. The draw will take place at 4pm on Wednesday 23 September. Back to Top   4. Planet Pick of the Week World Space Week eh? In that case you’ll be needing a few space-like activities. What could be better than a game of Planet 10? There are two activities: 1.0 Solar System Explore the planets, comets and asteroids on an interactive virtual fly-through. Zoom in close on a particular planet or choose a different orbit view to see the whole system from afar. 2.0 World Builder Think you could create the perfect World? Here’s your chance to try. With World Builder, you call the shots. Work your way through each of the creation screens, but make your choices wisely, only certain conditions will ensure your planet is a successful place to grow and evolve. And what’s more there are teacher notes to accompany both of these.   5. Activity of the Week Aha me hearties! In case ye be forgetting the pirates (taps impatiently on newsletter opening paragraph with hook). What better than a trip aboard the good ship ‘The Foxy Foil’? Full speed ahead lads and keep a weather eye out. Foil Boat Hopefully you won’t need 78 attempts to get your foil boat moving! What you need 1. Kitchen foil and sharp scissors. Try not to use cheap kitchen foil - the thicker it is, the better. 2. Washing up liquid. 3. Washing up bowl filled with clean water. What you do 1. Cut your foil boat to the approximate design shown in the SciCast film. The dimensions aren’t vital, but smaller may be better, as it’s best if the foil is as smooth as possible - bigger pieces may be more affected by wrinkles. The foil needs to be made as smooth as possible, almost ironed, because you don’t want the washing-up liquid molecules to be able to get under the foil boat. 2. You should have a cutaway shape at the back (stern) of the boat - this is the place into which you’ll put a drop or two of washing up liquid. 3. There’s no harm in making the front (bow) pointy, for streamlining. 4. Gently place the foil boat on the water in one corner of the washing-up bowl. 5. Add your drop(s) of washing-up liquid to the water surface in the cut-out. What's going on The boat should float on the water due to surface tension. Soap molecules will tend to spread over the surface of the water, but due to the foil of the boat being in the way, they can only go ‘backwards’ initially. The boat is shoved forwards by the reaction to this movement, akin to the recoil of a gun when it fires a bullet. If you want to repeat this, you may need to empty out the water and start again with fresh - once the water has a detergent layer all over it, the motion stops. This activity came from the Boat Bother activity on the Planet SciCast site. Back to Top Primary Science Teaching Awards The Primary Science Teaching Awards are sponsored by the AstraZeneca Science Teaching Trust. Do you know any excellent teachers of primary science? Have you nominated them for a Primary Science Teaching Award? Deadline extended to 30th September 2009 For more details How far can you go? The Shell Eco-Marathon Youth Challenge UK is an annual fuel economy competition organised by Shell Global Solutions. It’s an educational program that challenges competitors from schools and youth teams to design, construct and test a vehicle that will complete a circuit using as little fuel as possible. Each year the teams demonstrate creativity and innovation to try and get as many miles to the gallon as possible. Schools new to the scheme can benefit from the schools initiative, which is supported by the Government's Government’s Learning Grid and The Royal Academy of Engineering. This includes a 4-stroke GX-35 engine, a design and build manual and an introduction to a locally based engineering company who will assist and mentor the project. If you wish to find out more, please email ecomarathon@shell.com or watch the video from this year’s event   Planet Science Feedback Panel As Planet Science prepares to move to a new home (more about that when it’s all completely in the bag) we’d like to add to our esteemed Planet Science Feedback Panel. It’s incredibly useful to have a pool of people who care about the site on an email list, who can be there to bounce ideas off a few times a term, to make sure we are continuing to engage and inspire. The panel list needs to be big because not everyone has the time to reply to emails all the time. Your email address won’t be shared with the list. If you’d like to be added to the panel please write to PS Editor Katie Walsh katie.walsh@nesta.org.uk with PANEL in the subject line and please write a few words about yourself. Many thanks if you’d like to join the list, we welcome all and any subscribers or visitors including young people if they’d like to join. Teachers needed to help us inspire children about genetics Jeans for Genes is the UK charity which aims to change the world for children with genetic disorders. They are seeking primary and secondary school teachers to give them their feedback on their new educational website - www.GenesAreUs.org - which provides curriculum targeted resources for teaching children about genetics and what it means to have a genetic disorder. They are looking for teachers with a special interest in science, PSHE and/or citizenship to take part in focus groups taking place in early October. The sessions are CPD accredited and, in return for your time and expertise, they are able to offer participants £50 per session. Groups will be held at their offices in London on: Monday 5th October 2009, 6-8pm - Primary school teachers Thursday 8th October 2009, 6-8pm - Secondary school teachers For more information or to register your interest, please contact Ailsa Taylor, Tel: 020 7199 3317, email: ailsa.taylor@jeansforgenes.com   7. Recommended websites of the week Amazing Space uses the Hubble Space Telescope's discoveries to inspire and educate about the wonders of our universe. We particularly like the Tonight’s Sky section whose stargazing guide keeps you informed about constellations, deep sky objects, planets, and events. To tell us about your favourite science websites - drop us an email with the words ‘RWW’ in the subject line, to planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk. Back to Top Remember last time when we were giving away books from the Royal Society Science Book prize longlist? The lucky winners are Julie Cook, Benjamin Clough, Julie Jackson, Esther Garcia-Rodriguez, Claire Bloomfield, Debbie Giles, Tom Shearn, Ian Gubb, Patrick Bowen, Rachel Price, Miss J Oldfield, Mr D Babbra, Nigel Mortimer, Mike Jelbert, Laura Byrne, T. Huelin, Patrick Ganley, Cath Pountney, Anita Bush, Leone Bailey, Mhairi Stewart, Jane Griffin, Susan Wilkinson and Alison Green. Whe-hay! What a bunch of winners! And talking of winners... The winner of the Royal Society Prizes for Science Books 2009 is The Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes, an extraordinary account of how science inspired the romantic generation. Well done Richard!   Back to Top   9. Joke of the week Long ago, there lived a sailor named Captain Bravo. He was a manly man's man, who showed no fear when facing his enemies. One day, while sailing the Seven Seas, his lookout spotted a pirate ship. The crew became frantic! Captain Bravo bellowed, “Bring me my red shirt!” The first mate quickly retrieved the captain's red shirt, and while wearing the brightly coloured frock, the Captain led his crew into battle and defeated the pirates. That evening, all the men sat around on the deck recounting the day's triumph. One of them asked the captain, “Sir, why did you call for your red shirt before battle?” The captain replied, “If I had been wounded in the attack, the shirt would not have shown my blood. Thus, you men would continue to fight, unafraid.” All of the men sat and marvelled at both the courage and intelligence of such a manly man's man. As dawn came the next morning, the lookout spotted not one, not two, but TEN pirate ships approaching! The crew stared in worshipful silence at the captain and waited for his usual brilliant orders. Captain Bravo gazed with steely eyes upon the vast armada arrayed against his ship, and without fear, turned and calmly shouted, “Get me my brown pants. ” And if you think that’s bad, you should see the jokes in the Planet Science joke collection Have a great week! Back to Top   Remember... If you would like to view the Planet Science Newsletter Archive click here. You can also read back issues of Randomised for younger teens here. Or you can read back issues of Hay-Wire for Under 10s. PS if you would like to unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time, just reply to this email with the word 'UNSUBSCRIBE' in the title. PPS Sorry if you've been having problems with the Planet Science site today - there is a server hardware problem which should be fixed shortly. Back to Top