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| STARDATE 330 | Friday 6th November 2009 Remember, remember the 6 of November...hang on, that doesn’t sound right. Oh well, remember it anyway because that’s the day your beloved Planet Science newsletter pings into your Inbox. Ah the joy of it. The line-up this week:
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1. SciCast  YOUR VIEWS ON PLANET SCICAST
Over the coming weeks we are going to be gathering information about Planet SciCast use or non use with a view to making it better. You may have used the online films in your teaching or worked with your students to make films of your own. Either way we are keen to hear from you. Even if you’ve never accessed the SciCast website and aren’t quite sure what we’re going on about, we still would like to hear from you. If you’re happy to commit around 10 minutes of time to completing an online survey, please email theteam@planet-scicast.org.uk, with SciCast Views in the subject line, to register your email address with the Planet SciCast team. You should also state whether or not you have used or participated in Planet SciCast at all before. We will then email you the appropriate online survey. When you have completed it, your response will automatically be sent to the independent evaluators, Isinglass Consultancy Ltd. For incentive purposes we have purchased 10 Giant Bubble kits, and everyone who gives us their view online will go in to the hat to win one. Making bubbles this big means you’ll be the centre of attention in any situation and it will also make you (temporarily) much more attractive. (Yes really - we’ve tried it.) Thanks if you can help. |
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2. Gimme Five  Time for some truly bizarre facts courtesy of Weird Fact of the Day1. There are about 10,000,000,000,000,000,000 - ten quintillion - insects alive on earth at any one moment. In total, they'd weigh about 300 times as much as all the humans put together. 2. The northern leopard frog swallows its prey using its eyes - retracting them into its head and using them to help push the food down its throat. It's thought that this is the reason why lots of frogs close their eyes while swallowing. 3. The colour of all the visible light in the universe, averaged out, is a sort of beige colour, according to work by astronomers Karl Glazebrook and Ivan Baldry. The colour has been given the name 'Cosmic Latte'. 4. Autosomal-dominant Compelling Helio-Ophthalmic Outburst syndrome (ACHOO syndrome) is a common genetic condition that makes people sneeze when suddenly exposed to bright light. It also has a non-silly name, the photic sneeze reflex. 5. The first picture anybody ever clicked on the web was a promotional photograph of Les Horribles Cernettes, a girl group formed at particle physics research centre CERN, who sing about high energy physics. They had an office next door to web creator Tim Berners-Lee. 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. **Thank you to Mr Wright for this image of a sun induced sneeze! Back to Top 
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3. Stump the Scientist  Last time Sue Falch-Lovesey asked“How many trees/plants does it take to keep me breathing?” Adrian Terruli wrote in to say “There is a website called www.carbon-info.org where I have previously downloaded a carbon offset data sheet which can help answer your question. According to this data sheet a typical young tree absorbs 2.5kg CO2 per year - and represents the net gain in photosynthesis - about 7g per day. This then equates to the net amount of Oxygen a tree gives up (after using some for respiration.) A bit of Chemistry and Maths and you find the ratio is 44g CO2 : 32g O2 which is about 5.1g of O2 per day, per tree. Now the tricky part. The only estimate I have of the resting respiration rate for adult humans is about 15g of Glucose per hour, which would require 42g of Oxygen. Multiply by 24 hours in a day = 1008g of O2 per adult per day. Almost there. 1008g of O2 per day / 5.1g per tree per day = 198 trees Hmm - I never worked it out before but that looks like an awful lot, doesn't it? Of course grasses and shrubs photosynthesise a lot faster and a plant can photosynthesise many times faster when humans are around because we excrete the CO2 they need. Thanks for such a great question” However James Stevenson says “There are a few different answers to this question, but two mature trees can provide enough oxygen for a family of four.” The final word goes to Nigel Bowen “This is not an easy question to answer as the amount of oxygen produced by a plant depends on a lot of factors - including the age of the plant, the type of plant, the location, and time of year. Remember that a tree or plant in the natural environment contributes oxygen to the total atmosphere from which we breathe. If we think about one type of plant, the tree, it has been calculated that if we were in a closed system with the tree (e.g. living in a closed biosphere such as a sealed greenhouse) that the average person requires around 60kg of oxygen per year to survive, and that on average one tree will produce approximately 120kg of oxygen every year, meaning two mature trees can supply enough oxygen for a family of four for a year. However, trees vary a lot in the amount of oxygen they produce. This depends on how much sugar the tree produces during photosynthesis as it grows - the more sugar it produces, the more oxygen it releases. carbon dioxide + water ---> glucose (sugar) + oxygen (sunlight & chlorophyll) The amount of sugar a tree produces depends on the species. The age of the tree is also important. A fast growing young tree will produce more oxygen than a mature old one, which grows slowly. Fast growing trees such as poplar also produce more oxygen than slower growing trees such as oak or maple - although oak and maple have much longer lifespans, so produce more oxygen overall. Finally, coniferous and deciduous trees produce different amounts of oxygen (remember, deciduous trees have broad leaves and lose their leaves during the winter - whereas coniferous tree (evergreens) have needles for leaves all year round). Because coniferous trees generally have a larger leaf surface area, they produce more oxygen during photosynthesis. But coniferous trees, although still green in winter, are generally inactive (due to the cold and lack of sunlight) and may even absorb more oxygen as they respire than they give out during photosynthesis! This could be an important question if we are to send people to Mars - due to the long time it would take to get there (about 9 months compared to 3 days to get to the moon), astronauts would have to have some way of generating enough oxygen for the journey. One way would be to take plants to provide the oxygen - getting the calculation wrong could leave you gasping for breath and have disastrous consequences!!” Thanks everyone for all these responses. What an interesting debate. Anyone else care to comment? If you can help or have a burning question of your own then send us an email with STUMP THE SCIENTIST in the subject line to planet-science.news@nesta.org.uk |
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4. Mouses at the Ready
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Firstly, let us grovel apologetically for the monumental error in the last newsletter. We failed to make it crystal clear that we were seeking FE colleges to let us know their idea for a science project. If you are an FE college who has a great idea for a project and would like the following pack to offer as prizes for your students then...
The nice folks from the
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5. Planet Pick of the Week 
Are you a fireworks fan? Off out to a display this weekend? If not, no worries - Planet Science has just the thing...Fire Facts is an interactive set of fireworks which explore the facts behind the flames. Next time you’re indulging in some real life pyrotechnics, you’ll be a well informed fire fan! Back to Top
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6. Activity of the Week
** This is one for the professionals only **Flash Cotton This is one for the professionals only. Focused Infra red light causes Flash Cotton to spontaneously ignite. What you need 1. A small amount of Flash Cotton. 2. An infrared bulb. 3. 2 Parabolic mirrors to focus the heat - you'll need to know their focal points. 4. Power supply for the bulb. 5. Retorts/supports for the flash cotton and bulb, MUST be non flammable. What you do 1. Set up the mirrors opposite each other about 1m apart, with the bulb at the focal point of one, and the support for the cotton at the focal point of the other. 2. Turn on the infrared bulb 3. Place a palm full sized wad of flash cotton on the support at the focal point of the second parabolic mirror. 4. STAND WELL BACK - and wait for the flash... What’s going on? Infrared is a form of electromagnetic radiation, just like light. It has a longer wavelength than light and our eyes can't detect it, but our skin can feel it as heat. Parabolic mirrors are specially designed to take light travelling straight towards it, in parallel rays, and reflecting it towards the mirror's focal point. Infrared light from the infrared bulb radiates out in all directions, the infrared caught by the mirror is reflected towards the other mirror, where it is focused towards the flash cotton at the second parabolic mirror. The cotton, being soaked in flammable chemicals, ignites as the heat intensifies, demonstrating the existence of infrared as light with all its reflecting and focusing properties. Special Safety Advice Only use a small amount of flash cotton, and have fire safety equipment on hand. Both the light bulb and second focal point will be hot - so keep your hands clear. This activity came from the Flash Cotton activity on the Planet SciCast site. Back to Top |
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8. Recommended websites of the week  Stop Press! The new IET Faraday website is now live and you are invited to take a closer look...The award-winning IET Faraday is a free online resource from the Institution of Engineering and Technology for teachers of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). The high quality, flexible materials are aimed at KS3 (11-14 yrs), GCSE (and equivalents) and the Engineering Diploma. This year, the theme is Urban Evolution. The site is full of fascinating films which explore the technologies behind sustainable urban living; these are supported by teacher materials, a film-making competition and some very addictive games! Find out how dancers in a Rotterdam nightclub generate electricity and how schools and homes may be powered in future. Discover the largest engineering project in London (it's not the Olympics...) and, if your stomach can stand it, take a “Sip of Sewage” with the water filtration game! We were rubbish at it! Thank goodness we’re not responsible for the quality of drinking water in this country... 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 |
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