Randomised Friday 23rd October 2009 Issue 35 Welcome to another Randomised. It’s that spooky time of year so we’ve plenty of spooktastic ideas for all you naughty boils and ghouls... Sooo Random - Horrors! Gear Giveaway - Skeleton balloons Over 2U! - Bendy Bones Winners - Horrible Science books Rib Busters - ghostly guffaws 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.

1. Planet Picks - Come and visit us!

Ever been round a cobwebby, creaking, crepuscular, mouldy mansion on the moor? No? OOOOoooooOOOOO (that’s the wind howling). Well if you DARE it’s all there in our Goth House, a house of horrors devoted to the science of all things spooky, scary, black and/or beastly. You could spend hours in there, in fact you could spent the whole Halloween weekend in there, and when you come out maybe someone nice will have made you a lovely jelly brain or some peppermint scream creams....

If your Halloween weekend involves smaller children then treat them to a Little Horrors Party! Plenty of ideas to decorate the house and really get a ghostly atmosphere going. Who said that?! Plus you can make all sorts of ghastly ghoulish grub to serve up to all your little fiends, sorry friends.


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2. Gear Giveaway - You’ve got to be in it to win it...

Talking of parties... This week we have TWO packs of 25 glow-in-the-dark skeleton balloons to give away!

To win a pack, send us an email with your name and address, and the words ‘BONY BALLOONS’ in the subject line, to randomised.news@nesta.org.uk The draw will take place at 5pm on Wednesday 28 October.

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3. Over 2U! - Science experiments for you to try at home...

Note: Adult supervision recommended, simmering and bleaching of bones involved.

Tie chicken bones in knots using simple household ingredients

Bendy Bones

What you need

• Two large glass jars
• Some small, long, thin chicken bones (Instructions for cleaning them thoroughly are below.)
• An old saucepan
• Washing soda (sodium carbonate)
• Rubber gloves
• Bleach
• Vinegar

What you do

1. Wash the bones and pick off as much meat as you can, then put them in an old saucepan with warm water and add a teaspoon of washing soda.

2. Simmer (don't boil) the pan for at least ten minutes, and then see if you can remove the rest of the meat. If you still have some meat left on the bones, carry on simmering until you can take it all off.

3. Now put the bones in one of the glass jars. Put on your rubber gloves. Fill the jar with water and add a capful of bleach. Leave the bones in this mixture until the next day, then remove the bones and pour the water and bleach mixture down the drain.

4. Put your clean chicken bones in the jar or glass and pour in enough vinegar to cover them. Leave them somewhere safe for 5-7 days. Change the vinegar every two days.

5. Remove the bones from the jar and try bending them. What happens?

6. You're now ready to practice your bone-bending, knot-tying technique! Once you've finished playing, tie the bones up into a tangle (or arrange them into a pattern of your choice) and leave them out to dry. You can fix them in place using pins or adhesive if necessary. After a few days they'll go hard again, leaving them permanently bent.

What’s going on?

You probably know that bones contain calcium. This is found in the form of calcium carbonate, which helps give bones their hardness. Calcium carbonate reacts with acids. Vinegar is a weak acid, so when you put the bones into the vinegar the calcium carbonate starts to react with it.

You can even see the reaction taking place - if you observe the bones at regular intervals when they're submerged, you'll see small bubbles forming on their surface. These are bubbles of carbon dioxide gas, formed as the calcium carbonate breaks down.

Without the calcium carbonate, the bones become much softer and are less rigid than before. Hey presto- bendy bones!

Leaving the soft bones out in the air for a while allows them to harden again (although this isn't a simple reversal of the reaction with the vinegar).

Special safety advice

Bleach is an irritant for eyes and skin, so make sure you wear gloves when using it. If you get any on your eyes or skin, wash it off with lots of cold water.

This activity came from the Bendy Bones activity in the Little Book of Experiments

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4. Winners - Has your name been picked out of the bag?

Last time we were giving away TWO packs of Horrible Science books. The lucky winners are Emma Whitmell from Northumberland and Teela Fermin from Doncaster. Well done!

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5. Rib-Busters - Some jokes we’ve dug up...

What was the favorite game at the ghosts' birthday party?
Hide and shriek!

Which story do all little witches love to hear at bedtime?
Ghoul Deluxe and the Three Scares

When is it bad luck to meet a black cat?
When you’re a mouse!

What’s a vampire’s favourite fruit?
Neck-tarine

THAT’S ALL FOR NOW

You’ve been Randomised!

Send any questions, comments, jokes or experiment ideas to: randomised.news@nesta.org.uk

P.S. If you wish to unsubscribe from Randomised then reply to this email with UNSUBSCRIBE as the subject.

Bye for now!

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