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Randomised Friday 11th July 2008 Issue 12
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Welcome to another Randomised. And guess what?
Next week we’re going to bring you another because on 18 July the Planet
Science newsletter department is hanging up its mouse and shutting down its PC
for the summer. So don’t miss next week’s summer special... |
- Sooo Random –
Science news straight to your Inbox
Don’t
knock a cycle helmet – it may save your life. Read more...
- Over 2U! – Science experiments for you to try at home...
Is
it an old fossil? Maybe, if you think one week is old! Read more...
- Gear Giveaway – You’ve got to be in it to win it...
Not
only a June Flipside but a July one too. Read more....
- Wot’s Hot? – Wimbledon
What
can we do now the series has ended? Read more...
- Winners – Has your name been picked out of the bag?
Johnny
Mackintosh and the Spirit of London. Read more...
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1. Sooo Random – Science news straight to your Inbox...
An 11-year-old girl had a miraculous escape when a
car ran over her HEAD! She was riding home and fell off her cycle after she
lost her balance. The car ran over her arm and head, crushing her cycle
helmet. Though she went to hospital and was kept in overnight, she was left
with nothing more than a hurt elbow. Wow. Let’s hear it for cycle helmets!
According to manufacturers, cycle helmets must protect from a large impact on
the head so they have to absorb lots of energy. The best materials for this
are foams because they absorb a lot of energy when crushed. So the main impact
absorbing material in a cycling helmet is actually a moulded block of polystyrene
foam usually with a polycarbonate covering. These materials are easily shaped
– cycling helmets often have striking shapes to improve their aerodynamic
performance.
On
the subject of forms of transport...have you heard of the Eco-marathon?
For the past 24 years, the Shell Eco-marathon has
challenged students to design and build a vehicle that can drive as far as
possible on the least amount of fuel and with as little emissions as possible.
A team from Wyvern School in the UK took part. The idea is to find the car
which made the best use of its fuel over seven laps. So unlike Formula One it
didn’t matter how fast you went, it was the one that used the least fuel that
mattered.
Find out what happened to Wyvern School.
>>> Back to top
2. Over 2U! – – Science
experiments for you to try at home...
Make a Fossil
It
takes thousands of years to create a fossil but you can do it in a week!
You will need:
- A light plastic container to make the fossil in (e.g. a yoghurt pot
or a fruit punnet)
- A sponge (Not a sponge cake! A bath sponge, the more holes the
better)
- Some fine sand (enough to half fill your container)
- Bath salts
- A saucer or small tray
What to do:
- Create a shape for your fossil by
cutting it out from the sponge - it could be a shell, a bone or a whole
dinosaur.
- Make a couple of small holes in the
bottom of your container.
- Place it on a saucer or tray as you’re
going to pour water over it and you don’t want it to spill!
- Put some sand in the container about 1
cm of the way up and then place your sponge body on top and cover with
another 2 cm of sand.
- Mix 4 tablespoons of bath salts in 4
tablespoons of warm water and pour over the container, letting the mix
sink through the sand. Leave it somewhere safe and warm (e.g. a window
ledge).
- Replenish the water and salt mix at
least once a day for at least five days. The longer you leave it the more
fossilised it becomes.
- Leave the sand to dry out for two days
before removing the "fossil" sponge. If it's still a little wet
leave the fossil for a few days before handling it.
- The holes in the sponge trap the salts,
mineralising the sponge. As they dry out it solidifies to create a fossil.
What's happening?
If you’re asking
‘What is a fossil and how do they form?’ then checkout the answers here.
This activity came
from the Make a Fossil activity in the Little Book of Experiments by Clare Eastup, an ex-Geologist who now works in the
very geology-free (but still great!) Museum of Science and Industry,
Manchester.
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3. Gear Giveaway – You’ve got to be in it to win it...
This
week we’ve got FIVE two-packs of June/July Flipsides to give away! Killer robots, taking a trip to Narnia and the threat of orbit junk.
It’s all going on in Flipside.
If
you want to win one email us with your name and address, and the words ‘DUO
FLIP’ in the subject line, to randomised.news@nesta.org.uk
The draw will take place at 5pm on Wednesday 16th
July.
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4. Wot’s Hot? – Wicked websites and
net-nonsense
Dr Who has finished! Aaaargh! Now what shall we do?
Get online of course and immerse ourselves completely. Click on the BBC Dr Who site and there’s info on all the episodes, heroes, villains, monsters... not to
mention games to play. Try Cyber Assault or The Last Dalek.
Of course we might
question some of the science behind all this. So how about checking out Sci-fi Science? A small group of professional scientists thought it would be a good idea
to create a fun website to explore the true science underlying popular science
fiction. And before you could say
Raxacoricofallapatorius
– it was done!
And if you’re into podcasts, even better! Building
Brains and the Science of DR Who is a Cambridge Science Festival 2008 Podcast. Learn what our brains are
made of and find out whether it's really possible to travel in time by looking
into the science behind Dr Who.
But all in all we have to remind ourselves that it
IS just a TV programme. Better remind this lot then...
“Science fiction has no fury like a Doctor Who fan
scorned, as the BBC discovered after more than 2,500 viewers tried without
success to call the Doctor on his mobile phone to make sure he was OK...”
>>> Back to top
5. Winners
– Has your name been picked out of the bag?
Last
time we were offering a copy of Johnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of London by
Keith Mansfield. The winner is Tim Dunn of Southport. Enjoy!
>>> Back to top
THAT'S ALL FOR NOW
You've been Randomised!
Send any questions, comments, jokes or experiment ideas to: randomised.news@nesta.org.uk
Bye for now!