Da-dah! Surprised?  Well you should be, after all you’re not expecting a Randomised till next week.  But we decided to send you this mini-Randomised to wish you a happy Easter hols and also to tell you that we’re taking a break.  Your next Randomised will be with you on Friday 25 April.  So we’d better make sure it’s a good one eh? Don’t forget to send in your jokes, Sci-texts, and any other ideas to make this the best newsletter ever – it’s all been a bit quiet of late.

  1. Sooo Random – dog fur jumpers and cameras that ‘see’ weapons
  2. Over 2U! – Egg spin
  3. Wassup Planet Science? – worms and chick masks
  4. Rib Busters – bunny and egg jokes

1. Sooo Random – Science news straight to your Inbox…

A couple from Newcastle used the hair of their two dead dogs to make his 'n' hers jumpers to remember their pets. They collected hairs from carpets and brushes and had it spun into yarn to make the big fluffy jumpers.

Beth and Brian Willis got the idea from a picture of Princess Diana wearing a cape made from dog fur at Crufts. The question is – what happens if you’re wearing a dog wool jumper and you spot a rabbit?

Scientists have developed a camera that can "see" explosives, drugs and weapons hidden under clothing from 25 metres. It is based on so-called "terahertz", or T-ray, technology, normally used by astronomers to study dying stars. It would be useful technology to install at airports or railway stations. If you are worried about something that can see through your clothes (and who wouldn’t be?) then it does not reveal ‘body detail’ according to the designers.

Unlike current security systems that use X-rays, the ThruVision system exploits terahertz rays, or T-rays. This electromagnetic radiation is a form of low level energy emitted by all people and objects. These are able to pass through clothing, paper, ceramics and wood but are blocked by metal and water. The system works by collecting these waves and processing them to form an image which can reveal concealed objects. "If I were to look at you in terahertz you would appear to glow like a light bulb and different objects glow less brightly or more brightly," said the firm's spokesperson. "You see a silhouette of the form but you don't see surface anatomical effects."

Other terahertz systems, developed by companies such as TeraView, are used to probe the structure of pharmaceutical compounds.

For more information: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7287135.stm

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

Egg Spin

Raw egg, cooked egg. Spot the difference with the appliance of science. Plus many more eggciting eggstension ideas!

You will need:

  • One raw egg
  • One hard boiled egg (in its shell)

What to do:

  1. Show your audience the two eggs. Tell them you’ve got your lunch mixed up. How can you work out which is which?
  2. If the egg breaks, clean up thoroughly. There is some risk of salmonella. Wash hands afterwards.
  3. You’re going to use science to see right into these eggs – you’re going to use the fantastic new science of spinning.
  4. Spin the boiled egg and it’ll spin like a top and when stopped (by a light finger pressure) it doesn’t move again. Spin the raw egg and it’ll have a very slow, unsteady spin. Then, even when stopped and let go, it’ll continue to wobble round and round.

What's happening?

The reason they behave differently is simply because their insides are different. A hard-boiled egg is solid through and so spins as a solid – it stops when you put your finger in it. Liquids, however, are a whole different kettle of fish (or saucepan of eggs?) and the liquid centre of a raw egg carries on moving after the solid shell has been stopped, which is why you get that continuous wobbling around.

Eggstended Ideas

If you haven’t done already, try ‘Magic Milk Bottles’ experiment where you can get a hard boiled egg inside a milk bottle (whole)!

Get an egg to float in water by adding salt. How much salt do you need to add to the water to make this work?

If you layer tap water on top of salt water, you can get the egg to float between the two layers. You can try this by half-filling a glass with salt water, then carefully adding tap water down the side of the glass before slowly lowering the egg in.

If an egg is left in a glass of very highly concentrated salt water, it will burst. (The process of osmosis means that lots of salt water goes through the shell, across the membrane and into the egg. The shell and membrane burst when the pressure of the salt water inside the egg is too high for them to contain everything.)

If you have some rather mellow eggs hiding in the back of your fridge you can tell the difference between those and a fresh egg by putting them in some water. (The fresh egg will sink to a horizontal position, but the stale eggs will tilt up slightly or perhaps go completely vertical. It's all to do with how much air is in the air pocket at the end of the egg.

Balance an egg on a pile of salt, make sure everyone protects their eyes and then blow the salt away. It should miraculously stay standing up!

Special Safety advice

If the egg breaks, clean up thoroughly. There is some risk of salmonella. Wash hands afterwards.

This activity came from the Little Book of Experiments.

Plus if you’re in the mood for more egg-speriments then checkout the Egg Box where there are 7 Eggsperiments for Hardboiled Investigators.

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3. Wassup Planet Science?

Spring has finally sprung over in the Five Kingdoms of Life, and we've got two springy new masks for you: an earthworm and a fluffy young chick. The bird's a vertebrate-- an animal with a backbone-- and the worm's an invertebrate, since it hasn't got one.  You, however, can be either! The early bird gets the worm, so spring on over and have a go at making these new masks.

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4. Rib Busters - Funny ha ha AND sometimes funny weird!

Terrible jokes for Easter – you have been warned!

What did the bunny want to do when he grew up? Join the Hare Force.

What is the difference between a crazy bunny and a counterfeit banknote? One is bad money and the other is a mad bunny!

What do you call ten rabbits marching backwards?
A receding hareline.

What part did the egg play in the movies?
He was an "Egg-stra".

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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!