Welcome to Randomised! We see you’ve brought the sun with you, well done! Just the kind of weather for doing a few mentos-and-coke experiments outside. A bit like these folks really...

  1. Wassup Planet Science? – The SciCast Awards
  2. Sooo Random – spider chatting up techniques
  3. Over 2U! – Magic Cups
  4. Gear Giveaway – five Flipside magazines
  5. Winners – family ticket to the Planetarium at Intech

1. SciCast Awards

ScicastWhere were you on Friday 25 April? At school slaving away as usual? Or were you where we were – living it up at the glamorous SciCast Awards? If not, you missed a blinder! Red carpet, Hollywood-style backdrops, the tension, the celebrities, the excitement mounting... who’s going to win? Who’s going to win? Make a mental note; send in your film, and next year you could be there too!

Take a look at this report from Coseley School in Birmingham

Plus read up more about the nominations and the lucky winners on the SciCast blog.

Flick through the photo gallery and get a feel for the occasion. So now you know – checkout the SciCast site to find out what you need to do. Basically – think up a good idea, grab some mates and a camera and make sure your masterpiece is 2.5 mins or less. Then submit it. Simple eh? Well OK it’s not quite that simple but one look at the SciCast Awards should convince you that the effort is well worthwhile.

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2. Sooo Random – Science news straight to your Inbox...

spiderScientists have discovered that spiders communicate to potential mates using ultraviolet B (UVB) rays. Although UVA rays are often used in animal communication, this is the first evidence that UVB light is being used.

The study is published in the journal Current Biology.

It seems that male spiders were reflecting the ultraviolet B rays from their bodies but the scientists are still not sure how they detect the UVB light. Spiders have complex eyes with UVA receptors but as yet, it’s a mystery how the females detect the UVB. For more detail

Did you hear about the ASBO cockerel? Hydref, (October or autumn in Welsh), was one of five cockerels hatched out at Ysgol San Sior primary school in Llandudno. Unfortunately he has now been expelled for attacking chickens and chasing children. His cards were marked when he pecked a dinner lady and chased children when they tried to get eggs from the pen. Tsk! Tsk! Tell it to the judge Hydref...

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

Magic Cups

You will need:

  • One packet of sodium polyacrylate - you can buy it in garden centres as 'Water Retaining Gel'.
  • Two cups (see-through if you'd like to see how this works, opaque if you want the trick version). Make sure you can dispose of the cups afterwards.
  • Some water.
  • A tablespoon.

What to do:

  1. Put a tablespoon of the powder in the bottom of one cup.
  2. Pour some water into each of the cups.
  3. Swish the water around in each cup and turn them upside down (you might want to do this over a sink because at least one of your cups will spill).
  4. Poke and prod the gel in the bottom of the cup with a spoon.

What's happening?

The water retaining gel is sodium polyacrylate. It is a organic chemical, a polymer made up of a long chain of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and sodium atoms.

The polymer looks like this

CH2--CH(CO2Na)--

... over and over again.

On its own this polymer is wound up tightly. When water is added the sodium breaks off, dissolving in the same way that salt (sodium chloride) dissolves in water. The sodium is a positively charged ion, and what remains, the carboxyl ion (attached to the rest of the polymer), is negatively charged. Because all the negatively charged carboxyl ions on the polymer repel each other, the whole polymer starts to unwind.

In a water molecule (H20) the oxygen atom attracts the two hydrogen atoms' electrons, leaving the hydrogen atoms slightly positive and the oxygen atom slightly negative: this is the water molecule's polarity. The oxygen side of the water molecules is attracted to the positive sodium ions from the sodium polyacrylate polymer. At the same time, the hydrogen atoms in the water molecules are attracted to the carboxyl groups of the polymer. The polymer has some cross links - so instead of a perfectly long line, the polymer forms a spread out net with water molecules held within it.

Adding other ions to the mix, such as salt, disrupts how the water is held in the gel. Adding salt to the gel turns it back into a watery liquid.

Special safety advice

Do not try and drink the liquid / gel, and don't use the cups after performing the experiment. Do not dispose of the gel down a sink as it may cause a blockage.

Watch as the SciCasters show how.

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4. Gear Giveaway –You’ve got to be in it to win it...

flipsideThis week we have 5 copies of the April Flipside magazine to give away. Features include a report on astronauts working in the world’s most expensive laboratory, crashes and accidents, dinosaurs on stage and germs on hands. A real mixed bag really! Anyway for more details on this fantastic magazine see the flipside site.

If you’d like to win one then email us with your name and postal address to randomised.news@nesta.org.uk with ‘ASTROFLIP’ in the subject line. The winner will be picked at random at 5pm on Wednesday 21st May 2008.

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5. Winners – Has your name been picked out of the bag?

Last time we were offering a free family ticket to the Planetarium at INTECH. The winner is Nathan Crosbie of Brockham. Well done and enjoy your visit!

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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!