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Friday 10th November 2006 Issue: 60

Phew! Thank Wired Up it’s Friday! After all the excitement of Halloween and then Bonfire Night we need to chill out.   No such luck though, we all need to be vigilant because something nasty is eating our ladybirds… It’s true.  Watch out for the harlequins. No they are not the latest characters in the new Dr Who series. But you never know…

  1. The Wire – Watch out for the Harlequins
  2. Try This! – Screaming Cups
  3. Gear for Grabs – November Flipsides
  4. Winners – Wildwalk At-Bristol
  5. Rib Busters – Jokes to make you groan…
1. The Wire  – Science news straight to your Inbox…

Did you know that British insects are under threat from a foreign ladybird that is spreading through the UK? Two years ago the first sighting of the harlequin ladybird in Britain was reported in Essex.  Now it seems that they have reached as far as North Yorkshire.  Harlequins are more aggressive, eat more, and can even turn on other ladybirds for food. Experts think that some of the UK's rarer ladybird species "will probably disappear in the next 10 years".

The harlequin ladybird originally came from Asia, but spread after being used to eat pests on crops. It has already caused trouble in North America and Europe, where it competes with other insects. However, aphids  (insects which eat plants) could get out of control if native ladybirds aren't around any more to eat them. So we could have real problems with aphids in the future and this is no joke because aphids can spread disease from plant to plant, particularly in grain crops such as barley.

What do harlequins look like?

  • orange with between 15 and 20 spots
  • black with two orange or red spots
  • black with four orange or red spots
  • they all have a white plate with a big black M-shaped marking on it, just behind the head

For more details check out the UK ladybird survey.

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2. Try This! – Science experiments for you to try at home...

Screaming Cups

You've never heard a sound effect quite like this coming out of an ordinary cup!

You will need:

  • Fishing line or smooth string (it's worth trying a few different types to find what works best)
  • A plastic cup (yoghurt pots work too)
  • A damp cloth
  • Tape or modelling clay

What to do:

  1. Cut a length of string about the height of the cup.
  2. Stick the string to the centre of the inside of the cup with the tape or the clay.
  3. Turn the cup upside-down. The string should hang down inside the cup.
  4. Draw the damp cloth along the length of the string; this starts the string vibrating as the cloth slips and sticks - which is just how a violin bow works.

What in the name of tarnation is that hideous row? Is someone killing a chicken?

What’s going on?

Vibrating a piece of string in the same way with a damp cloth produces a sound, but it's very quiet. Adding the cup to the end of the string creates a larger surface to vibrate, amplifying the sound.

Want more?

You can do exactly the same as above, but on a bigger scale, with a bucket. Or better, use a variety of differently sized buckets, with bowls and cups and even bins. If you can get a really giant bin (half a metre in diameter) you get a really deep noise that sounds more like a cow than a chicken!

Many thanks to the Education Team at Techniquest in Cardiff for supplying this activity for the Little Book of Experiments, where you can find this and many other cool activities...

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3. Gear for Grabs – You’ve got to be in it to win it...

Just when you thought we would never ask … who would like a copy of November Flipside? Of course you would! This month features why you can’t get up in the morning, fake photos, powerboat racing, cars in the shape of – well pretty much anything – and much more as per usual!

If you’d like to know more then take a look at the Flipside website.

We’ve got FIVE copies to give away! So if you’d like to win one, then send us an email with your name, age and address to: randomised.news@nesta.org.uk with ‘FLIPPY’ as the subject. The winners will be picked at random at 5pm on Thursday 23rd November.

Good luck!

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

Remember issue no. 58?  We were giving away two family passes for Wildwalk At-Bristol. The lucky winners are R. Hodson from Worcester and Freddie Billings (12) from Leamington Spa. Well done everyone!

And who were the lucky winners of the two Halloween party packs from Issue no. 59?  Well they were Heidi Hylands (8) from Gosport and Poppy Clarke (11) from Wiltshire. 

So keep entering – you never know! Next time - it could be YOU…

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

What do you call an out-of-work court jester?
Nobody’s fool.

Doctor, doctor, I feel like I'm part of the Internet!
Well, you do look a site...

Doctor, doctor, I keep thinking I'm a computer.
My goodness, you'd better come to my surgery right away!
I can't, my power cable won't reach that far.

What do you call a man with a collection of aquatic mammal photographs?
The Prints of Whales!

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THAT’S ALL FOR NOW

Got Wired-Up? Got clued up!

Don’t forget that Wired-Up will be hitting your inboxes every fortnight from now on, but in the meantime, send any questions, comments, jokes or experiment ideas to: randomised.news@nesta.org.uk

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Bye for now!