Today is October 1^st and October is the month during which black history is particularly celebrated. In Black History Month (and for the rest of the year too!) you can read the stories of eight African American scientists on the Planet Science website at:
http://www.planet-science.com/outthere/black_history/index.html

The stories show the problems that the scientists faced and the amazing work they did. Not once did any of the scientists say “I can’t”. Instead they said, “How can I?” Once you’ve read all eight profiles, you can learn even more about Black History Month here:
http://www.factmonster.com/spot/bhm1.html

The Planet Science website just isn’t big enough to tell the stories of ALL the scientists celebrated during Black History Month, so we’ve added a few more here:

Guion Stewart Bluford was the first African American astronaut in space. He flew on four space shuttle missions for NASA. See a photo of Guion here:
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/
space_level2/guion_bluford.html

• Open heart surgery and the refrigerator were firsts for these African American scientists: Daniel Hale Williams and John Standard.
• Without Lewis Latimer’s carbon filament, Thomas Edison may never have perfected the electric light bulb.
• Lewis Latimer was the only African American member of Thomas Edison’s engineering laboratory.
• Shoes, the pencil sharpener and ironing board were invented by black inventors.

If you still want to learn more then try the Fact Monster website by clicking on this link:
http://www.factmonster.com/spot/bhmpeople15.html

The first question, this week, comes from Deborah (age 10). She writes:

Q) “This is my first time writing to you. I want to know why we call hurricanes names and not tornadoes, please.”

A) Hurricanes are much larger than tornadoes and they last longer. Tornadoes are quick, but hurricanes form over the ocean and can be tracked for days. Hurricanes can sometimes even last for weeks, that’s why we name them, so that we can talk about when and where they are predicted to hit. Tornadoes, on the other hand, come and go so fast that experts barely have time to warn people, let alone think up a name.

Get ready for the second question, sent in by Toby from Nottingham:

Q) Why is there sometimes skin on the top of custard?

A) Custard is made from cornflour, egg and water, with sugar and flavourings added in. The water is normally bound to the cornflour and egg protein in a gel. However, when the custard is hot, some of the water evaporates from its surface. This dries out the surface, forming a skin. Because the skin doesn’t contain much water, it is concentrated custard, which some people love the taste of – gross!

Thanks for your questions. Any more?

Now for a hair ‘raising’ experiment you can try in your kitchen with just a few simple materials.

What You Need:

• Glass of fizzy lemonade
• Handful of raisins

What You Do:

It’s simple – drop the raisins in the glass of lemonade and sit back and watch.

What’s Going On?

The raisins rise and fall as if by magic!

When you drop the raisins into the glass they should sink to the bottom. Bubbles will cover the raisins and after about 10-30 seconds the raisins will float to the top of the glass. The bubbles will burst and the raisins will sink again.

Carbon dioxide is the gas which makes lemonade fizzy. Carbon dioxide bubbles are trapped in the wrinkles of the raisins and the bubbles carry them to the surface. Once they hit the surface, the bubbles escape into the air and the raisins fall back to the bottom of the glass.

Thanks to Hay-Wire member David Guest for suggesting the experiment!

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! Here at Hay-Wire we thought we’d come up with some brilliant prizes in last week’s ‘Up For Grabs’. Remember the Discovery tubes that contain all the kit you need to carry out lots of messy experiments? We were giving away six tubes, got it? Unfortunately we only had three entries, which was really disappointing – not disappointing for Aeron and Merin Vale and Sarah Ford who all won a tube each.

The good news is that we’re reopening the draw so if you want to be in with a chance of winning one of the remaining three tubes then send an email to:

Hay-Wire.Clubhouse@nesta.org.uk with ‘I WANT A TUBE’ in the subject box.

Oh and if you still haven’t sent your name and address to claim your free frisbee then send your details to the same email address with ‘FREE FRISBEE’ as the subject.

Remember, Hay-Wire members think science, try science and eat science. YUCK!

Look out for the next issue of Hay-Wire on Friday. In the meantime if any of your friends want to join the Hay-Wire Club then tell them to visit:

http://www.planet-science.com/wired/hay-wire/clubhouse

Bye for now!

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