In the words of a well-known newspaper – “Phew!

Robot fever hits Yorkshire! The hi-tech thrills of robot combat are descending on Yorkshire this Saturday (22 July) when a new Robot Wars-style summer attraction opens at the Eureka! children's museum in Halifax. And we’ve got a family pass to give away!

Robogeddon will give visitors the chance to take control of powerful Cyber-Raptor robots and battle against their opponents inside a themed combat arena. RAZER, the world famous champion of TV's Robot Wars, is making a guest appearance at the museum on Saturday to launch the new attraction. Open throughout the summer holidays (22 July - 3 September) Robogeddon's visit to Eureka! will be the first time the mobile attraction has been seen in Yorkshire. And it’s not just robots, there’s plenty more including an open air Maze of Illusions for children of all ages, hands-on activities especially for under 5s and regular appearances from CBeebies character Gordon the Garden Gnome.

So if you want to win a family pass then simply answer the question:

What is the name of the world famous champion of Robot Wars?

Send your answers in an email with your name, age and address to: Hay-wire.Clubhouse@nesta.org.uk with ‘ROBOT WARS’ as the subject. The winner will be picked at random at 5pm, on Thursday 3rd August.

Good luck!

For more information about Eureka! events, opening times and prices please call 01422 330069 or visit www.eureka.org.uk.

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Britain is preparing for another mini heatwave after weather experts warned temperatures are on the rise again. Areas of the country are expected to top 34°C, with other parts of Europe getting even hotter. It has been so hot recently that cameras in space have even picked up on high temperatures with heat images showing the UK is red hot. Images beamed back from space show the sweltering heat in the UK causing lots of air pollution. The pictures also show big temperature rises across the UK.

So one minute we are all sweltering away, the next we are hit by sudden thunderstorms.  Thunderstorms are some of the most spectacular weather events we can experience in the British Isles. You can often tell when a thunderstorm is about to occur because tall storm clouds develop and the sky becomes very dark. Lightning can be seen flashing from the clouds as the thunderstorm approaches, followed by a boom of thunder. Lightning itself is a giant electrical spark leaping between the clouds or down to the ground, heating the air in its path to 30,000 °C. This sends out large shock waves, which we hear as thunder. Thunder and lightning happen at the same time, but light travels faster than sound, so you see the flash of lightning before you hear the clap of thunder.

Next time you see a thunderstorm you can try an experiment to find out just how far away the storm is. Start counting the seconds from the time when you actually see the lightning flash to when you hear the thunder. Then divide the time you've counted by three and this will be the distance in kilometres between you and the storm. If you do this every time there is a flash of lightning and count to a higher number each time, the storm is moving away. If you count to a lower number each time, the storm is moving nearer. Find out more about the weather by checking out the Met Office site.

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Did somebody say ‘storms’?

Have you sent the film ‘Stormbreaker’ yet?  Well Haywire has given it a viewing and a resounding thumbs up for action and excitement.  In a nutshell it is about a 14-yearold boy called Alex Rider who suddenly find himself acting as a spy to save the world.  Typical day for most of you eh? Well the film is full of thrills but does the science really stand up? Alex has many gadgets at his disposal to get him out of trouble but it’s the Zit Cream that has us worried.  He merrily spreads some on his finger and gives it a sniff.  Hmmmmmm – fairly pleasant.  But the next thing you know it’s eating its way through METAL and even manages to etch away at GLASS.  Now come on Alex, anything that corrosive is not really going to be safe enough to spread on your SKIN is it? So is there really any chemical that can eat through metal and glass?  Well yes actually.  It’s a real nasty and its name is hydrofluoric acid (HF).  It can attack glass, concrete, some metals and organic compounds (such as living tissues) with ease. You do not mess with HF – nuff respect! So if the Zit Cream on Stormbreaker contained HF then Alex would probably find that he now has no finger and probably little left of his nostrils either! And by the way, we doubt very much that it would work underwater… if that’s got you puzzled then go see the film!  And if you spot any other examples of dodgy science then email us at Hay-wire.Clubhouse@nesta.org.uk with ‘BIT DODGY’ as the subject.  Don’t forget to put your name and age and we’ll print your answers.

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