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Friday 23nd February 2007 Issue: 63

Thank goodness for Friday! It’s Haywire time. This week we’ve got some great websites for you to try out.  There’s a fantastic free logbook to download from Nature Detectives so you can Springwatch. Or you could try your hand at skating on Saturn’s rings. Get in the draw for a Flipside mag and don’t forget the truly awful jokes at the end! Don’t blame them on us – if you’ve got any better ones then send them in!

  1. The Buzz – Northern Lights and the world’s biggest passenger airplane
  2. Up for Grabs – Flipside magazines
  3. Web Watch – Solar Games and Silicon Spies
  4. Winners – Grumpy Goats
  5. Tummy Ticklers – jokes to make you groan

1. The Buzz – Science news delivered to your inbox…

What are the Aurora Borealis? No they’re not a new pop band! We also know them as the Northern Lights and they are the amazing light effects seen at the North Pole. The Lights are set off by the Earth's magnetic field reacting to the solar wind, but there's still a lot more we don't know about them. Five identical space probes have been blasted into orbit to find out what causes the Northern Lights. By having five probes in orbit, experts will be able to pinpoint exactly where unusual things happen in the Aurora. One of the things the Themis mission will be investigating is why, occasionally the green lights break up into bands of light that dance rapidly and turn red, purple and white. These events are called auroral substorms, and Themis will be looking at exactly how and why they start.

Talking of amazing sights in the sky… have you seen the biggest passenger plane in the world, the Airbus A380?  The plane is taller than six double decker buses and longer than a footie pitch. There’s room to park 70 cars on its wings (not that anyone will!) plus it could carry up to 853 passengers.  It’s so enormous that any airline that owns one will be able to put anything it likes on board – even a cinema and restaurants! What would you like to have on board?

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2. Up for Grabs – You’ve got to be in it to win it...

Who does the best goal celebrations and why do they do it?  Plus 10 weirdest things underground and sticky fingers – who needs stairs when you have gekkomat? Read all about it in the February copy of Flipside magazine. If you want to know more see www.flipside.org.uk

We’ve got FIVE copies to give away! If you want to win one, send us your name, age and address to: Hay-wire.Clubhouse@nesta.org.uk with ‘FEBSIDE’ as the subject. The winners will be picked at random at 5pm, on Wednesday 7th March 2007.

Good luck!

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3. Web Watch – Don’t surf the Internet alone…

Nature Detectives Springwatch free download

Download stickers, a season planner and a fantastic woodland logbook

The Solar Games

Travel the Solar System and compete in sporting events – hang-glide on Mars, ski-jump on Pluto and skate on the rings of Saturn!

Silicon Spies - help foil Dr Volt’s evil plan!

 and there’s plenty more interactive games on Engineering Interact

 “Vision 2027" competition  for girls - Year 5 upwards

Are you a girl aged 10+ who has a great idea for the future? Maybe being able to beam yourself on holiday or change the colour of your clothes at the flick of a switch?  You could take part and win great prizes.
The competition takes place within Girls' Day - Future Prospects for Girls and "2007 - European Year of Equal Opportunities for All"

For more information about Vision 2027 (click the Union Jack flag to see the site in English). Closing date: 27 April 2007

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

Remember Issue 62 when we were giving away two Grumpy Goats? The lucky winners are Katie Medlin (9) of Warwick and Carry McOmish of Glasgow. Well done everyone!  Have fun trying to cheer them up. Why would a goat be grumpy anyhow?

So remember – keep entering ‘cos next time it could be you!

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5. Tummy Ticklers – It’s the way you tell them…

What’s a boxer’s favourite drink?
Punch!

Doctor, my baby just fell down a hole! What can I do?
Buy a book on raising children.

Mummy, mummy, I don’t want to go to Australia.
Shut up and keep swimming!

When is a door not a door?
When it’s a jar!

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INFORMATION OVERLOAD

Planet Science has gone Hay-Wire and now you have too!

That’s all for this issue. The next issue of Hay-Wire will be with you in two weeks time so until then, why not ask your friends to join the Hay-Wire Club?

They can visit the Clubhouse for more details (the password is Sciwoof )

Bye for now!