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Friday 1st September 2006 Issue: 55

A happy Wired Up first of the month to you all! Where did the summer go? Never mind, still some holiday left so let’s make the most of it. You could win a cuddly tortoise if you enter the new Planet Science Quiz, or an iPod if you like writing about maths and there’s five Flipsides for grabs too. What are you waiting for? Dive in!

  1. Planet Picks – the Galapagos Day Quiz
  2. The Wire – Pluto becomes a dwarf
  3. Up for Grabs – Flipside magazines
  4. Web Watch – we never knew maths was so interesting - tell us about it!
  5. Winners – Family pass to Eureka!
1. Planet Picks – News from the world of Planet Science…

It’s a new month so it must be time for a new quiz. This time it’s the Galapagos Day Quiz .

The Galapa – what? The Galapagos Islands nestle together on the equator off the west side of South America. They are where Darwin started to develop his theories of natural selection. If you get all the answers right you go into the draw to win a cuddly Galapagos tortoise and a map of the islands.
So Galapaready? Galapaset? GalapaGOs!

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2. The Wire – Science news straight to your Inbox…

Well we did warn you didn’t we? Loads of school textbooks are going to have to be rewritten after it was decided Pluto is NOT a planet anymore.


The decision was made by about 3,000 space experts in the Czech Republic, who have re-named Pluto a dwarf planet. The new rules about what makes a planet are:

  1. It must orbit the Sun

  2. It must be nearly round

  3. Its orbit shouldn't cross another planet's

The decision to take away Pluto's status hasn't been made because it is much smaller than the remaining eight planets. Instead, the rule that it broke is about its orbit, which crosses the orbit of its neighbouring planet Neptune. For more information check out the BBC Newsround site

So who can think up a new rhyme for remembering the eight planets now?

My Very Earnest Mother Just Stays Until Noon. Can you think of any others? Send them to us and we’ll print them. Email us with your name and age to: wired-up.news@nesta.org.uk with ‘PLANETS’ in the subject line.

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

This week we are lucky enough to have FIVE copies of Flipside magazine to give away. The latest issue is an Alex Ryder ‘Stormbreaker’ gadget special, plus features on rollercoasters, poisonous snakes to celebrate the Movie ‘Snakes on a Plane’, a chimp black-belt, and top tennis tips.

So if you want to win one then send us an email with your name, age and address to: wired-up.news@nesta.org.uk with ‘GETTING FLIPPY’ as the subject.

The winners will be picked at random at 5pm, on Thursday 7 September.

And if you want to see more then check out the Flipside website

Good luck!

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

Plus is a fantastic free online magazine about maths. Have a look.

There’s an interesting article about two furniture designers who used their background in physics and maths to creature stylish and much sought after pieces. Plus magazine aims to show how maths influences all aspects of life such as art and sport amongst others. So do you have any ideas?

They are inviting entries to a competition. The competition is open to new writers of any age and from any background who can explain a mathematical topic or application they think the public needs to know about.

Winning entries will be printed in the December issue of Plus and receive an iPod, a subscription to the journal Nature, as well as signed copies of popular science books by some of the best authors around. For more information

Closing date 30 September.

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

Remember issue no. 53? We were giving away a family pass to Eureka! And the lucky winner is Luke Buckman (9) from Walsall. Well done Luke! Have a great time!

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

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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: wired-up.news@nesta.org.uk

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Bye for now!