SCIENCE YEAR NEWSLETTER - ISSUE 69 Week ending Friday, 31st May 2002 Hi and welcome to another packed edition of our weekly science-related roundup. And have we got news for you about: microscope books, computer games gurus, sunspots and more more more ... Meanwhile, it can scarcely have escaped the notice of anyone conscious that the FIFA World Cup is now officially under way. And Science Year is here to help you survive the next four weeks - indeed, take our advice and you may even end up healthier by the end of it. IT'S A SMALL SMALL SMALL SMALL WORLD News for all maintained secondary schools in England who got the free Intel digital microscope through Science Year's KitPot. Hopefully you will by now be completely at home with your new digital discovery device ... but to give you even more ideas as to how - and where - to use it to full effect, you've just been sent a complementary book, entitled 'Using the Digital Microscope' by Brian J Ford. A trip to the beach, pond or garden has never been this much fun before... and as you'll see you can then experiment with making your images into jigsaws and taking other "chances for complete silliness" (to quote from the book). Look out for it. It's a slim volume, but packed with pics and information written in a brilliantly non-stuffy way. Enjoy! >top THERE'S A LITTLE BLACK SPOT ON THE SUN TODAY Is it the same old thing as yesterday? Or could it be something a whole lot ... worse? The Royal Astronomical Society would like you to know about their 5th 2002 Sunspot Newspaper Competition for Schools. Here's what they say: "Imagine the year is 2010. You start to notice reports in the newspapers and on radio and TV that 10 years have passed since sunspots were last seen on the face of the Sun. At first you don't take much notice but then you realise that sunspots might really matter. Your teachers start to talk about mini ice ages and times past when the River Thames froze over. "We invite groups of pupils to produce a newspaper as if written in 2010. It's open to groups of pupils in age ranges 7-11, 11-14, 14-16 and 16-19 years, and committed individuals may also enter. "For teachers: Our highly successful inter-disciplinary newspaper competition has now been running for five years. For teachers, it's an excellent opportunity to forge cross-curricular links and a real reason to use the Internet and your library to search for material." For full details, http://www.ras.org.uk/sunspot.htm Prizes are described as "superb" although no details are given at this point! >top ROLL UP ROLL UP TO ENFIELD! What are you up to this weekend? If you’re a circus-fan and can get yourself to Enfield in North London, we recommend Sci-Circus. There are two shows a day, 3pm and 7pm, and because it’s a Science Year funded event, they are FREE to the public. It’s got something for everyone, young and old – except if you’re scared of big bangs or extreme make-up! Full details can be found in our events database here >top RECOMMENDED WEBSITE OF THE WEEK Firstly, lucky it's a double-Bank Holiday weekend ... you'll need to devote several days to exploring the Royal Institution's new site, Inside Out. It's not just the fascinating information and interactive features that'll get you hooked, there are also all sorts of hideously addictive games peppered throughout that'll make the hours fly. Try 'the Human Cannonball' for example - aaaaaaaaaargh - so simple, so frustrating!! The site's been created for the RI's Young People's Programme, and the topics are based on lecture topics. So far, resources have been created on the themes of Anatomy and Energy, and Chemistry will be along shortly. Here are just two recommendations: Manipulate a skeleton and see how it works with 'Joints Explorer' or read all about energy conservation, and try for yourself to win 'Power House' their online energy quest... >top PLAYING CURVEBALL THE PHYSICISTS' WAY And ... back to the football. Forget bending it like Beckham, what about curving it like Carlos? Roberto Carlos of Brazil that is, whose bendi-talents are/were possibly even more extreme than the England captain's. Check out the Institute of Physics article from 1998 for the full physics lowdown on what they call "lateral deflection of a spinning object", with particular reference to Carlos's technique. With this information, you too will be able to dazzle any wall of defenders when you take a free kick... Here's how to do it. Just run up to the ball, stop, assume casual pose, and explain: "The drag force, FD, on a ball increases with the square of the velocity, v, assuming that the density, p, of the ball and its cross-sectional area, A, remain unchanged: FD = CDpAv2/2. It appears, however, that the "drag coefficient", CD, also depends on the velocity of the ball. For example, if we plot the drag coefficient against ...." Continue until your opponents' eyes begin to roll back in their heads - then boot the ball into the back of the net! >top FOOTBALL JOKE OF THE WEEK Three old football fans are in a church, praying for their teams. The first one asks, "Oh Lord, when will England next win the World Cup?" God replies, "In the next five years." "But I'll be dead by then..." says the man. The second one asks, "Oh Lord, when will Liverpool next win the European Cup?" The Good Lord answers, "In the next ten years". "But I'll be dead by then..." says the man. The third one asks, "Oh Lord, when will Everton win the Premier League?" God answers," I'll be dead by then!" >top A.O.B. Good luck this week whatever football team or Queen you support! And in the meantime if you have any news, events, information or jokes you'd like to share with the others, please let us have it! All contributions should be sent through to anne.mcnaught@scienceyear.com . Bye for now!