Einsteins Army

s, this is ey Woodian Fello w Bentl 12 edition of B ent20 the Feb ruary jou rnal ( a re ods science ley Wo ular p ap er!) revious pop launch of a p CS E entury and IG p th the 21st C Bo m place an im n ce cu rriculu scie news. ience in th e ant role in sc e arti cles ort mak Our ai m is to ed on TV or in repo rt which are ible to mo re access newsp ap ers ope to in g this we h ess you . B y read aren r gen eral aw broad en you imp acts o n ce of ho w scien ay life. every d m n s Army Tea - Th e Einstei

Planets, Everywhere you Look!.....1 New Years Resolutions...................2 Woman Gives Birth to 6 Babies.....2 Stem Cell Technology.....................3 Miracle Berries...............................4 The Bottom Line.......................... .5 10 Things You Didnt Know About Stephen Hawking...........................6 10 Weird Food Ingredients...........10 What a Dream Looks Like...........13 Self Washing Clothes...................13 Horoscopes...................................14 Puzzles..........................................15

SEE INSIDE...
Everywhere you look there is another one...
Astronomers say that everywhere we look there is always a planet to be seen in the sky (even though we dont notice the planets itself) Milky Way alone." By Shifa Mugloo 10AE The itching question is that is there life on at least one of those billions of planets? unfortunately Around 700 planets beyond are he is unable to give an solar systems are found since answer to this as the 1995. This is known because a answer is uncertain. team of scientists have been studying data from telescopes. Did you know that only recently have asDr Martin led the team and ex- tronomers actually claimed "So far, we have destarted considering the tected only a tiny fraction of idea of planets around planets out there. We expect stars outside our solar There could be millions of planets out there... hundreds of billions exist in the system?

2012 Resolutions and the Complex World of the Brain

Have you made any resolutions this year? Did you make any last year? Did you keep to them? Richard Wiseman ( a physiologist) says that 22% of resolutions are kept. Thats a staggering 88% of resolutions broken. charge of short term memory, being focused, solving problems and to top all of that it has to keep your new years resolution. So, since this area of the brain is But why? Why is it so hard to very busy, it is getstick to them? Its all to do ting overworked. with what goes on up in that Poor brain! little head of yours. There is a small area in your bran Concentrating on one thing exercising often. So dont which is called the prefron- allows you to strengthen over work yourself! tal cortex which is responsi- your will power. This is like ble for your willpower. This a mini exercise because rearea of the brain is very searchers believe will power By Shifa Mugloo 10AE busy because it takes is like a muscle which needs

Imagine Giving Birth To Six Babies...

Imagine how surprised Sara Gul from Afghanistan was when she gave birth to six babies. Doctors state that the mother arrived in hospital on Monday 23rd January 2012 and gave birth to three boys and three girls. It was Guls first pregnancy, and she was unaware that she was carrying more than one child. The mother is said to be exhausted, but recovering. She didnt receive any fertility treatment and I bet when she gave birth they did not giver her entonox gas, a gas that makes you laugh and relieves pain. (The Year 8s have been learning about entonox gas, a gas that if often used to help with labour pain.)

The six babies are underweight but overall they do stand a good chance of surviving.

fully understood how nitrous Entonox is a colourless, odour- oxide works, but it is thought less gas that is made of half that when you inhale it endoroxygen and half nitrous oxide phins are released, which alter (laughing gas). When inhaled, and divert the pathways that Allah blessed me with six chil- has a mild painkilling effect, pain takes through the nervous dren, but I am worried about which is only very short lived. system. their future, said Gul's 27-year -old husband Shukrullah, who Entonox works because of the By xxxxxx is unemployed, like many oth- nitrous oxide that is in it. The (Tutor group) ers in the war-wracked counoxygen is only in it so that ustry ers do not suffocate. It is not

Stem Cell Technology Being used in Ophthalmology

cle, please use the link below: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/ health/8077083.stm I find it ironic how just a few weeks ago, in our science lesson, we were discussing whether or not this would be possible in the Thinking about medicine I future- I dont think that anyone started to think about ophthalexpected that we were talking mology (I appreciate that most about the future of only a few people arent really too familiar weeks, and not a few decades. with this- Im not either, I just STEM CELLS are unspecialised heard about ophthalmology a cells and are usually found in while ago and decided to do embryos (unborn babies that some research). havent yet been completely developed into a human form). What is an ophthalmologist? These cells do not carry out a An ophthalmologist is a physispecific job but can be altered to cian that deals with disease and replace different specialised cells surgery of the eye. There are also that may have been damaged. different specialisms within oph- THIS is what scientists have thalmology that deal with differ- done for the first time for two ent aspects of it (e.g. the retina, partially blind people, however, the cornea, etc.) as the stem cells have been obtained from embryos, it has caused a great deal of controversy. The altered stem cells were injected into the retina of the eye and the patient has said that they are already finding a slightly improved vision. For the whole story, go to: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/ health-16708779 What do YOU think? By Delaram Imantalab K 8NA Problems and how can STEM CELL TECHNOLOGY solve these problems? Unfortunately, diseases of the eye and blindness are rather common, (Stargardts disease is one of them) but in the recent report in the news which gives us a spark of hope that such diseases can become curable in the not-so-distant future.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITHOUT YOUR EYES? Your eyes. Your wonderful and almost magical doorway into the world. What would you do without them? How would you survive knowing theres a world out there, but its one you cant explore? Exploring aside, your vision helps you overcome everyday challenges you face in life. What may seem like nothing to you may not be so straightforward to a blind person- thats why Im dedicating this article to informing you about human vision and also whats known as ophthalmology, so that you can really appreciate what life is like for the blind. Einsteins Army, in general, is based on science in the news and it was, in fact, science in the news that inspired me to write this article. I was reading an article on the BBC about how female medics are predicted to outnumber male medics by the year 2017. This really made me think about how many people really do aspire to pursue this career. If you would like to read the arti-

Miracle Berry Gets Sweet Success!

tiny locks which are hollow. If a chemical (the key) can make a good fit into that receptor, that cell will act. So that is why your brain is told that there's a lot of sweetness on your tongue even in the presence of a very sour lemon. The chemical (miraculin) is known Each taste bud holds about 50 to stick around in your sweet 100 taste receptor cells. Each of receptors for a little over an these cells will respond to only hour before it leaves and the one of the five basic tastes: um- effect wears off. After the ami (meaty or savoury), salty, acidic food is swallowed, the sweet, sour and bitter . miraculin returns to its inactive shape. So when a sweet-tasting chemical lands on a taste receptor cell Its ability to make things taste that responds to sweetness in sweet without containing the particular, that cell gets acticalories that are present [for exvated and sends a signal to the ample] in sugar, could make it a brain. possible candidate to be used as a non-calorie sweetener. So the Under normal conditions natural product could also be miraculin is a pretty bad fit into used, for people like diabetics the receptors and so does not to satisfy their sweet tooth. activate them. However its a However it is quite expensive great fit under acid conditions. costing around 2 for ONE berry! In normal conditions the miraculin would slot into the However, "you can't fool nasweet receptors very loosely on ture" as said by a great physiyour tongue. And if it doesn't fit cist named Richard Feynman. exactly, it doesn't work. So the So sure, you've had a fun blast miraculin therefore does not going off in your mouth as you send the impression of sweethave scoffed down vinegar, ness to your brain, even though pickles and a couple of lemon it has slotted into the receptor slices amazed by the strange (or lock). new taste sensations from your easily fooled brain. But your But in acidic conditions, the stomach isnt fooled. It's full of miraculin suddenly changes the sour food items that your shape so that it is now an altaste buds would normally help most perfect fit inside the rewarn you about. Get ready for ceptor and to top it all off, the evil master of all tummy makes the sweetness receptors aches. EXTRA sensitive. How much By Zahrah Massood 10AE of a perfect fit? A lot better than sugar for sure.

Miracles berries are grown in tropical Africa

People have been using a special miracle fruit to run what they call 'flavour tripping parties'. After you pay your money (10 or so), and eating your miracle berry, you can start tasting the range of food laid out: lemons, Brussels sprouts, mustard, vinegars, grapefruit and blue cheese. If you pop a miracle berry in your mouth and chew it for a while, It doesn't taste like much. But the real deal is what awaits this is the berry that makes sour food taste sweet. Yes ,this includes the lemons which now taste like sweet oranges and vinegar which tastes like sweet apple juice. Mixing sour lemon sorbet with Guinness (a beer) is claimed to taste like a chocolate shake The key ingredient is a protein known as miraculin. Most chemicals interact with your cells via their shape. It's the lock-and-key theory. To open your front house door with a key, it needs to be the right size and shape to fit the lock. In the same way, like all cells, the taste receptor cells on your tongue, are covered with microscopic receptors. They're like

The Bottom Line Why Sitting Down Is Filling Us Out

Scientists have started to prove the theory that sitting around leaves us with larger backsides! Researchers found that pressure builds up in certain areas of the body leaving some places 50 per cent fatter. Even on a healthy diet or even those who exercise regally could be left with larger bottoms. They believe this is because of the amount of people with office jobs, who inactively sit at a desk for large periods of the day. A team of scientists found that preadipocyte cells, the fore runner of fat cells, actually become fat cells and produce more fat when subjected to long periods of mechanical stretching loads- the kind of weight put on to the body tissues when sitting or lying down. cord injuries, the scientists no- sive to their mechanical enviticed that, over time lines of fat ronment. cells were invading large muscles in the patients bodys. Fat cells produce more triglycerides (the major form of fat This then led to an investigation stored in the body), and at a into how the amount of weight faster rate, when exposed to placed on a particular area, for static stretching. example your bottom that is occupied by these cells, could be It appears that long periods of encouraging fat tissue to grow. static mechanical loading and The researchers stimulated stretching, due to the weight of preadipocyte cells with glucose the body when sitting or lying, or insulin to turn them into fat has an impact on increasing fat cells and then placed individual production. cells in a stretching device. The test group of cells were The findings indicate that cells stretched constantly as if to mechanical environment should show what a human would be be taken into account as well as doing over periods of time, the amount of calories conwhile the control group was sumed and burned when tackkept separate and not being stretched. After two weeks, the ling obesity, said Professor Getest group had developed quite fen. The research has been pubBy studying closely MRI ima bit more and had larger drop- lished in the American Journal of ages (Works with magnets and lets of the preadipocyte cells. Physiology Cell Physiology. It radio waves that send a clear By the time the cells reached said that children who stay inpicture of all the tissue in the maturity, the group that had redoors and skip breakfast are at body) of the muscle tissue of ceived mechanical stretching patients paralysed by spinal had developed 50 per cent more greater risk of developing type fat than the two diabetes, according to controlled study at the University of group. Texas. Obese children, who Professor lack vitamin D which you get Amit Gefen from Tel Aviv from sunshine, were found to be much more likely to develop University said: Obesity the condition. The researchers is more than also said the lack of vitamin D just an imbal- was due to missing breakfast ance of calo- and too many fizzy drinks! ries. Cells themselves are By Millie Flashman Sitting down is filling us out. also respon-

10 Cool Things You Didnt Know About Stephen Hawking

From those of you who do not know who Stephan Hawking, most people know as a brilliant mind in a paralyzed body, he's prided himself on making his complex physical concepts accessible to the public and writing the bestseller, "A Brief History of Time." Even if you are familiar with his academic work, however, there are many interesting facts you might not know about Hawking, stretching from his time at school and gradual development of disability to his opinions on the future of the human race. Another interesting fact: Hawking was born on Jan. 8, 1942, which just happened to be the 300th anniversary of Galileo's death, who was an Italian, physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution.

10: He Received Mediocre Grades in School

These days Stephan hawking as a brilliant mind, this is why this may come as a stock to learn that hawking was a slacker when it came to his school studies. In fact when he was 9 years old his grades could have been ranked among the worst in his class. But he with a little more effort he bought those grade up to average. From his early age he was interested in how certain things work, such as clocks and radios, however he admit he was not very good at putting them back together so they could work again. Even with his poor grades both this teacher and his peer believed they had a future among them. His nickname was even Einstein The problem with his mediocre grades was that his father wanted to send him to oxford, but unfortunately did not have the money without the scholarship. Luckily enough when it came for the scholarship exams he had aces them all, even getting almost perfect score on the physics exam.

9. He Had an Aversion to Biology

Stephen Hawking took liking to mathematics, from a young age, he had wanted to have majored in it, but his father had other plans from and hoped he would study medicine. But for all his interest in science, Stephan did not care from Biology. He believes Biology was too inexact, too descriptive He would rather focus his mind on more precise concepts. Stephan wanted to do mathematics as a major and unfortunately Cambridge did not have, the compromise was that Stephan would attend oxford and major in physics. Within physics, he focused on the big questions; he was forced to choose between studying the tracks of particles physics, which studies the behavior between subatomic particles, versus cosmology, which studies the large universe as a whole. He chose cosmology; despite at the time is conceded an n unpopular topic.

8: He Was on Oxford Rowing Team

Hawking had faced unhappiness during his first year at oxford. The thing that seen to have drawn him of this funk was joining the rowing team, even before he was diagnosed with the illness that would eventually paralyze him, Hawking did not have an athletic build. However the rowing team recruited smaller men like Hawking to be coxswains, a position that does not row, but rather control steering and stroke rate. Became rowing was so important and competitive at oxford, Hackings role on the team made him very popular. His teams mates had described him as the adventurous type But as much as the rowing team helped his popularity, it had hurt his study habits, occupied with rowing practice or 6 afternoons per week.

7: He Was Given a Few Years to Live at Age 21

As a graduate student, Hawking gradually started showing symptoms of tripping and general clumsiness, his family became concerned and during his Christmas breaks them instead to see a doctor. However before seeing a specialist he had attended a new years party where he had met his future wife, Jane Wilde. She remembers being attracted to his sense of humor and his independently personality. He turned 21 a week later, and shortly after entered the hospitals for two weeks of tests to discover what was wrong with him. He was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, which is a neurological disease that causes patients to lose control of their voluntary muscles. He was told he'd probably only have a few years to live. Hawking became more optimistic and started dating Jane. They were soon engaged, and he cries their engagement as giving him something to live for

6: He Helped Create the Boundless Universe Theory

One of Hawkings major achievements was to come up with the theory that the universe has no boundaries in 1983. In 1938 the effect to understands the nature and shape of the universe, hawking and Harle combined the study of the behavior of microscopic particles, with Einsteins theories about gravity and how mass curves space to show that the universe is a contained entity and yet had no boundaries. Hawkings tells people to think of the universe like the surface of the earth. A sphere, you can go in any direction on the surface of the earth and never reach a corner. However the one major difference is that the surface of the earth is two dimensional, while the universe is four dimensional.

5: He Lost a Bet on Black Holes

In 2004, the genius had admitted that he had been wrong and conceded a bet he made in 1997 with a fellow scientist about black holes. What are black holes you say? Stars are gigantic that have so much mass that their gravity is always incredibly strong. This is fine also long as long the star continues to burn its nuclear fuel, exerting this energy outwards, thus counteracting gravity. However once a massive enough star burns out gravity becomes the stronger force and causes that big star to collapse on itself. This creates a black hole. But, he said at the time, information is lost in the black hole that eventually evaporates. The problem was this idea that information is lost conflicted with the rules of quantum mechanics, creating what Hawking called an information paradox.American theoretical physicists John Persil disagree with this conclusion that information is lost in Black hole. In 1997 he made a bet with hawking saying that information and escapes them, thus not breaking the laws of quantum mechanics. Hawking is such a good sport that he can admitted when his wrong, which he did in 2004.

4: He Has Numerous Awards and Distinctions

In his long career in physics he had received numerous amounts of awards, here are some highlights. In 1974 he was inducted into the Royal Society (they royal academy of science) and a year later, Pope Paul VI awarded him. He also want went on to receive the Albert Einstein Award and Hughes medal form they Royal Society. Hawking had also established himself in the academic world by 1979 that he attained the post of the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at eh University of Cambridge in England. A position he would keep for the next 30 years. The chair dates all the way back to 1966, and the second person to hold it was none other than Sir Isaac Newton. In the 1980s, he was invested as a Commander of the British Empire, which is a rank in the UK just

3: He Is a Children's Book Author

One of the most unexpected facets of Stephen Hawkings resume is that In 2007 Stephan and his daughter Lucy Hawking collaborated to write Georges Secret key to the universe. This book is about a young boy, George who rebels against his parents aversion to technology. He begins to befriend his neighbors, one of whom is a physicist with a computer. This turns out to be the most powerful computer in the world, which offers portal to see outer space. Of course much of the books is meant to explain heavy explain scientific concepts, such as black holes and the origin of life to children.

2: He Believes in Possibility of Aliens

Considering all the Hawkings works in cosmology, people are understandably interested in his opinions on the possibility of alien life. During NASAs 50 th anniversary in 2008. He expressed that given that vastness of the universe, there very well could be primitive alien life out there, and it is possible, other intelligent life. Primitives life is very common Hawkings said and intelligent life is very rare Of course, he threw in his characteristically sharp humor to say. Some would say it has yet to occur on earth

1: He Took Zero-gravity Flight to Save the Human Race

In 2007 when Stephan Hawking was 65 years old he got to take the ride of a lifetime. H was able to experience zero-gravity and float out of his wheelchair thanks to Zero gravity crop. This experience involved an airplane ride in which sharp ascent and descent allows passengers to experience weightless in l fight for several rounds each last for 25 seconds. Hawking, free from his wheel chair for the first time in 4 decades, was even able to perform gymnastic flips. But perhaps the interesting about this is not what he was able to do but why he did it. When he was asked why he wanted to do this, of course cited his desire to go into space. But his reasons for going and his overall support for space travel went deeper than that. By Aleesha Luthra 10AE

Top 10 Common Ingredients that are just Plain Weird!

As common as these ingredients are, they're not exactly what you would expect. Some are not even what you would WANT to expect. For all the times your mother asked, "Do you know what's IN that? Youll be armed and ready with the answers.

No. 10 Polydimethylsiloxane
Polydimethylsiloxane, or PDMS as we will call it from here on out, is indeed a common food ingredient ... you'll even find it at your favorite fast-food haunts (we would name them, but we're pretty sure you'll never go back,!) Aside from its use as a food additive, other interesting places you'll find PDMS include Silly Putty, anti-foaming agents, breast implants, dry-cleaning solutions, silicone and head-lice treatments. Hey, we never said it was a cohesive list! Is there anything PDMS can't do?

No. 9 - High-Fructose Corn Syrup

Remember when your mothers taught you that highfructose corn syrup was the devil and that it brought evil upon any child to consume it? Well, maybe that was just our mums. But hey, television argues it too! You see, in the 1980, admitting something had "sugar" in it was one of the seven deadly sins (the beginnings of gluttony, perhaps). It wasn't until high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) hit the shelves that people got really confused, and therefore threw money at the problem! Today, however, we're giving you the not-so-skinny on this substance, right here, right now. In case you hadn't heard, HFCS is essentially sugarmore specifically a corn syrup that has undergone enzymatic processes to increase the level of fructose (how they came up with the name for it we will NEVER know!). However, along with the high fructose came high levels of obesity; around the same time as HFCS was introduced to the U.S., obesity levels rose steadily. Subsequent tests have found that "fructose" tends to cause this weight gain, meaning the sugar substitute sent to save the day might have made things worse. Oops. Aw, shucks. Now we have to admit our mums were right
.

No. 8 Caffeine

Without this common ingredient, most of these Top 10 lists would never get done! Therefore, thanks largely to coffee and Red Bull, it's a safe bet that No. 8 in our list can be found in most people's tummies. And we have a sneaking suspicion overuse of this common ingredient is exactly what makes us so weird.

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No. 7 - Carrageenan

You may know that carrageenan is a common additive used in ice creams, soy milk, toothpastes even beer; what you probably don't know is that this common ingredient is made of a substance extracted from seaweed. That's right, you're eating sushi even when you didn't expect it ... in a manner of speaking, anyway.

No. 6 - Monosodium glutamate (MSG)

It's not just your local Chinese take-out ingredient anymore! Monosodium glutamate, or MSG, is actually a really cool ingredient, even if it does cause some pretty nasty side effects for some people. You see, some scientists believe that glutamate, also known as "umami," is the fifth "essential" flavor detectable by the human palate. In fact, glutamate doesn't have a taste on its own, and is best known for bringing out the flavors of other things (like sesame chicken ... mmm!). Despite years of complaints of "Chinese food syndrome" however, (which does NOT imply that the sufferer is hungry again just 20 minutes after consumption, but that it makes the person physically ill), most of those negative claims that MSG is harmful to your health have gone largely unsubstantiated. And while scientists have discovered there are those who are allergic to the substance, the allergy itself is pretty rare.

No. 5 - Phosphoric Acid

Phosphoric Acid is more commonly known as the substance that gives fizzy drinks their acidity. To quench your thirst, consider this: phosphoric acid is also used to remove rust, in some cases employing what is called an "acid bath" (think "DIP" from Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and you'll understand). If that's not enough to keep you out of Toon Town, phosphoric acid is also used in fuel cells, to remove hard-water stains, and as a pH balancer in your favorite cosmetics, ladies. Hazards to your health have never tasted so sweet. I mean, bitter.

No. 4 Sorbitol

Sorbitol, like many of the other common sugar alcohols (Sugar alcohols are one type of reducedcalorie sweetener), can actually be more like a frenemy when you hang out too often. You see, sorbitol, when consumed in mass quantities, acts as a laxative proving the adage "too much of a good thing." Where do you see sorbitol hanging out? You can find S -tol in sugar free mints, medicines, gums and diet sodas. Of course, that's barely scratching the surface ... you'll also see it listed as an ingredient in your makeup, mouthwash, toothpaste and even in some cigarettes.

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No. 3 - Gelatin

Next time someone offers you some jelly, consider this: jellys main ingredient, as I'm sure it's easy to imagine given the name, is gelatin. But gelatin, for those who don't know, consists of the collagen extracted from an animal's skin and (mostly) bones. So if you've ever been told jelly is made of "horse hooves," you're partially correct (though actual hooves are not used in the production process). And also probably partially nauseous. But if you think it's just jelly you should be avoiding, you're sadly mistaken ... you can find gelatin in everything from Gummy Bears to those marshmallow Peeps you get on Easter Sunday. Now perhaps it seems a wee bit less ridiculous when your vegetarian friends turn down the pastelcolored cuties, because (to you're thinking) they're "animals." Uh, well. Yeah, they are actually."

No. 2 - Xanthan Gum

Xanthan gum, which gets its name from Xanthomonas campestris (a strain of bacteria present during the fermentation process), contains bacteria similar to rotting veggies. We wish that was a joke and/or exaggeration, but it's totally not. In fact, when you think of molding veggies, it's fairly easy to imagine the film of slime forming. Yep. Like that layer of decay, xanthan gum acts as a thickening agent or a gel. Yum! You can see xanthan gum in dairy products, sauces and salad dressings. As if the previous paragraph wasn't enough to put you off of salad forever, now you have the perfect excuse to order that burger instead.

No. 1 - Carmine
Carmine, or cochineal (as it is perhaps more commonly known), consists of a mixture of ... crushed beetles. More specifically, these dried insects are boiled in water to extract the carminic acid they contain (or did contain). Typically, due to the fantastic red hue the resulting potion gives off, this ingredient is used to artificially dye foods red, purple and pink; however, you can taste these little buggers in some fruit juices, berry punches, ice cream, yogurt and candy (so ya know, all the good stuff). In terms of non-edible items that contain carmine, you'll see them in everything from ink to paint to make-up. We'd say we hope that doesn't include lipstick, but hey, you're already ingesting the stuff in everyday foods gives new meaning to the phrase, "Waiter, there's a fly in my soup." By Aleesha Luthra - 10AE

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What a Dream Looks Like

The ability to take a picture of a dream sounds like something thats impossible. Well thats what we thought. BUT a team of researchers in Germany have done just that. This is the start of a whole new world. Brain scan images taken during specific dreamed events may help researchers understand how the brain combines thoughts and memories to fashion dreams. The dreamer in this experiment knew he was dreaming; he was capable of an activity called lucid dreaming. His muscles didnt move, his eyes twitched as they do during normal dreams, and he slept deeply. But on the inside, a lucid dreamer drives the dream and can create an imagined world much different and probably much stranger than reality. fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) was used to record brain activity. An fMRI scanner tracks the flow of blood through a persons brain, showing when different regions are active. Its a loud and clunky device with a narrow tunnel in the middle: A person has to lie down on a flat surface, slide into the tunnel, and remain motionless.

So next time you think you want to know what youre dreaming of just hop into one of these machines. Especially if your one of those people who has a memory like a sieve. By Kayathrie Atputharajah 10AE

Thats Washing Off the Chores List!

Usually cleaning clothes usually requires soap and water to remove stains and smells, and a tumble in the dryer or an afternoon on the clothesline to dry. The time and energy needed to turn a heap of dirty laundry into a pile of clean clothes might make people wish for clothes that just clean themselves. Cotton fabric coated with the right mixture of chemicals can dissolve stains and remove odors after only a few hours in the sun. remove stains in clothes but with exposure to ultraviolet, not visible, light The scientists cant start selling their self-cleaning cotton just The fascinating fabric gets its yet; scientists still need to make self-cleaning abilities from a sure the coated cotton wont chemical mixture that coats the harm those who wear it. Alcotton threads. The coating in- though titanium dioxide is used cludes substances known as in some foods, recent experiphotocatalysts, which trigger ments have shown that it can chemical reactions in light. One cause health problems if it gets of those photocatalysts, called in the lungs. So before the matitanium dioxide, helps sunterial can be worn, scientists screen block the sun and is used need to find a way to make it as tattoo ink. Another, called safe. silver iodide, is used for developing photographs. Researchers By Kayathrie Atputharajah have previously shown that tita10AE nium dioxide mixtures could

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So, what's your sign?

Horoscopes originated with the ancient Greeks thousands of years ago. The reason it was done was to predict everyday things such as the right time to plant crops or when it would rain. The Greeks believed that a human beings life was pre-determined this meant a life was decided in an almost timeline like layout. Because of this the Greek astrologers believed they could predict or prevent certain events by reading what they thought of as heavenly bodies (the sun and moon). This was done by the positions of the moon and sun, and very often, star constellations. Nomadic tribes first discovered the way of using stars for navigation, many then followed their example. When the news of horoscopes reached Britain in the 1600`s a man known as William Lilly made the practice known so that a festival was held on a have all seen horoscopes (also through the churches and called it lunar based calendar or when stars known as Zodiac signs) in magaChristian Astronomy. Only re- reach certain points in the sky. zines and local papers; they are cently was a horoscope done to Whereas our new years are based based around months and birth find out your future or information on when the days change and how days. The different months and on things like relationships. many days have passed. days are separated into twelve Star signs travelled the world beOver time, the use of the stars as parts all still with their original fore they reached Britain many so called markers became more names. These zodiacs are named hundreds of years ago. For exam- and more common until they were after star constellations that were ple in China the star signs are used in everyday objects and in used in the Greeks time and now. based on lucky animals. These newspaper articles. Horoscopes In horoscopes we are given both animals then determine what your now are not so much for navigabad and good points about upcompersonality could be and how to tional or religious purposes. As ing events that might happen, even deal with foretold future events. the years changed so did the way thousands of years ago people These animals are the same as the people now read the stars. We wanted to know about what excitcreatures that represent the ing pointers could be waitIn tradition, the twelve horoscope signs are: names of each New Year, ing for them, but only natuAries (March 21-April 19), for example we are now in rally with positive will Taurus (April 20-May 20), the year of the Dragon. come the negative! Gemini (May 21-June 20), The Chinese calendar Cancer (June 21-July 22), changes in the first few Leo (July 23-August 22), months of our year, so it By Millie Flashman 8MN starts later than our set Virgo (August 23-September 22), new years. This is because Libra (September 23-October 22), of the traditional way of Scorpio (October 23-November 22), counting events back when Sagittarius (November 23-December 21), stars were used as pointers,

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And...

Use the picture clues to guess the word or phrase.

Puzzles found by Nicolas Sharpe

Dont forget, if you have any suggestions for the articles that we should write next time, or if you want to write one for us, contact Mrs Egan in room 307

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Answers: Spot the Difference: Tusk is missing, Spots on cavemans clothes are missing, Mammoths toe is missing, Lines on microscope are missing, Line at bottom is different, Speech bubble moves Anagram: Photosynthesis Riddle: It was during the day! Dingbats: High Five, Circle of friends

Confusing Conundrums
pressure vessel is often referred to as the Law of Laplace. Particularly in medicine, it accounts for, amongst other things, the bursting of aneurysms (An excessive localized enlargement of an artery caused CONUNDRUM NUMBER 1: by a weakening of the artery Two balloons are attached to wall). either end of a hose that is pinched shut. CONUNDRUM NUMBER 2: One balloon is almost fully in- All the cars are facing forward flated, the other only slightly. into the intersection. What will happen when the The intersection is not large hose is released? More impor- enough for the cars to tantly WHY? cross at the same time and miss each other a) The big balloon inflates the (this is possible on larger intersmaller one until they are the sections). There are no tricks same size such as overpasses or tunnels. b) The small balloon inflates the large one c) Nothing SOLUTION: The smaller balloon inflates the larger one. This unexpected result (for most anyways), is due to the counterintuitive relationship between a balloons radius and its internal air pressure. While it may seem that the internal pressure of a fully inflated balloon would be higher as the rubber is more stretched, the opposite is actually true. The smaller balloon has the greater internal pressure and therefore inflates the larger balloon. The same effect explains why smaller soap bubbles are more spherical than larger bubbles, and why very large bubbles are so wobbly. The relationship between the internal pressure, radius and tension in only one question to choose an exit and both agents will answer ... what will you ask? Notes: The agents will not leave the room so you cannot ask them to lead the way. Asking who the liar is a waste of your one and only question they will point at each other and you still wont know which exit to take. Any question which results in the agents pointing at different doors is wrong. There is a question that results in both agents pointing at the same door. SOLUTION: Which one would your fellow agent tell me is the safe exit? Both will now point to the oblivion door. All you have to do is walk through the other door. ALTERNATIVELY Which would your fellow agent tell me is the door which will lead into oblivion? This will result in both agents pointing to the safe door. All you have to do is walk through it. Think about it out, it does work. Suggested by Zahrah Massoo

SOLUTION: they all make a left turn! CONUNDRUM NUMBER 3: Two agents: one tells the truth one always lies. Two exits: one leads safely home, the other will hurtle you into oblivion. The problem: you dont know who tells the truth or which exit to take but the agents do. One question: you may ask

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