Month: June 2018

The Material That Exposes Hidden Messages Just By Adding Water

By Kiran Jayasinghe

Monali Moiraganthem and Albertus Schenning from Eindhoven University of Technology created a new blue polymer film (a material that is made of long molecular chains). Their film swells when it contacts water, exposing other chemicals or details in it. Using this information, the two scientists used calcium nitrate dissolved in water to create an ink. They printed this ink onto their polymer in a design they would recognize. Then, when they added water to their film, it swelled and showed the chemical lines – in the design printed!

Moiraganthem and Schenning were able to create simple designs and artwork on their film, using a sequence of ink. One layer would show up orange on the film, two layers would become green, and three would become blue, and so on. When water touched the film, these colors showed up and unmasked the hidden message printed on the polymer.

Schenning has many ideas for the film. The polymer could be used to camouflage items, once pre-printed. Tags for items or clothing could be exposed to moisture to show a secret design, so that thieves or crooks could not create fake tags! A more interesting idea would be to have cars that turn color in the rain…

Monali’s and Albertus’ new material would be useful and fun to experiment! The polymer film could hide secret codes on clothing, or reveal a miniature picture for a child. Whatever it will be used for, this new material is  definitely interesting – all you have to do is add water!

Learn more at www.sciencenewsforstudents.org!

 

Can We Predict Earthquakes?

There have been many major earthquakes this year. There was a powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake in February, in Papua New Guinea, as well as a magnitude 6.7 and 6.0 earthquake in the same country. There was also a magnitude 7.9 earthquake in January in the United States, a 7.5 in Honduras, a 7.2 in Mexico in February, and a 7.1 in Peru in January. These earthquakes leads to a common question,: Can we predict Earthquakes? Scientists have tried to predict them over the years, to help lessen the damage they cause, but this is not that easy.

For scientists to be able to correctly predict an earthquake, they will need to know the date and time the earthquake will happen, the location, and the magnitude. Over time, people have tried using signs such as unusual behavior in animals, aches and pains, clouds, and more, to tell when an earthquake might be coming. Animals are able to eel earthquakes much better than humans do, and sometimes, they can sense it before humans, but animal behavior is not a reliable source. These signs are not scientific ways to determine if an earthquake is coming, and they are also not correct. USGS stated, “… if there is a scientific basis, a forecast may be made in probabilistic terms.” This means that sometimes we can make a prediction that has a probability, or chance, but not a guarantee of coming true when it comes to earthquakes.

But even though studies have showed that with our knowledge and technology at the moment, we cannot always correctly, or reliably, predict earthquakes, scientists keep working at that goal because, as stated by BBCUK, “If we give up now, we will never be able to answer the question as to wether or not earthquakes are predictable.”

Here are links to the two articles mentioned in the article.

For the article mentioned above by USGS, click here.

For the article mentioned above by BBCUK, click here.

Tinker Crate Spin Art Machine

By Kiran Jayasinghe

Recently we signed up for Tinker Crate (find out more in our Tinker Crate review), and we just received June’s box! Our newest Tinker crate came with the materials and instructions to make a spin art machine. Including paint pens, paper, and instructions, the tinker crate showed us how to create spin art, while also teaching us how to build and engineer the machine.

To create the spin art machine, we used the actual box, a circle of wood, some sticky foam, resistors, a battery pack, a motor, and a breadboard. We placed the spinning motor on the bottom of the box, attached the wood circle, connected the battery to the motor, then attached a breadboard, to distribute energy and be able to create different speeds. See the video below to see how it turned out!

The fun thing about this project is that it is reusable. I used it myself several times. The project teaches you about motion and randomness. It’s definitely interesting to see how each piece comes out differently, however much you try to replicate them!

To learn more about Tinker Crate, visit www.kiwico.com/tinker.

Tinker Crate Review

By Simran, Kiran, and Svara Jayasinghe

A few months ago, we bought something called a Tinker Crate. The company that makes it, Kiwi Crate, sends you a box of materials for a science project each month. We were really excited to get our first box , because the experiments sounded like fun. The Tinker Crate is one of the items that the company sells. They also have other crates, such as Doodle Crates, Kiwi Crates, and Koala Crates. Take a look at them at  kiwico.com.

In the Tinker Crate, there are instructions and the material needed for the main science experiment. The Crate also has a magazine inside. The magazine includes several additional experimental ideas, and materials for two of these other experiments are included in the box as well.

In June, the experiment was to build a bottle rocket. We built the rocket, made a launch mixture, and launched the rocket! The bottle rocket used a small chemical reaction to fly upwards.

It took a few tries to launch the rocket properly, and to get the hang of launching it. Our tips: Hold the rocket tightly against the cork on the launcher so that none of the gas inside the rocket can escape. Make sure that the launcher is on the ground before you let go of the rocket. Otherwise, the launcher will get ejected out of the rocket, instead of the rocket flying off the launcher. Once the launcher is firmly on the ground, let go of the rocket. Try adding extra water and more launch mixture to the rocket for a better blast off.

We can’t wait to see what comes in the Tinker Crate next month!

Tea At The Park

by Kiran Jayasinghe

Simran, Svara, and I had been asking our parents to take us to a tea room as part of Simran’s and my birthday present (from our parents, at least). After making a reservation a few weeks ago, we, as a family, went out to the Park Hyatt Aviara Resort  to have “High Tea at the Park” .  Reservations are needed to have tea at the Park Hyatt, and Mom said that the reservations get booked up very early. When we pulled up to the lobby I was definitely not expecting for the staff to open the car doors for us, or for them to open the hotel doors for us, but they did! I felt so special. We also had no idea where the tea room was in the resort, so we asked the ladies at the front desk. Turns out the high tea room was less than ten feet away! The tea room had four to five tables set up. We were seated at a table set up just for us (the benefits of making a reservation). At the time of the reservation, Mom  reserved the “Traditional Tea”.  There’s also a tea called “Royal Tea”, which is the same the “Traditional Tea” except that they also serve champain. The tea was served, and it came with an assortment of finger foods such as cucumber sandwiches, egg with caviar, smoked salmon with caviar, and more. It also came with scones and desserts.  There were a number of teas to choose from, but we chose a Chocolate and Orange peel tea that was recomended by the server and a more traditional English Breakfast tea. The server poured our tea for us. Each of us had our own small pot of tea and a strainer. Everything was absolutely delicious. My personal favorite was the cucumber sandwhiches. I had one of everything, just like Simran and Svara and my mom and dad. We all agreed the desserts were a little sweet, maybe too sweet, but it was dessert all the same, so I ate all of it. I also had several cups of tea of both the Chocolate with Orange Peel and the English Breakfast, with milk and sugar, of course.  My dad liked the Chocolate with Orange peel tea which remninded him of a Christmas tea, and I agree with him. When we were finished, the server, who was very kind, decided to give us a few extra scones and desserts to take home (yay, more!).

Overall, the food was great, the tea was a-MAZ-ing, and the service was also over the top. Our server said that the Tea at the Park is known as one of the best in San Diego, and after trying it out, I pretty sure that’s true.  We all enjoyed our experience at the Park Hyatt Aviara Resort Tea Room and I’m sure we’ll go again!

Oman/ Anthony Bourdain – Parts Unknown

By Kiran, Simran, and Svara Jayasinghe

In December of last year, we had watched an episode of ‘Anthony Bourdain — Parts Unknown’ and it took us to the country of Oman. Oman is located in the Middle East, in the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates. It’s surrounded by the Gulf of Oman, Gulf of Aden, and the Arabian Sea.

Oman is a country that is partly well-developed, and partly not. In the 1970’s, Oman was a very under-developed country. It only had six miles of paved road! Then, Sultan Qaboos, rose to power. He managed to transform the country into a more modern place, while still keeping it’s traditions at heart. The Sultan earned the respect and admiration of his people.

The country sports the largest sand dune in the world. Clean sand draws several groups of Omani people to wander the dunes. On the show, Bourdain spent one night and day with people who roam the desert. They traveled on camels and set up tents in the night, played music, and overall just enjoyed their time. Oman also has beautiful beaches and shoreline, and many people have boats. Most people spend some time each day at the ocean.

As usual, had Bourdain showcased the food of the country. Oman’s food is a mix of their own and Indian food. They eat shuwa, which is pit-roasted goat. Shuwa is prepared by taking the meat of a goat, wrapping it in palm or banana leaves, burying it in the ground over hot coals, then taking it out again two days later. Shuwa is a special dish. There is also pakora, which is Indian fritters, and chapati, which is Indian fresh baked bread.

Oman is a modern, but traditional country. Bourdain himself said that Oman “defys expectations”. With beautiful scenery, shores, sand dunes, and the culture, it would be an interesting place to visit.