Indholdsfortegnelse for September 2016 i Ask Science and Arts Magazine for Kids and Children

SPACE STRETCH Scott and Mark Kelly are identical twin brothers who are both astronauts. This March, Scott returned to Earth after 340 days—almost a year—in space, on the International Space Station. While Scott was in space, Mark stayed on the ground. NASA scientists are studying the twins to learn more about how living in space affects the human body. Life without gravity can weaken bones, muscles, and eyes. But Scott also got a boost from his time in space. He returned to Earth about 2 inches (5 cm) taller than his twin brother. Without the constant pull of Earth’s gravity, Scott’s spine stretched out a bit, giving him some extra height. However, Scott’s bragging rights didn’t last long. Less than two days after he landed, gravity shrank his stretched-out body…

Destin Sandlin is a rocket engineer. He’s smart and funny and makes science videos for a website called Smarter Every Day. So he thinks he has a pretty good brain. One day, a welder at Sandlin’s job decided to play a little joke. He built a bike with a twist: when you turn the handlebars to the right, the wheel goes left. When you turn the handles left, the wheel goes right. Ha ha! Very funny. Sandlin climbed right on. Once you know the trick, you just have to tell yourself to turn left to go right, or right to go left. Easy. Right? But Sandlin soon found that it wasn’t so easy. In fact, it was impossible! Every time he tried to make the bike go straight, he wobbled…

Monday On Monday morning, Ms. Green said, “Class! Friday there will be a test on the planets. You’ll need to name them in the right order and know how long each takes to orbit the sun. Extra points if you can tell how many moons each one has!” Tim moaned “Oh no. I’ll never remember all that stuff!” Todd didn’t look worried. “I just remember: My very educated mother just served us nachos.” He sang it like a little song. Tim was puzzled. “How does that help?” Todd explained. “The first letters match the planets: My = Mercury, very = Venus, educated= Earth, mother = Mars, just = Jupiter, served = Saturn, us = Uranus, and nachos = Neptune. See?” Monday night Tim sang himself to sleep. “My very educated…

To read, first pick up a book—or a copy of Ask. Even that simple move takes a whole lot of brain power. Your cerebellum, the part of your brain in charge of balance, works with the vision and movement parts of your brain to hold the page and look without falling over. With the page held still, it’s time for your eyes to get to work. As you look, your brain tells your eyes to focus. It feels like your eyes are seamlessly skimming across the page, but really you see in short bursts, taking in about 10 letters at a time. Cells in your eyes send messages along your optic nerve about the shapes and colors they see. We’ve Got Letters! When your brain recognizes a pattern as “writing,”…

Dear Plush, I’m a big fan of animals. What is your favorite animal? Mine’s a hippo. I like how you are always happy and kind. Have you ever read The Show Must Go On? I give it 1,000 stars. Try it sometime! Your biggest fan, Eleanor A., age 8, Pennsylvania Dear Eleanor, I have always found that life is much easier if one is happy and kind and likes all the animals one meets. As the Circus Rascals also know! I enjoy their books very much. Thank you for the lovely portrait! Happily a Hippo, Plush Dear Puck, How do you make pearls appear? Amalfi, by email Dear Amalfi, Slowly and secretly. How do you grow teeth? Puck Mollusk of Mystery Dear Marvin, I need some ideas for pranks. I…

Why are human brains so wrinkly? For the most important organ in your body, the brain does not look very impressive. It’s squishy and pink and wrinkled like a walnut. But those wrinkles are the key to its amazing power. The outer layer of the brain, its surface, is called the cortex. That’s where thinking happens. The larger that surface is, the more thinking power you have. If a brain were smooth like an orange, how much surface would it have? Trace around an orange to make some orange-sized circles on a sheet of paper. Then peel the orange and tear the peel into little bits like puzzle pieces. Fill the circles with them—the peels should just fill four circles. This is true of any smooth, round object: the…

“My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos” is a funny sentence that can also help you remember the planets. Now what about all the other things you need to know? For this month’s contest, come up with a new catchy rhyme or doodle to help you remember some fun fact(s). Which musical note goes on which line? Moons of Jupiter? How to tell bees from wasps? Send us your memory-jogging jingle or joke or art, and we’ll try to remember to put the most helpful in an upcoming issue of Ask. Contest Rules: 1. Your contest entry must be your very own work. Ideas and words should not be copied. 2. Be sure to include your name, age, and address on your entry. 3. Only one entry per person,…