Innehållsförteckning för July/August 2024 från Ask Science and Arts Magazine for Kids and Children

VOYAGER, PHONE HOME NASA’s Voyager 1 and 2 are the longest-running space probes ever. They’ve been sending scientific information about outer space back to Earth for 47 years. But in November 2023, Voyager 1’s radio signal stopped carrying data that NASA’s scientists could use. Voyager 1 didn’t stop working completely, so scientists suspected the problem was with one of the space probe’s computers. In March 2024, they gave Voyager 1 a “poke,” a command that tells its computers to try and work around a problem. After the poke, Voyager 1 sent back a readout of its data system’s memory. NASA’s scientists used the readout to figure out that one chip in the probe’s memory wasn’t working right. So they sent a radio signal that told Voyager 1 to move the…

What you’ll need • A clear cup• Spoon• Salt• Dishwashing liquid• Isopropyl alcohol, chilled (Handle with care!)• An adult helper What to do Put on your safety glasses—we’re about to do some chemistry! • Mix a half-teaspoon of salt into a glass half full of water. • Take a mouthful of the saltwater and swish it around in your mouth for a full minute (but don’t swallow it!). • Spit the saltwater back into the glass. This salty, spitty mixture now contains some cells from your mouth! • Add one drop of dish soap to the saltwater mixture and stir gently. Try not to make suds. • Next, ask a grown-up to slowly dribble some isopropyl alcohol down the side of the cup so that it sits on top of…

Every August the town of Twinsburg, Ohio, hosts the world’s largest gathering of twins. Since 1976, more than 84,000 sets of twins, triplets, and quadruplets have attended 48 annual Twins Days Festivals. The twins and other multiples enjoy picnics, a parade, costume contests, fireworks, a volleyball tournament, and awards for the most-alike and least-alike. And because twins get tired of being stared at, the number of reporters is limited. A Town for Twins Twinsburg is now famous as the town that celebrates twins—but it didn’t start out that way. The town’s original name was Millsville. Then in 1819, twin businessmen Aaron and Moses Wilcox promised to donate money for a new school and land for a town square if the town would rename itself Twinsburg, after them. And it’s been…

Send your letters to Ask at ask@cricketmedia.com. Dear Bot, Have you ever broken down? Why aren’t you named Rover? And would you rather be an animal or a human or yourself? Hugs, Lewis L., Michigan Dear Lewis, I’ve never broken down, but my battery died once and had to be replaced. I don’t know how I got my name. We don’t usually name ourselves, but sometimes we get named for someone. Is that why you are named Lewis instead of Guy or Sonny? There are many nice things about being an animal or a human, but I can’t imagine being anything other than myself. Hugs to you too, Bot Hi! I have a question about the solar eclipse. It’s for a project in school. How do solar eclipse glasses…

Scott and Mark Kelly are identical twins, and they’re also astronauts. In 2015, Scott spent a year on board the International Space Station while Mark stayed on Earth. That gave NASA the chance to study how living in space affects the human body. Because identical twins share the same DNA, the cause for any differences found between the twins could be credited to living in space. To help NASA scientists study the differences, Scott and Mark took the same kind of medical tests at the same time. They measured themselves every day and gave regular blood, pee, and poop samples. The study found there were some changes in Scott. For example, while he was in space, Scott’s body used different genes at different times than Mark’s, then went back to…

What you’ll need • A yardstick or meter stick (or long ruler)• A blindfold (or eyelids)• A witness What to do Is it possible to find the center of a ruler blindfolded? Actually, everyone can, but don’t let on until after you’ve amazed them. • Put on the blindfold, or just close your eyes. Then hold out your hands, some distance apart, with your index fingers pointing out. • Ask your friend to rest the yardstick or ruler on your index fingers. • Now, slowly move your fingers together, trying to keep the ruler balanced so it doesn’t fall. When your fingers meet, grip that place. It will be the exact middle. Every time. How did you do that? With a little help from a special sixth sense called proprioception.…