Innehållsförteckning för December 2024 från Brainspace

botany Trees don't generate their own heat like mammals do, and they don't have warm burrows or fur coats to snuggle into. So how do they survive the deep freeze of winter? In a way they do hibernate like bears – but in trees this is called dormancy. By going dormant, the trees save energy and protect themselves from freezing. Just how they do that, though, is pretty amazing. Brainspace talked to naturalist and nature writer Drew Monkman to find out more. The part we can see begins in early autumn, when shorter days and cooler temperatures signal deciduous trees to pull the chlorophyll out of their leaves and store it in the wood. “Chlorophyll is precious so the trees don't waste it,” says Drew. The loss of green chlorophyll…

zoology Launch Zappar to watch this video A semi-aquatic lizard living in the rainforests of Costa Rica is making quite a splash in the world of reptile science. Anolis aquaticus, or the diving anole, is the first known vertebrate to use bubbles to breathe underwater – just like a human scuba diver! Small, slow and apparently delicious considering the number of predators it attracts, the diving anole relies mainly on camouflage to keep safe from the birds, snakes, mammals and other lizards eager to make a meal of it. FAST FACT: ANOLES HAVE BEEN REPORTED TO STAY SUBMERGED UNDERWATER AS LONG AS 16 MINUTES. But when camouflage fails, this anole has another trick up its sleeve. It dives into the nearest stream and waits for its enemy to move along.…

chemistry It has built empires, started wars and is essential to all life on the planet. And it is very likely sitting in your kitchen at this very moment. Since the beginning of history, it has been one of humankind's most prized possessions: This natural mineral is made up of cube-shaped crystals that are translucent, colourless and odourless. Salt occurs naturally in many parts of the world and has been mined for thousands of years. Today, salt has over 14,000 uses. The human body is constantly losing salt through natural functions such as sweating or going to the toilet. Because the body cannot make or store its own salt, it has to replace it through food and drink. MYTH: About one quarter of the tongue's taste buds are devoted to…

MATERIALS: • BOX (CAKE BOX, GIFT BOX, ETC.) • FELT BEAR TEMPLATE (FROM BRAINSPACEMAGAZINE.COM) FELT BEAR • FELT (4 COLOURS: BLUE, RED, WHITE, PURPLE) • SMALL BUTTON • SEWING NEEDLE • SPOOL OF THREAD • PERMANENT MARKER • STUFFING (COTTON BALLS) • DRIED LAVENDER • TAPE • RIBBON (OPTIONAL) Launch Zappar to watch this video METHOD: 1. Place all the items in the box. We had lots of leftover felt, which is great if you are planning to make multiple gift kits for friends or family! 2. Head to brainspacemagazine.com and print the template from the Holiday DIY Gift Kit blog. 3. Tape the box shut and wrap it for gift-giving.…

biology Can you hold your breath for ten seconds? How does it feel? You take a breath 22,000 times a day, usually without even thinking about it. On the other hand, holding your breath is hard and takes effort. Why is that? Take a deep breath, and let's dive into it! BREATHING AND THE BRAIN Even though we don't think about it most of the time, breathing is complicated. Your body is made up of trillions of cells, and each one needs oxygen to do its job. With every breath in, your lungs pull in oxygen molecules. These molecules travel from the lungs to the bloodstream, where red blood cells carry them throughout your body. Meanwhile, your cells release carbon dioxide (CO2) as a waste product. Red blood cells pick…

science It's no surprise that categorizing the many varieties of snowflakes is a difficult task. Some sources identify 35 types of snowflakes, while another lists over 120 variations! The types of snowflakes people are most familiar with include: • hexagonal plate • stellar plate • stellar dendrite • fernlike stellar dendrite Wilson Bentley snapped the first-ever photo of a snowflake in 1885. He used a feather to carefully place a snowflake under a microscope lens and photographed the magnified image. LAUNCH ZAPPAR TO WATCH THIS SHORT FILM ABOUT WILSON BENTLEY…

technology BLADE RUNNERS In the Paralympics, runners wear prosthetic legs shaped like thin curved blades. These prosthetics are specialized tools for running. When biological legs run, they work like springs. First, they contract when we put our weight on them, then lengthen as we push off the ground. This releases energy to propel us forward. Curved carbon fiber blades are designed to imitate this process. Scientists around the world are continuously creating better models of blades. For example, the Icelandic prosthetic company Össur uses a design inspired by a cheetah's leg. On these types of prosthetic limbs, Paralympians can run as fast as Olympians! OSSEOINTEGRATION Traditional prosthetic devices are attached to the user by a socket or harness. This tends to make them heavy, sweaty, and difficult to move. Osseointegration…

zoology All living creatures need rest. Even bacteria! Animals instinctively follow a 24-hour circadian rhythm that is set by the rotation of our planet. When you wake up at the same time every day without the alarm going off, that's your body's rhythm at work. All animals have it. But while humans generally wake in a safe environment, some animals face risk. Survival dictates the many unusual – and adorable – ways animals sleep. Let's explore a few! SPERM WHALES They nap during 10-15 minute intervals throughout the day in vertical columns with head up and tail down. Researchers believe the position allows one hemisphere of the whale's brain to slow down and relax while the other hemisphere remains active. MEERKATS Imagine a pile of meerkats. That's how they sleep.…

space Take a close look at the Moon and you'll see more than just a white sphere. You'll notice dark patches and bright patches, and the circular rims of craters created by the impacts of objects like asteroids, meteoroids and comets. You'll also see the occasional, light-coloured swirl, such as something you might find on the foamy top of your cup of hot chocolate. These swirls aren't valleys or mountains, as they cast no shadows. It's more like they're painted on the surface, yet they can extend for hundreds of kilometres and are permanently there. So what could they be? To understand lunar swirls, let's start by travelling to the Sun. The Sun is a hot, glowing ball of gas, that constantly shoots out very small particles into the solar…

One source of salt in North America is in Goderich, Ontario where the largest underground salt mine in the world extends for 7 kilometres (4.3 miles) beneath Lake Huron. This facility produces roughly 6.5 million tons (13 billion pounds) of salt per year. The Sifto Salt mine produces a number of different products using a variety of different methods. The fine grains of salt we are used to seeing on our kitchen table are extracted from the mine by a process called mechanical evaporation. Water is injected into the salt mine, producing brine, or salt water, which is pumped to the surface of the earth and heated. The water evaporates, leaving the fine salt crystals we sprinkle on food such as French fries and popcorn. The salt is also mined…

create MATERIALS: • SHAVING CREAM FOAM • CARD STOCK (WHITE) • STRAW OR STIR STICK • FOOD COLOURING (GREEN, RED) • SCRAPER  (ANOTHER PIECE OF CARD STOCK OR A BENCH SCRAPER) • LARGE DISH Launch Zappar to watch this video METHOD: 1. Fill the dish with a flat layer of shaving foam. 2. Add the drops of food colouring in patterns or at random over the shaving foam. 3. Use a straw or stir stick to swirl through the drops of food colouring, creating designs. 4. Place the card stock directly on top of your pattern. Lift the card stock and use a scraper to wipe off the excess foam, revealing your design. OPTIONAL: You can end your card design here or cut out shapes such as a heart or…

science Far, far away, down the glass and metal tubes of a microscope, live the inhabitants of ancient and little-known, but widely-studied kingdoms of single-celled organisms. Using our unique plasma-shrinker, Sam Microman, our intrepid Brainspace professor, caught up with some of these reclusive and elusive characters in the depths of the oceans and in the bodies of living things near you. Some are wise and beautiful; others deadly and scheming – but all of these outsiders of the bacterial world are fascinating. Prokaryotes and the Big Bad Bacteria I started my journey in the oldest living place in the world: the Prokaryote Kingdom. It's a big place and there are plenty of inhabitants here. Every single-celled organism you can imagine lives here. They are different from other single-celled organisms be–…

The sight of snowflakes delights skiers, snowshoers and snowball fight enthusiasts, but snowflakes also possess some remarkable properties. Snow contains about 90 percent trapped air and acts as an insulating blanket that retains heat when used to create igloos. Similarly, snow mounds provide animals with warm shelters and a safe place to hibernate in winter. Have you ever noticed that it sounds extra quiet outdoors after a snowfall? Freshly fallen snow absorbs up to 60 percent of sound waves and dampens sound. The opposite is true when snow melts and refreezes. The smooth, hard ice surface reflects sound waves and enables them to travel over long distances. Snow cover helps regulate the Earth's temperature and the heat exchange between the planet's surface and the atmosphere. Snow also helps cool the…

zoology Launch Zappar to watch this video Grossest Defence The hagfish is an eel-shaped fish that has no jaw, eyes, or backbone. Its main defence? It makes slime – lots and lots of slime. When threatened, it exudes a substance that mixes with seawater to produce a bucket of slime almost instantly. In fact, it can make slime up to 400 times its own volume! The hagfish can “slime” from any part of its body. When a predator bites on a hagfish, it gets a giant mouthful of slime so thick it can't swallow and its gills get clogged. Does it work? Researchers who observed 14 attempted attacks found that the hagfish won every time. Can you spot the mimic octopus? It's not easy being a prey animal, always in…

zoology Launch Zappar to watch this video This cute little rodent evolved more than 5 million years ago in the grasslands during the middle of the Pleistocene epoch. Today, the ermine is found in the woodlands of the world's northern regions. In the summer, the ermine has silky brown fur with a white chest, but its coat turns white in winter. A stoat's long, slender body allows it to move through snow with agility and ease. Don't be fooled by its cute little face. This voracious predator is considered a pesky invasive species in New Zealand. The stoat was introduced to the country in the 1870s, when the population was overrun with rabbits that were destroying agricultural crops and farm fields. Though the stoat reduced the rabbit population, it also…

space That's right. Earthquakes on the planet Mars are called marsquakes. And recently, scientists based in the United States have used the data from the quakes on Mars to figure out something they hadn't before: that the super-dry planet may actually be home to tons and tons of water. It's just hidden deep underground. Mars used to host lots of flowing water. Today, scientists can see evidence of ancient lakes, rivers and oceans. However, about three billion years ago, the planet mysteriously dried up. While some water stayed frozen in Mars's polar ice caps, the rest disappeared. DID IT EVAPORATE INTO SPACE? Maybe not. In 2018, the American space agency NASA sent the InSight lander to Mars. There, part of its job was to use an instrument called a seismometer…

create MATERIALS: • 2 CUPS ALL PURPOSE FLOUR • 1 CUP SALT • 1 CUP OF WATER • MIXING BOWL • LARGE SPOON • ROLLING PIN • COOKIE CUTTERS • STRAW (TO POKE A HOLE) • COOKIE SHEETS • PARCHMENT PAPER Launch Zappar to watch this video METHOD: 1. Preheat oven to 200°F (93°C). 2. Line your baking tray with some parchment paper. 3. Combine flour and salt in a bowl. Slowly pour half the water into the mixture, mixing until dough starts to form. Continue adding tablespoons of water until the dough is not too sticky, and not too dry. 4. Knead the dough on a surface until a smooth ball is formed. The longer the dough is kneaded, the smoother your ornaments will be. 5. Using the rolling…

experiment (DO NOT USE GLASS BOTTLE) MATERIALS: • BOTTLED PURIFIED OR DISTILLED WATER (MUST BE PURIFIED OR DISTILLED) METHOD: 1. Place water bottle in fridge for 3 hours. 2. Place water bottle in freezer for 30 minutes. 3. Remove and slam the bottle on counter. It should instantly add ice to the liquid water. Your time may vary depending on the temperature of your fridge. 4. Have fun experimenting with the temperature and time. The water has to be cold enough, but not frozen for this to work. WHY IT WORKS: Distilled or purified water can be cooled below freezing without forming ice, a state known as supercooling. Distilled or purified water lacks particles (such as minerals, chemicals or dust) which are normally needed as a starting point for the…

science 1 A grain of dust floating in a cloud and a droplet of water merge and freeze upon impact, forming an ice crystal. 2 Water vapour continues to attach to the ice crystal as it falls from the sky, forming additional crystals that create the snowflake's six arms. 3 As the snowflake continues its descent, it encounters a variety of temperatures and humidity levels in the atmosphere. (These conditions can fluctuate as often as every few seconds.) 4 When the temperature and humidity change, so do the shape, design and direction of the snowflake's arms, creating intricate patterns that make every snowflake unique. 5 When the snowflake reaches the ground, its 6 arms feature an identical pattern since each arm experiences the same atmospheric changes while falling from the…

engineering What's the coolest thing in farming? Icicles! But they're not for eating, of course, they're for building ice castles — think of real-life versions of Elsa's castle in Frozen. But while Elsa used her magical freezing power to build her chilly fortress, Brent Christensen, founder of Ice Castles, figured out a way to grow icicles as the building blocks of his cool creations. Launch Zappar to watch this video What's refraction? Light travels in straight lines when it moves through transparent materials. But when it passes through a material with a different density—such as from air to water—it bends at the point where the two surfaces meet. This bending reveals the colour spectrum because each colour that makes up white light travels at a slightly different speed. That's why…