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Current NewsletterQuestacon Smart Moves Newsletter July 2008 – 14/07/2008
Questacon Smart Moves : Newsletter : July 2008
Rock and Roll is destroying Art!
It sounds like something you would hear from 1950’s parents who’s children were listening to “that Elvis fellow”. But this is the cry being raised by scientists from the A couple of times each year outdoor concerts are held in the nearby Winter Square. After a three year study, scientists have concluded that the works on display inside the museum are being “prematurely aged” from the vibrations and noise of these concerts. In 2004 a concert by former Beatle, Sir Paul McCartney cracked windows and set off burglar alarms. The study has found that for every 10 concerts that are louder than 80 - 82 decibels (somewhere between the average sound of a home stereo and the sound of trucks driving past) the vibrations will age the pieces by one extra year. This doesn’t sound like much, but when you realise that some historic sites regularly play host to not just concerts but whole festivals, some lasting weeks, then the years start to add up. Mikhail Piotrovsky, the director of the For more info. Click the link:
> Back To Top Moon Cities
To launch the most basic of space crafts costs hundreds of millions of dollars, so think about how many space trips would be needed to build a city on the moon and we’re looking at hundreds of billions of dollars. That’s almost as much as our presenter Emily spends on phone credit every month. So how do we get around this? Or perhaps make it not only cheaper to build moon structures, but more efficient? Dr Peter Chen, a NASA scientist, believes that rather than build moon structures here on Earth, we could build them on the moon, constructed from moon dust. Sound crazy? Well, it’s not as far fetched as you might think. Dr Chen has been working with nano-sized structures, which are thousands of times thinner than a human hair, to see if it might be possible to build a telescope on the moon out of moon dust. Dr Chen’s work involves working on a molecular level using nanotechnology to combine materials found in moon dust So far things are looking positive, as he’s been able to ‘glue’ dust particles similar to moon dust together in a promising way. So perhaps in a few summers time we’ll be staying at moon dust hotels on our friendly space neighbour…But will there be a moon dust beach to laze on? To find out more head to: http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/06/24/2282982.htm > Back To Top Chatty Crocodiles
Have you ever wondered how crocodiles know when to hatch? Turns out that they talk to each other while they are still in their shells. Baby crocodiles in their eggs make “umph, umph, umph” sounds to tell each other that it’s time to get out of their egg-shaped homes and into the real world. Biologists and crocodile keepers have known for a long time that baby crocodiles make noises inside their shells shortly before they hatch but not why. Now new research has determined why they make these noises. The sound of the baby crocodiles also lets the mother know that her eggs are about to hatch. The mother crocodile then starts to dig the eggs out of the nest. Most reptile mothers will lay their eggs and then disappear, leaving the babies to fend for themselves. Crocodile mothers do the opposite. They hang around to protect their eggs as well as the babies after they hatch. Even in captivity, female crocodiles will protect their nest from other captive adults, even after zoo keepers have taken away the actual eggs. For more information, check out http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn14187 > Back To Top Mars Soil, Fit for Veggies!
Last Month the Phoenix Mars Lander successfully touched down on the surface of Mars. The The first nutrient analysis ever to be carried out on another planet was successful and gave scientists the first look at the chemical nature of Martian soil. Things like salt content, nutrient levels and acidity were measured and found to be similar to the soil found in Scientists have found the soil on Mars has a chemical composition that could sustain a good crop of asparagus or turnips. Having to take a spacecraft to the veggie garden is asking a bit much but these results do show that the soil on Mars has the minerals to support life. The findings also provide further support to theories that there was once life on Mars NASA’s scientists hope to perform more soil tests in the coming weeks but this involves heating the samples in All news and updates can be found at: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/main/index.html > Back To Top Site of the MonthFind out if doing crosswords will help ward of the risk of dementia later on in life, find out if it is possible to turn the placenta into a maths equation and learn the science behind snow flakes! The Naked Scientists is a fantastic resource for school assignments as well as a knowledge bank for experiments!
> Back To Top Final WordThat's it till next time. If you've got any questions, comments or suggestions for stories, please drop us a line at: qsmnews@questacon.edu.au
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