Science by Email 10 August 2012

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	10 August 2012
Phew! Curiosity has landed safely on Mars. News: Australia dishes news of Mars landing By Sarah Kellett When the rover Curiosity landed on Mars on 6 August (AEST), Australia was listening. Between hitting the atmosphere and landing safely, there were ‘seven minutes of terror’. Then, mission scientists heard the good news. When landing in Gale Crater, Curiosity sent out a unique set of tones heard by the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex, a tracking station managed by CSIRO on behalf of NASA. The CSIRO Parkes telescope (‘The Dish’) also received signals on Monday, as a backup. Curiosity’s mission is to detect whether Mars could ever have supported microbial life. More information Follow your Curiosity Creating craters activity Build your own model International Space Station NASA’s Spacecraft 3D App (for iPhone/iPad) News: Big stars and vampires An artist’s impression of a vampire star (left) sucking the hydrogen from its very bright companion (right). By Sarah Kellett Many very bright stars come with a companion that is often a vampire star, according to a team of international researchers. Very bright, O-type stars can be heavier than fifteen of our Suns and a million times brighter. Though rare, they are important to the evolution of galaxies. About three in four of these O-type stars are thought to exist in binary systems where two stars circle closely together, many more than scientists expected. About half the time, the smaller companion is a vampire star, sucking hydrogen from the nearby massive O-type star. Eventually, the more massive star explodes in a supernova that is unusually low in hydrogen, leaving the vampire to shine on. Another possible fate for the companions is that the two stars spiral into each other, merging to form an even larger star. Though our Sun is solitary, it’s quite common to find binary stars in our galaxy. However, when it comes to such incredibly huge, high-temperature stars such as O-types, having a companion changes their life and can have galaxy-altering consequences. More information New Scientist: Massive stars avoid the single life ESO: Video of an artist’s impression of vampire stars Careers link Astronomy careers
These are the things you’ll need.   Make a bubble film across the top of the bottle using detergent mixed with water on your finger.   Put the bottle in warm water, then try it in cold water.   Try this: Bubble bottle You will need Bottle Detergent Bowl of warm water Bowl of cold water   What to do Remove the lid from the bottle. Mix some detergent and water on your finger and use it to swipe a thin layer or ‘film’ of bubble mix across the top of the bottle. Put the bottle in the bowl of warm water and watch what happens. Next, try the bottle in the bowl of cold water. If the bubble film breaks or pops, quickly swipe another one with your finger. What happens? What’s happening? When it comes to gases, volume changes with temperature. Hot air takes up more space than cold air. This is because air is made up of tiny molecules. Heat gives molecules more energy, so they move faster, bump into things more and so take up more space – if they can. The bubble film acts as a barrier between the air in the bottle and the air in the room. In hot water, the air in the bottle heats up more than the air in the room. The air pushes against the bubble film until it rises up, giving the warm air more space to move. In cold water, the opposite happens. The air outside is warmer and pushes down on the bubble film. The cold air in the bottle takes up less space and the bubble film moves down into the neck of the bottle.  Applications Many car engines use hot gases to push pistons and do work. By burning a small amount of air and fuel at a time, the gases become very hot, expand quickly and push a piston to drive the engine. Lightning also creates a lot of heat, which makes surrounding air expand quickly and causes the sound of thunder. By Sarah Kellett Try another Science by Email activity on bubbles More information Interactive animation of gases (requires Flash) Animated gas lab How car engines work View the online version Quiz questions 1. Which underground animal has a nose with 22 finger-like appendages? 2. Smog is a combination of which two words? 3. What happens if a magnet is heated above its Curie point? 4. Captain Cook explored the east coast of Australia after watching which rare astronomical event? 5. Which Australian native animal is thought to spread the deadly Hendra virus? Did you know? The see-through flatworm A. acroporae is a coral-eating aquarium pest. It was recently found living in the wild at the Great Barrier Reef. Websites   Do it! National Science Week starts tomorrow. Get involved by attending an event, visiting a science museum or even running your own activity! Find out what’s on near you or run your own quiz. See it! Earth as Art showcases striking satellite images. A scary face of Lake Eyre in South Australia was voted in the top five. Marvel at the winners. Quiz answers 1. The star-nosed mole has a nose with 22 sensitive finger-like appendages. 2. Smog is made from the words smoke and fog, however it actually contains a mixture of pollutants including ozone. 3. A magnet heated above its Curie point will no longer be magnetic. Instead it becomes paramagnetic, only weakly attracted to very strong magnets. 4. Captain Cook observed the transit of Venus prior to exploring the coast of Australia. 5. Flying foxes carry Hendra virus. CSIRO and Biosecurity Queensland scientists recently discovered a new virus that is also carried by flying foxes. Science by Email is a CSIRO publication. bankmecu is a proud partner of Science by Email. Editor: Jasmine Leong | Manage your subscription | FAQ

 

 

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