Ideas numbered 10, 11 and 12 are suitable for entry into the Discover Sensors’ Special Award category
The fastest one-mile land speed record, in a car, is 763 miles per hour. That’s quick! The record was set by Andy Green in Thrust SSC (Super Sonic Car) in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada, USA on October 15, 1997. The car’s one-mile run was – obviously – over in seconds, yet it took six-years to design and build the lightning-quick car. I wonder if they bothered fitting a speedometer? Have you ever wondered how a speedometer works? You might like to … Further links: http://www.thrustssc.com/ In the 1870s one of the most popular types of bicycle was the penny farthing. You’ve probably seen pictures of them – they have an enormous front wheel attached directly to the pedals, and a very small back wheel to keep it steady. The seat is directly above the large front wheel. In those days, they didn’t have suspension and the roads were very uneven. So a ride on a penny farthing really shook your bones! Nowadays bike design has changed considerably; the two wheels are the same size. But the wheels are still pretty big compared to, say, a car. Have you ever wondered why bikes usually have such large wheels? You might like to … Further links: http://www.alexmoulton.co.uk/ Are you a messy eater or painter, always spilling and splashing? Have you noticed how thick liquids, like tomato sauce or paint make different splash patterns from thinner liquids like tea or cola? Because thick liquids don’t flow so easily, the splashes spread out less when they hit the surface. Blood behaves similarly. The pattern gives forensic scientists clues about what happened. What can they deduce from the splash pattern? You might like to …
Further links: http://www.planet-science.com/whodunit/
Square, round, pyramid-shaped? Does the shape of your tea bag make much difference? We’ve been told (by dubious sources!) that pyramids are definitely better. Other adverts insist that round bags make all the difference. Perhaps we’re all missing a trick and some form of three-dimensional, heptagonal construction is what we really need for tasty tea. Have you ever wondered if different shaped tea bags make any difference to the way your tea brews? You might like to … Further links: http://www.teacouncil.co.uk/
There’s a woman in Chicago who has a collection of more than 4,000 crisps – each one resembling a celebrity. Crisp-a-like lover Nadine Lumford, says her most prized possession is her “Jesus crisp”. She also has the inevitable Elvis crisp, as well as Princess Diana and Communist Karl Marx. According to Nadine, there’s a celebrity crisp in every packet; you just have to look hard. I assume she didn’t find her Elvis crisp in a low-fat packet. I also assume she has a vivid imagination. Have you ever wondered just how much fat there is in a low fat crisp? You might like to … There are lots of crisp flavours on the market, from pickled onion to crispy bacon. There was even a time back in the 1980s when you could get your hands on hedgehog flavour crisps. Having never eaten a hedgehog I can’t vouch for their authenticity, but there they were, lining the corner-shop shelves. Yet despite this myriad of flavours, crisp manufacturers Walkers say their top three most popular snacks are the good-old-fashioned cheese and onion, salt and vinegar, and ready salted. Have you ever wondered why some crisps taste saltier than others? You might like to … Further links: BUPA
Research has shown that reducing average salt intake to 6 grams a day would prevent 70,000 strokes and heart attacks a year.
Some labels do give you the salt content of food per serving, but this currently only applies to a small number of foods; other labels on foods give the amount of sodium in grams per 100g of food.
To convert sodium to salt, you need to multiply the amount of sodium by 2.5:1 gram of sodium per 100g = 2.5 grams salt All types of packaged food have labels which give us essential information. Some of the information given is strictly regulated by the law. For example, anything that claims to be ‘alcohol-free’ must have less than 0.05% alcohol in it. Another important piece of information is the ‘use-by’ or ‘sell-by’ date. These are there to make sure we eat the food before it goes off. Have you ever wondered how to keep your snacks fresh at the end of the party? You might like to … Further Links: http://www.esa.org.uk/education/english/
Have you ever wondered what’s in soil? You might like to … Further links: http://home.howstuffworks.com/composting.htm
It is a proven fact that working at a computer for long periods of time is one of the main causes of Dry Eye Syndrome.
What is dry eye syndrome? When tears do not adequately lubricate the eye, a person may experience: Sometimes, a person with a dry eye will have excess tears running down the cheeks, which may seem confusing. This happens when the eye isn't getting enough lubrication. The eye sends a distress signal through the nervous system for more lubrication. In response, the eye is flooded with tears to try to compensate for the underlying dryness. However, these tears are mostly water and do not have the lubricating qualities or the rich composition of normal tears. They will wash debris away, but they will not coat the eye surface properly. In addition, because these emergency tears tend to arrive too late, the eye needs to regenerate and treatment is necessary.
Why does working on a computer cause dry eye syndrome? For some people, working on a computer can lead to dry eyes. This could be because people blink less while using a computer. If computer users don’t blink they don’t moisten the eyeball surface and this causes the eye surface to dry out. Stopping to blink or rest the eyes can reduce this effect. You might like to……
Windmills have been in use for thousands of years. The type of windmill still seen in Holland, were once more widespread. A typical windmill could do the work of 200 people. They have been used for many purposes, including grinding corn, pumping water and operating machinery. Windmills lost favour about a hundred years ago, when other forms of energy became cheaper and more reliable. Rising fuel costs and the fear of global warming are making alternative energy sources like windmills increasingly popular again. Have you ever wondered how the wind could best be harvested to generate electricity? You might like to…… The wind speed is variable and so data logging could be used over an extended period and from the graph of voltage and current against time, an average power output could be obtained for a given turbine design or wind environment. Further links: http://www.teachnet.ie/dkeenahan/wind_turbines.html When buildings collapse and bodies are trapped under rubble, rescue workers are under pressure of time to locate the victims. You may have seen television scenes of rescuers using heat-detecting equipment. They often use infrared detectors to locate where the bodies are. Have you ever wondered at what point the search would be called off? You might like to…… Further links: http://data-harvest.co.uk/downloads2/Manuals/Sensors/DS056_Infrared_Sensor.pdf Undertake a field study of a local terrestrial or aquatic ecosystem to measure abiotic variables using appropriate sensors. Many environmental factors affect living organisms. One such factor is climate. Measurements could be taken of such quantities as humidity, temperature (air and ground or aquatic), oxygen content, incident light, etc. These could be measured using sensors and datalogging, which offers the opportunity for measurement over relatively long periods of time in the open field. The results could then be brought back to the laboratory for analysis. This data might then be related to the distribution of organisms or an investigation could be undertaken to assess the extent to which one factor (e.g. light) might affect another (e.g. oxygen levels). Soil type or water quality, might also be investigated using a pH sensor. Have you ever wondered why mist develops near ground level in the early morning? You might like to…… Further links: http://biology.slss.ie/laboratoryandfieldwork.html |