Professor Lynne Boddy is a woodland fungi expert at Cardiff University and she told us all about her amazing career in Whizz Pop Bang 99: Fantastic Fungi.
Lynne has written a beautiful book, Humungous Fungus, an exploration of all things fungi which will amaze young readers, and open their eyes to the fungi thriving all around them and we’ve got four copies to give away!
Simply answer this question in the comments for your chance to win a book.
Which one is a part of a mushroom? a) Gill b) Hill c) Spill
Good luck!
This competition closes at midnight on 31st October 2023 and is open for UK residents only. For full terms and conditions visit whizzpopbang.com/terms
Do you or your children have magazine subscriptions that you would like to store neatly? The Whizz Pop Bang magazine binder has been carefully developed to make looking after your precious magazine collection simple!
Our brief was straightforward: to find a way for our readers to make sure that their magazines would stay as good as new for a long time. Lots of binders use metal rings, which means punching holes in treasured editions, and that just didn’t feel right. Instead, our colourful binders use a traditional, non-damaging cord system.
This awesome magazine binder is perfect for storing a whole year’s worth of Whizz Pop Bang magazines. Inside the binder, you’ll find 12 Cordex strings (lengths of super-strong cord). Open your magazine to the middle pages, then slide it under one of the 12 strings. In a couple of minutes, you can slot 12 magazines into the binder in the order of your choice. Once secured, you can flick through your collection with ease – as if it was one giant book!
Storing your Whizz Pop Bang subscription in one of our robust binders is the ideal way to preserve it for many years, allowing readers to refer back to older issues when they suddenly become relevant again as new school topics are introduced and new personal interests are discovered.
Whizz Pop Bang is the award-winning science magazine that brings science to life for girls and boys aged six to twelve (and their parents too)!
Discover how easy it is to enjoy science at home with Whizz Pop Bang magazine. Spark your child’s imagination with lab-loads of hands-on experiments, the latest science news, tantalising puzzles and amazing facts.
Subscribe today to start your child’s adventures in discovery and to inspire the scientists of the future!
Carl Sagan was an astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrophysicist, professor and science communicator who was fascinated by extra-terrestrial life. You can read about him in Whizz Pop Bang 98: Aliens!
Carl was involved in American space exploration since it began in the 1950s. He put together messages that were sent into outer space in the 1970s on the Voyager Golden Record.
By NASA – Great Images in NASA Description, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6455682
Copies of the Golden Record were carried by Voyager I and Voyager II. They contained:
Messages in 55 ancient and modern languages
Sounds from Earth
Images of humans and Earth
By NASA/JPL – The Sounds of Earth Record Cover, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=137443
The discs contained diagrams that explain where Earth is and how to play the record. Scientists spent a long time working out how to communicate these messages to aliens!
English (this was recorded by Nick Sagan, Carl’s son, when he was six!)Akkadian (an ancient language used in Mesopotamia about 6,000 years ago) “May all be very well.”Arabic “Greetings to our friends in the stars. We wish that we will meet you someday.”Cantonese “Hi. How are you? Wish you peace, health and happiness.”Hebrew “Peace”Korean “How are you?”Nguni “We greet you, great ones. We wish you longevity”Polish “Welcome, creatures from beyond the outer world.”Rajastani “Hello to everyone. We are happy here and you be happy there.”Spanish “Hello and greetings to all.”Welsh “Good health to you now and forever.”
Music
Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F. First Movement, Munich Bach Orchestra, Karl Richter, conductor
New Guinea, men’s house song, recorded by Robert MacLennan
Mexico, “El Cascabel,” performed by Lorenzo Barcelata and the Mariachi México
“Johnny B. Goode,” written and performed by Chuck Berry
Georgian S.S.R., chorus, “Tchakrulo” collected by Radio Moscow
Peru, wedding song, recorded by John Cohen
Images
We can’t include the photographs and diagrams included on the Golden Record because of copyright but you can see some of them here. These show some of the same subjects that featured on it.
If you want to find out more about fantastic scientists like Carl Sagan, subscribe to Whizz Pop Bang, the awesomely amazing science magazine for kids! Learn about inspirational scientists of the past and present every issue – our readers are the in credible scientists of the future!
Team Whizz Pop Bang spent a wild weekend meeting hundreds of scientists-in-training at Just So Festival 2023. Thank you so much to Just So Festival for having us back again – we absolutely love being a part of this incredible event.
This year, we brought Jonathan Scott from the European Space Agency (ESA) along to share his amazing knowledge of staying fit and healthy in space. Jon works in the Space Medicine Team at ESA and he used his expert skills to run an Astronaut Training Camp.
Jon brought a replica space suit along for Whizz Pop Bang fans to try on!
We were overwhelmed with the turn out for Jon’s talk and it was fantastic to see so many budding astronauts! A HUGE thank you to Jon, and to all of you who came and joined in the fun. We hope you picked up a thing or two about how astronauts stay fit and healthy on board the International Space Station.
We also ran The Whizz Pop Bang Discovery Den, where young scientists could explore their five senses in some super-fun hands-on experiments.
Children were invited to visit us in ‘The Future’ area in the woodland at Just So Festival and try five different activities linked to the senses.
It’s not long until the fantastic Just So Festival kicks off – it’s running at Rode Hall, Cheshire on 18th – 20th August 2023. It’s an incredible outdoor adventure for families from bumps to great grandparents, and Whizz Pop Bang are so excited to be a part of the fun that’s in store!
The Whizz Pop Bang team are huge fans of this magical festival, and once again, we’re bringing a sprinkle of science to the programme!
Head to Astronaut Training Camp with ESA’s Jonathan Scott in collaboration with Whizz Pop Bang, the awesome science magazine for kids
Ever dreamed of becoming an astronaut when you grow up? Roll up for an action-packed talk by Jonathan Scott from the European Space Agency to discover the skills and techniques needed to stay healthy on board the International Space Station. Test out some astronaut training exercises, feel how gravity affects us here on Earth and check out a replica spacesuit!
Discovery Den by Whizz Pop Bang, the awesome science magazine for kids
Come along to an exploration of your senses at this hands-on discovery session run by the makers of the most awesomely science magazine for kids, Whizz Pop Bang! You won’t believe your eyes, ears, noses, fingers or tongues in this interactive session full of weird and wonderful sensations! Perfect for children aged 6 to 12.
Find out more about the festival at justsofestival.org.uk, where the line up has been announced! Discover a celestial celebration of the planets in The Observatory, step out of 2023 and into the future at The Future stage, hear stories galore in the Spellbound Forest, and so much enchanted adventure throughout the site. There’s something for every member of the family!
Whizz Pop Bang is an awesomely amazing monthly science magazine that brings science to life for children aged six to twelve (and their parents too)! There’s lab-loads of hands-on experiments, mind-boggling facts, puzzles, news and fun packed into each month’s magazine. Whizz Pop Bang sparks imaginations and inspires the scientists of the future from the moment it comes bursting through their letterbox. Subscribe today at whizzpopbang.com!
If you’re not lucky enough to be going to Just So Festival this year, but want to have heaps of fun with science, browse back issues in our shop now!
This autumn (November 2023) we’ll be celebrating 100 issues of Whizz Pop Bang magazine! We’d love to showcase some of our biggest fans in the Issue 100 Wonder Club pages.
Send us a photo of you with your favourite edition of the magazine or tell us your favourite facts, experiment or joke from Whizz Pop Bang by September 20th 2023 to be in with a chance of appearing on our special superfans page!
Send your photos, facts, experiments and jokes to Y@whizzpopbang.com or Y, Whizz Pop Bang, Unit 7, Global Business Park, 14 Wilkinson Road, Cirencester, GL7 1YZ.
For a chance to appear in Whizz Pop Bang 100’s extra-special Wonder Club pages, we must receive your email or letter by 20th September 2023 – but we love hearing from our readers all year round, so please get in touch any time!
Don’t forget to include your name, age and address. We can’t return any post, sorry.
PVA glue is often used in crafts but it’s made from petrochemicals, the production of which is bad for the environment. Here’s a recipe for glue made from natural materials that works just as well!
You will need:
45 g plain flour 15 g sugar 5 ml (1 teaspoon) vinegar 100 ml warm water Bowls Spoon Jug Jar or tub with lid
What you do:
Put 50 ml of warm water into a jug and add the sugar. Stir until the sugar is fully dissolved.
Add the vinegar.
Put the flour into a bowl and slowly add the liquid, stirring all the time, until it is combined together. Keep stirring until there are no lumps.
Add the rest of the water and stir thoroughly.
Store the mixture in a jar or tub with the lid closed in the fridge for up to two weeks.
Helen Scales is a marine biologist, writer, broadcaster, teacher and scuba diver who stars as our Science Hero in Whizz Pop Bang 96: Coasts. Read more about her in this issue, now available in our shop. She tells us all about her exciting job, including some of the books she has written, and we’re so excited to have five sets of two of these books to give away to mini marine biologists!
Scientists in the Wild: Galápagos by Helen Scalesfollows a group of marine biologists as they set sail to study the amazing wildlife and habitats of the Galápagos. To get the job done they will climb volcanoes, get sneezed on by marine iguanas, watch dancing birds, launch a deep-diving submersible and explore the dazzling underwater wonders of Galápagos.
Great Barrier Reef by Helen Scales (released 6th July 2023) introduces this incredible, intricate Australian ecosystem to young readers. Discover the plant and animal inhabitants of the Great Barrier Reef in this beautifully illustrated book, then find out what we can all do to ensure its survival.
To enter the competition, simply answer the following question in the comments:
Digital subscribers can: 💥 Choose between an annual subscription or a one-off purchase of a single issue 💥 Flick through complete 36-page editions of Whizz Pop Bang 💥 Get instant access when a subscription is purchased 💥 Download and print the amazing cut-out paper craft activities included in each issue purchased 💥 Save up to 36% when buying an annual digital subscription* (or a huge 57% on international subscriptions)!
* When you order a digital subscription or digital single magazine you will be redirected to Issuu.com, our digital magazine publisher. Savings based on full cover price of physical magazine (£4.75 per issue) plus international postage charges. New issues will be available on 1st of each month.
We’re on the lookout for households with enthusiastic young scientists to join our team as brand ambassadors for our amazing kids’ science magazine – Whizz Pop Bang! 🌍🔍
Share your passion for discovery, inspire others, and ignite a love for learning in the next generation of explorers.
Being a brand ambassador for us will mean demonstrating your passion for Whizz Pop Bang through your social media accounts – send us an email at hello@whizzpopbang.com to find out more.
Want to know more about Whizz Pop Bang – the awesomely amazing science magazine for kids?
Whizz Pop Bang is an award-winning science magazine that brings science to life for children aged six to twelve (and their parents too)!
Each monthly issue is packed with experiments, puzzles, science news, crafts, jokes, inspiring scientists, competitions and more!
Our aim is simple – to help children develop a love of science. We love to imagine what they might discover or invent one day!
