Whizz Pop Bang reader Patrick, aged 7, asked a brilliant question: Why do bouncy balls bounce and don’t just stick on the ground like a rock?
Y the robot has the answer! Unlike rocks, bouncy balls are made of elastic materials, such as rubber. Elastic materials are flexible – it’s easy to change their shape. But they return to their original shape after being squashed or stretched. When the ball hits the ground, it is squashed out of shape. Some of its movement energy is changed into elastic energy, stored very briefly inside the ball. Once the ball has come to a stop, this elastic energy is released as the ball returns to its original shape. The ball pushes against the ground and the ground pushes back, sending the ball back up into the air. BOING!
Now watch a ball bounce in slow motion!
Find the answers to loads of science questions like this in every single issue of Whizz Pop Bang magazine!
Have you ever wondered what an ancient Egyptian mummy sounds like?
Scientists have brought the voice of an Egyptian mummy back from the dead with the help of a 3D printer. Nesyamun was an Egyptian priest whose mummified remains were scanned in a hospital CT scanner to measure the dimensions of his vocal tract. A team of researchers then made a 3D-printed copy of the vocal tract and used it with an artificial larynx to recreate the sound of Nesyamun’s voice. So far, they’ve only made one vowel sound but, with the help of computer models, the researchers hope to one day recreate full sentences.
This fascinating news story was featured in Whizz Pop Bang: Splash! Leap into the Science of Ponds which is on sale in our shop.
Want to know more about the science of Ancient Egypt? Then you’ll love issue 55, which is packed with the hidden science of mummies and pyramids!
Are you looking for science news for kids? Whizz Pop Bang features the latest science news, presented for children aged 6 – 11, every issue. Sign up here!
It’s World Book Day on 5 March 2020 and this year, it’s all about Sharing a Million Stories! Joining in is simple: just sign up and pledge to share 10-minutes of storytelling (which includes reading aloud, audiobooks, comics or lots more) as many times as you can throughout World Book Month (27 February – 29 March 2020).
You could win £1,000 of stories to share with your nursery or school during each week of the campaign, simply by sharing stories! Find out more here.
Looking for rainy day science activities? With Storm Dennis on his way, these wet weather science experiments will keep your scientists-in-training entertained and curious. What a great way to make the most of the weather, however wet and windy it gets!
Wondering how to entertain your family over rainy weekend and holidays? Whizz Pop Bang magazine is packed with super-exciting experiments and investigations every month. Sign up now!
Make a Robinson anemometer (wind speed measuring device)
Find out which way the wind is blowing with this simple weather vane activity. Will it stand up to Storm Dennis-strength winds? There’s only one way to find out! Click here for instructions.
If all this rain is prompting lots of wonderful questions, this activity could help you answer a big one: how does it rain? Use a glass jar, paper bowl, ice cubes and boiling water to investigate how rain is formed. Click here for instructions.
Make a rain gauge
The Met Office’s DIY rain gauge project uses an unexpected material to ensure that it takes accurate reading: jelly! Click here for instructions.
OK, so we’re really hoping there won’t be any real tornados this weekend – making a mini tornado in a jar is much more fun, and a great demonstration of this swirling extreme weather phenomenon. Click here for instructions.
The International Day of Women and Girls in Science is on 11th February 2020, and it exists to defy gender stereotypes and show that women and girls are a vital part of the science community!
To celebrate The International Day of Women and Girls in Science, meet an amazing female scientist we featured in Whizz Pop Bang’s Space Travel issue…
Meet Katherine Johnson
Katherine was part of a team of women carrying out complicated calculations for engineers, but she didn’t act like a computer – she never stopped asking questions! Her curiosity got her noticed, and Katherine was invited to join a team carrying out exciting research into space flight.
She worked with a team at NASA doing the maths to get America’s first astronaut safely into space in 1961. She went on to calculate the flight paths for many other spacecraft.
Katherine isn’t only famous for her brilliant brain. Rocket science was simple compared to the challenges she faced as an African American woman in the mid-1900s. Until 1964, black Americans faced discrimination at school and work, and were often kept apart from their white co-workers. Katherine helped to break down barriers all through her life, starting when she became one of the first three African Americans to begin a graduate degree at West Virginia University.
Have you ever wondered how the universe began? Or what it takes to put humans on the moon – or even on Mars? What would you do if you could travel through space and time?
The brilliant Lucy Hawking and her father, Professor Stephen Hawking discuss these questions (and many more) in this fantastic new book. We’ve got three copies, signed by Lucy, to give away!
This collection of essays explores the creation of the universe, dark matter, life in space, AI, the climate emergency and more written by the Hawking family and other leading experts. Packed with mind-blowing facts and photos, this beautiful collection is sure to get young minds whirring.
Nics is an army GP doctor who planned and led a 61-day polar expedition for a team of six women (called the Ice Maidens). Here, she shares what inspired her to begin her adventures in science.
My father was a doctor in the army, and I used to hear about his travels all around the world looking after soldiers and fixing them. I am very similar to him so it was no surprise that I wanted to join, too. I needed to make sure I would enjoy it so I looked into it a lot. It is not for everyone, but as soon as I started doing some army work, I knew this was the perfect job for me.
What advice do you have for young scientists?
My top 3 pieces of advice:
“Always do what interests you.”
Nics Wetherill
Always do what interests you, don’t do it because you think it is the right thing to do. I wasn’t very clever at school and didn’t get the straight A’s that most medical students are used to getting, (infact I had to re-take my Spanish A level to get into medical school) but I did really well at the sciences and at medical school because I was so interested in it that I found it really easy.
“You don’t have to be just one type of anything – you can do lots more.”
Nics Wetherill
Don’t carve a path too early – despite knowing I wanted to be a doctor, I had no idea what kind of doctor I wanted to be, I still don’t really know and keep changing my mind. I let life and events and experience guide me to my current career, but even then that might change as I am really interested in emergency medicine – you don’t have to just be one type of anything, you can do lots more.
“Present with a solution, rather than a problem.”
Nics Wetherill
Don’t wait for an opportunity to come to you. If you have an idea, or a vague thought about doing something, don’t wait for someone to offer it to you, go ahead and do your own research and get planning on it yourself. You won’t get it you don’t ask! If you need the support of people higher up, then provide them with the reason why they should support you in your idea – present with a solution rather than a problem.
Star Wars fans will remember the 3D hologram of Princess Leia projected by R2-D2. Now, British scientists have developed a way of making holograms that can be seen, heard and felt! Here’s a video of this new technology in action:
Have you been reading about holograms in Whizz Pop Bang: POLAR SCIENCE? Pretty amazing, aren’t they? Read more about this story in the Polar Science issue – on sale now!
As you move around, it looks like Rudolph’s head turns to follow you! This is called a hollow face illusion. This illusion happens because, when you look at a face, your brain expects it to be convex (budging outwards) and so its fooled into thinking Rudolph’s nose is pointing towards you, when in fact his head is concave (curving outwards).
Download this file, then print, cut out and stick your own amazing Rudolph optical illusion!
Putting together a super-exciting science magazine for children (and with some of us being parents of some scientists-in-training ourselves) means that Team Whizz Pop Bang read rather a lot of science books. Looking for science gift ideas for children, science books for kids or Christmas present ideas for young scientists? You’ve come to the right place!
Here’s our list of our top curiosity-awakening, fact-packed, inspiring science reads…
Moth: An Evolution Story by Isabel Thomas
“This is a story of light and dark… Against a lush backdrop of lichen-covered trees, the peppered moth lies hidden. Until the world begins to change. Along come people with their magnificent machines which stain the land with soot. In a beautiful landscape changed by humans, how will the little moth survive?”
Moth: An Evolution Story by Isabel Thomas
OK, so we’re a little bit biased, but Isabel Thomas (writer of many of Whizz Pop Bang’s features) is just brilliant at communicating complicated ideas to children. Moth is a beautifully-illustrated picture book that explains evolution through the story of the peppered moth. It has recently been shortlisted on the Children’s Science Picture Book Award and included on the New York Public Library’s Best Books of 2019 list!
The Professor Astro Cat series
Meet Professor Astro Cat: “the world’s smartest and bravest feline scientific explorer and he wants to recruit you! Together with Felicity (also a cat) and Astro Mouse, they are always ready to take you on mind bogglingly brilliant adventures into the incredible world of science.” With books covering Space, the Human Body, Physics and more, our Editor Tammy says “We love them!”
The Whizz Pop Bang Science Joke Book by Tara Pardo
Did you hear the joke about the germ? Never mind, I don’t want to spread it around!
How does the Moon cut his hair? E-clipse it!
What’s a scientist’s favourite dog? A lab!
The Whizz Pop Bang Science Joke Book by Tara Pardo
Packed with super-silly science giggles and fantastic facts, the Whizz Pop Bang Science Joke Book is not only a team favourite – Assistant Editor, Tara, wrote it! We can honestly say that every single one of our children love it, too.
Owling: Enter the World of the Mysterious Birds of the Night by Mark Wilson
“My daughter is a very big owl lover so she absolutely adores it,” says Editor-in-chief, Jenny. “It contains loads of information about an assortment of owls, as well as general owl info – pellets, behaviour, abilities and so on. It’s a shame that it’s based on the common owls in North America, rather than in the UK (no tawny owls), but that still includes barn owls and it also includes Emily’s favourite, snowy owls!”
On a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein by Jennifer Berne
This is another of Editor Tammy’s family’s favourite science stories. “A boy rides a bicycle down a dusty road. But in his mind, he envisions himself traveling at a speed beyond imagining, on a beam of light. This brilliant mind will one day offer up some of the most revolutionary ideas ever conceived. From a boy endlessly fascinated by the wonders around him, Albert Einstein ultimately grows into a man of genius recognized the world over for profoundly illuminating our understanding of the universe,” says Chronicle Books, publisher of this beautiful book.
Audrey the Amazing Inventor by Rachel Valentine
“Audrey was the most inquisitive girl you could hope to meet…”
Audrey the Amazing Inventor by Rachel Valentine
begins this tale of questions, fiddling and fixing, suitable for curious children aged 3+ “My daughter adores this book and often reaches for it at bedtime,” says Whizz Pop Bang’s Schools co-ordinator, Libby.
Women in Science by Rachel Ignotofsky
Celebrate some incredible women in STEM with this beautiful book. Rachel Ignotofsky’s gorgeous illustrations bring the stories of 50 inspirational women in science to life. It’s another one that our Editor, Tammy, recommends for people looking for great science books for kids.
The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day by Christopher Edge
Editor-in-Chief, Jenny, says that this is one of her daughter’s favourites: “It’s about a girl genius who is studying science and maths and whose world gets turned upside down when she wakes on her birthday to find herself in a weird and scary world. It’s full of intriguing and challenging scientific concepts, like infinity, relativity and entropy, and it gets you thinking about the possibility of parallel universes. Probably best for ages 9+”
You Are Stardust by Elin Kelsey
“If you were a planet, you’d be a lot like the Earth. Rainforests on land and ale in the oceans are the Earth’s lungs,”
You Are Stardust by Elin Kelsey
This intriguing book draws connections between people and the natural world – and it’s another of Editor Tammy’s top science books.
Look Inside How Things Work by Rob Lloyd Jones
“This was very popular with my boys!” says our Customer Service Advisor, Hennie.
“Have you ever wondered how cars roar along roads, or planes soar into the sky? Discover how all sorts of amazing things work, from fire engines and submarines to dishwashers and vacuum cleaners, in this exciting introduction to engineering for young children, with over 70 flaps to lift.”
Explanatorium of Nature by DK
Editor Tammy’s son loves the Explanatorium books (which includes an edition about Science by Robert Winston) and the DK Knowledge Encyclopedias, but the Explanatorium of Nature is his favourite.
