What’s inside the next awesome issue of Whizz Pop Bang science magazine? We’ve got an awesome interview with ESA astronaut Tim Peake to read and listen to, in-depth news of BepiColombo’s mission to Mercury AND build your own rockets! š
Subscribe by Thursday 4th October for your mini rocket scientist here.
This year Prof Alice Roberts will take us on a fascinating journey for the Royal Institution of Great Britain Christmas lectures to answer the most fundamental of questions: Who am I?
Each one of us is unique. And yet there are many more similarities between us than differences. We share about 99.4% of our genetic sequence in common with other people. In that small genetic difference resides much of the wonderful variety we see in humans today. How do we use the similarities and differences between us to construct our individual identities?
In the 2018 CHRISTMAS LECTURES from the Royal Institution, scientist, author and TV presenter Alice Roberts will take us on a journey to answer the most fundamental of questions: Who am I?Ā
Tickets to the filming of the Christmas lectures are available through a ballot in September, open to Royal Institution Members and Patrons and UK registered schools only. To find out how to join the Ri and apply for tickets to this once in a lifetime show, visit the Ri website.
About the lectures
From our hidden similarities to a fruit fly, to the story of the emergence and global spread of our own species, to the interplay between genes and environment in creating individual differences, Alice will uncover our shared evolutionary past and ask challenging ethical questions about what the future holds.
Lecture 1 explores our amazingly beastly past, and through surprising similarities to our animal ancestors ā from the bones and body plans we share with fish and horses to the genes we share with a fruit fly ā we discover our true place in the biological tree of life.
Lecture 2 examines connections with our closest living relatives, chimpanzees, and traces our evolutionary journey – from a common ancestor with those apes, to the emergence of our species, Homo sapiens, and the amazing colonisation of the world by our Stone Age ancestors. What are the essential characteristics that makes us human? And how did out species become so successful?
Lecture 3 unpicks genetic variations to find out how the differences between us are created by an interplay between genes and environment, asks whether we can find evidence for natural selection and adaptation in our genomes today, and explores how our DNA may hold clues to future health and risk of disease. We can already change the genes of crops to give them traits we see as desirable, but could it be possible for humans?Ā And in this Brave New World, where do we draw the line?
The Lectures will be broadcast on BBC Four in December.
Alice, who is Professor of Public Engagement in Science at the University of Birmingham, said: āThe study of biology and our own evolutionary past gives us a really interesting way to understand who we are, today. Iām looking forward to sparking some young imaginations with this amazing area of science.Ā
āAs well as providing us with knowledge about our past and present, though, new technologies can confront us with difficult decisions about what we should do in the future.Ā
āSo Iāll also be asking some challenging questions about what identity means today, and what advances in genetics in particular might mean for us as a species.āĀ
Weāre a small independent publisher, set up by passionate mother-of-three Jenny Inglis, and weāre trying to break the mould of mass-market childrenās magazines.
Instead, Whizz Pop Bang is an awesome kids’ science magazine through and through ā packed full of eye-catching articles, easy experiments to try at home, science crafts, puzzles, facts and jokes. Itās printed in the UK on thick, uncoated paper from sustainable sources and delivered in our beautifully illustrated paper envelopes to tens of thousands of families throughout the UK and beyond.
Whizz Pop Bang isn’t sold in the shops (we don’t want to have to compete for kids’ attention amongst all that plastic). We sell Whizz Pop Bang through our online shop, where you can order single copies to try individually, as well as monthly, six-monthly and annual subscriptions ā all with free UK delivery.
To subscribe for your child visit our online shop. Happy experimenting!
How lucky are we to get not one, but two interviews with ESA astronaut Tim Peake!!!!! Our editor Tammy chatted to Tim on the phone, asking him lots of probing questions from curious Whizz Pop Bang readers (see the list of questions below).
Listen to the full interview, complete with NASA footage and photos here šš¾
Enjoy space-lovers!
The questions Whizz Pop Bang readers asked Tim:
Photo and video credits Tim Peake, NASA, ESA, Victor Zelentsov and Scott Kelly.
When it comes to brains, there’s one brain in particular that we associate with brilliance… and that’s scientist Albert Einstein’s. To accompany the Brilliant Brains issue of Whizz Pop Bang, we’ve got five copies of this brand new book ‘Max Einstein The Genius Experiment’ to give away!
Hint: find the answer in the Brilliant Brains, issue 38 of Whizz Pop Bang science magazine for kids! Deadline to enter is 30/9/18
Notes from the publisher:
James Patterson has teamed up with the world’s most famous genius to entertain and inspire a generation of children ā with the ļ¬rst and only kids’ book series ofļ¬cially approved by the Albert Einstein Archives.
Twelve-year-old orphan Max Einstein is not your typical genius. Max hacks the computer system at NYU in order to attend college courses (even though she hates tests), builds homemade inventions to help the homeless, and plays speed chess in the park. Her not-so-normal life is crazy but predictable until…
Max is recruited by a mysterious organisation! Their mission: solve some of the world’s toughest problems using science. She’s helped by a diverse group of young geniuses from around the globe as they invent new ways to power the farthest reaches of the planet. But that’s only if the sinister outļ¬t known only as The Corporation doesn’t get to her ļ¬rst…
Recommended age: 9 – 14yrs
Our pals over at Quarto Kids have kindly given us 3 copies of Wild World to give away!
Wild World is a beautiful tribute to the last wildernesses of our world. Poetic texts bring the habitats to life, whileĀ factual information at the back details the danger facing these incredible places.Ā It’s a really brilliant book to introduce kids to nature and to start a conversation about the future of the planet.
For a chance to win, simply comment below with your answer to the following question:
How long did Jane Goodall live in the jungle?
a) Almost 4 months
b) Almost 40 months
c) Almost 40 years
Enter by midnight on 31st August.Ā By entering this competition, you agree to the terms and conditions on our website.
Whether you’re camping in the garden or staying with Grannie we want to see your Whizz Pop Bang magazine on holiday!
To enter, simply email a photo of your magazine on holiday with hashtag #WPBhols to win@whizzpopbang.com by 31st August, and you could win a WPB binder + three magazines of your choice!
Where will you take yours? ā āŗ ? ? ? ?
By entering this competition you agree to the terms and conditions on our website.
How do you make a triangle fly? Will a square take to the air? Create your own paper straw flying machines and put them to the test with the SKY HIGH SCIENCE issue of Whizz Pop Bang! You’ll find everything you need inside issue 36 of Whizz Pop Bang science magazine, order a copy for just Ā£3.75 with FREE UK delivery here.
Packed full of outdoor science activities for girls and boys over the summer holidays – ditch the screens and find out how planes fly!
Wouldnāt it be amazing to fly like a bird? Or how do you fancy fluttering like a butterfly, or even soaring like a snake?! There are all sorts of flying phenomena to discover this issue. Have a go at making your own stunt plane, investigating different designs of straw planes and testing aerofoils. We interview Palaeontologist Liz Martin-Silverstone to ask her how on earth the giant pterosaurs were able to fly, plus we find out how drones work, and answer the question on lots of people’s minds… just how do planes fly???
Buy this issue here and fill your summer holidays with awesome science fun!! ? ā ?
After launching themselves from a branch, paradise tree snakesĀ flatten their bodies into a wing shape and āsnakeā through the air, gliding between trees up to 30 metres apart!