The Evening Standard (London, England) articles from November 2008

The Evening Standard (London, England) archives from November 2008

This month in Odyssey.(Science Scoops)(glass)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Ever watch a fly into a window? The results aren't pretty. Ever walk into a glass door so clean you didn't realize it was there? Ouch! It hurts. What if I told you glass isn't really a solid? Would you believe me?...

Skyscraper farms.(Science Scoops)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Imagine a glass building reaching to the sky in the middle of a bustling city. Inside, an elevator takes you up, not to stores, office buildings, or apartments, but to rows of tomatoes, beans, or pumpkins. In May...

Great booming bats!(Science Scoops)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Have you ever seen a bat swooping silently, Using echolocation to find its prey at night? Be thankful your ears can't hear ultrasonic frequencies, or you'd be in for a big, booming surprise. A new study shows...

Don't look down!(Science Scoops)(glass bridge)
November 1, 2008... Actually, looking down is the whole point of the skywalk, a glass bridge jutting out 70 feet over the western edge of the Grand Canyon in Arizona. How far is it to the Colorado River at the bottom? Well, consider that three Empire State...

Your cell phone's powers.(Science Scoops)
November 1, 2008... Cell phones transmit electrical signals. So does your brain. What happens when the phone is against your ear, just inches from your brainwaves? Could the phone's transmissions affect your health, mood, or thoughts? To be safe, all cell phones...

I know what glass is, thank you.
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] You don't need glass explained to you, do you? You know glass when you see through it. Glass is what makes your milk sit up straight at the dinner table. Glass lets your mind wander outside when the rest of you is...

The tale of the Pharaoh and the green glass scarab: cutting-edge science solves the 3,000-year-old mystery of an ancient glass jewel.(Tutankhamun)
November 1, 2008... In a display case holding priceless Egyptian antiquities sits a magnificent golden necklace, once worn by the boy king Tutankhamun. At its center hangs a scarab, carved from shimmering green glass. But wait a minute. The Egyptians didn't have...

Benjamin Franklin's singing bowls.
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] What do the movies March of the Penguins, Eragon, Interview with a Vampire, and Frida have in common? Listen closely to each soundtrack and you'll hear Benjamin Franklin's favorite and most scandalous invention, a...

Make a set of musical glasses.(Activity to Discover)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... YOU'LL NEED: 3 Clean wine glasses or thin-walled goblets Small pitcher of water Bowl of water (to dip your fingers into) Towel (to protect the table from dripping water and to dry your hands) Spoon 3 labels marked C,...

CSI: getting glass to "talk".(crime scene investigation)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The newly built museum was stunning. Its six-foot by 10-foot windows, each composed of four panes of glass, were complex architectural marvels. But then the cracking started. At more than $40,000 each, the damaged...

Prince Rupert's drops.(Prince Rupert of the Rhine)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Everyone loves a good practical joke, and Prince Rupert of the Rhine (1619-1682) was no exception. He presented his cousin, King Charles II of England, with small teardrop-shaped glass objects that had unusual...

Pulling Christmas from a honey pot.(glass furnace)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... HOT GLASS ARTIST Brook White opens the door to his "honey pot." That's his name for a glass furnace with flames inside so intense that although you can hardly see them, you can hear them seethe and whir. It's called a "honey" pot because the...

Cookin' up rainbows.(glass recipe)
November 1, 2008... In its basic recipe, glass is clear. To give glass a rosy hue or golden sparkle, its optical properties, or how it absorbs and reflects light, must be changed. A basic glass recipe uses sand, soda ash, and lime. When cooked, the atoms of...

The glassblower's daughter.(Short story)
November 1, 2008... Gwyneth walked alone along the beach following her old familiar route. A pail for collecting sand hung in one hand, a shovel for digging it slung over her shoulder like a parasol. The cottage in which she and her father lived stood like a...

Edible glass and rocks!? You may have crystal glasses in your house, but glass isn't a crystal.(Activity to Discover)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] However there is a common household item that is crystal--it's sugar. If you look closely, you will see that granulated sugar is made up of tiny crystalline cubes. The sugar molecules in each tiny crystal are...

Glass houses and other "impossible" structures.
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] BUILDINGS MADE OF GLASS SHOULDN'T WORK. Unlike steel, glass breaks into treacherous shards. Unlike stone, it melts in fires. Unlike wood, it pops out when not properly sealed. Unlike brick, it conducts heat and cold,...

The super powers of glass.(Cartoon)
November 1, 2008... EVER WONDER WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF YOU FELL ASLEEP IN SCIENCE CLASS? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WINK NOD, an OFTEN SLEEPY SCIENCE STUDENT, IS GROWING DROWSY DURING A CHEMISTRY LESSON ABOUT GLASS... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Si... Oz...

Through a glass darkly: the science of black glass.
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It's a nightmare thought for any driver: a fog so thick you can't see anything in front of you--not another car, not a family walking along the roadside, not even a deer that's wandered onto a country lane. But a new...

The Himalayan crystal.(Brain Strain)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... One day, while traveling through the Himalaya Mountains in Tibet, you stumble upon something very shiny on the ground. At first, you think it is a piece of colored glass sparkling in the sunlight, but on closer inspection you realize that it is...

Star chart.
November 1, 2008... To use the All-Sky Charts, first use a compass to find the direction you are facing--north, south, east, or west. Turn the chart so that the direction you are facing appears at the bottom of the chart. The chart will match the stars you see in...

Twin treats.(Stargazing)(Cartoon)
November 1, 2008... CASTOR AND POLLUX ARE THE GEMINI TWINS. IN EARLY EVENING WINTER, THEY FOLLOW ORION ACROSS THE SKY STANDING ON THEIR HEADS. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] IF YOU WANT TO SEE THEM UPRIGHT, WAIT UNTIL THE WEE HOURS OF THE MORNING OR UNTIL MAY...

Stop experiments on monkeys.(You've Got Mail!)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In the April 2008 "Jane Goodall: Chimp Champion" issue, we asked you to tell us if you think it's right or wrong to do medical experiments on animals. We also asked if you think animals should be legally protected as...

TV gets bigger.(ASK DR. CY BORG)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Dear Dr. B, What kind of glass is used in liquid crystal display TV screens? Matt Weyer, Web post Good question! Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) consist of liquid crystals (a compound that reacts...

Fiber-optic wonder.(Animal Angles)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Joanna Aizenberg, a scientist and one of Earth's most complex multicellular animals, entered a San Francisco store and encountered the elegant remains of Euplectdla speciosa--a deep-sea sponge and one of Earth's...