Monday Fun Fact May 23

Marbles, Music and Sand!

image from DepositPhotos

Marbles make beautiful music when working in this machine:

https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/the-wintergatan-marble-machine-music-made-from-2000-marbles

image from Earth Eclipse

Sand becomes a liquid in this video:

https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/royal-institution-fluid-sand-video

Monday Fun Fact May 16

Heavenly Light Shows

image from ThoughtCo

This is an image of the Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights.

"Aurora" is the name given to the lights we see when energetic charged particles travel along Earth's magnetic fields.

  The north pole is a magnetic field, and the lights we see there are called Aurora Borealis (boreal is Latin for "northern").

image from Science Photo Library

This is a photo of the Aurora Australis, also known as the Southern Lights.

  The south pole is also a magnetic field, and that is why we call the lights there Aurora Australis  (austral  is Latin for "southern").

Here is a link to a magnificent light show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ombTF5j97RQ

Aurora Explained

Monday Fun Fact May 9

 

Supernova!

image from Futurism

Look at this beautiful supernova!

What's a supernova?  It is a star that has exploded, and it is the most powerful explosion that humans have ever seen.

According to the European Space Agency website:  "Stars explode when they run out of fuel to burn.  Stars more than 10 times the mass of our Sun will explode in an event called a 'core-collapse supernova'.

"Without fuel and thus energy to support their gravity, such stars first implode.  The core reaches a critical density, and much of the collapsing matter gets bounced back out violently into space by powerful shockwaves."

image from NASA.gov

You can watch a video that showcases the power of a supernova here:

https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/physics-girl-the-stacked-ball-drop-and-supernovas

More information about supernovas can also be found here:

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/supernova/en/

Monday Fun Fact May 2

 

Popsicles

image from Clipart Library

Here is a fun fact about a popular frozen treat, the Popsicle:  it was invented by an 11-year-old boy named Frank Epperson in 1905! Frank was stirring some sugary soda powder into water with a wooden stick.  He left the cup out overnight.  The night was cold, and when Frank came out the next morning, he found that the mixture had frozen into a treat on a stick.  He called it an "Epsicle" and started selling the treat around his neighborhood.

The Epsicle was very popular, and by 1924 Frank was selling the treats beyond his neighborhood.  His children called the treat "Pop's sicle", and this new name stuck.  Frank called his Popsicle "A drink on a stick."

image from The National Archives

The name "popsicle stick" has become a common name these days.  The official name for these wooden sticks is "craft stick", and they are usually made of birch wood.  Here is a fascinating project that you can do with giant craft sticks:

Popsicle Stick Chain Reaction

How To Make That!