Innholdsfortegnelse for July/August 2016 i Ask Science and Arts Magazine for Kids and Children

Space Blooms This January, NASA astronauts welcomed some new faces on the International Space Station: a colorful batch of zinnia flowers. Plants on the space station grow out of special pillows, not in pots like they would on Earth. NASA hopes that someday astronauts will be able to grow fresh food on long-distance flights. The astronauts have already grown lettuce in space. They even got to taste the leaves. But many fruits and vegetables are flowering plants. These are trickier to grow than lettuce leaves. So as a test, after the lettuce, the astronauts tried zinnias. The flowers bloomed beautifully on the space station. Since the zinnias were a success, astronauts will next try a tastier flowering plant: tomatoes. NOT SO FAST How fast was Tyrannosaurus rex? Scientists have found…

Stacey Loizeaux has a blast doing her job. Her family runs Controlled Demolition, a company that uses explosives to take down buildings. So far, they have demolished more than 7,000. Loizeaux was part of the team that demolished the Kingdome. It took about a month to lay all the charges and get everything ready. Then it was all over in 20 seconds. Loizeaux still remembers her first job. “I was about three years old, and my family was taking down the Monroe Street bridge in Zanesville, Ohio. I got to press my finger on the button setting off the charge to bring the bridge down!” What’s it like to push the button? There is a series of loud cracks as the explosives go off. In a blink, the building begins…

The No-Pop Balloon Can you command a balloon not to pop? You can, if you’re just a bit sneaky first. This is a fun trick to play at birthday parties. Tell your friends that with your magic word you can command a balloon not to pop. Then ask for a sharp pin, and prepare to amaze them! What you’ll need A blown-up balloon (that you don’t mind popping) Clear tape A sharp pin A moment alone with the balloon What to do 1. While no one is looking (or before the party) stick a piece of tape somewhere on the balloon. Press it on so the tape is not easy to see. Make sure you remember which balloon it is and where the tape is! 2. When it’s showtime, pick…

One spring day in Seattle, curious spectators gathered at a safe distance to watch the huge Kingdome stadium get demolished. Pop! Crack! Roar! In less than a minute, it was all done. New Walls for Old Although breaking up buildings with explosives might sound dangerous, “It’s really the safest and best way to bring a building down,” says Jamie Makin, a demolition expert. Knocking apart a building with bulldozers, jackhammers, and cranes takes a long time and many people. It can block traffic and fill the air with dust for months. A blast is over quickly, and cleanup can start right away. Using explosives to demolish a building doesn’t mean blowing it up. Instead, it’s collapsed. Like choreographers creating a ballet, engineers plan which columns and walls to knock out,…

Cai Guo-Qiang (say his name Sy Gwo Chang) is a Chinese artist who likes to make art with a bang. He creates special fireworks shows, or “explosion events,” that mix fireworks and colored smoke to create pictures of beautiful flowers, or rainbows, or other interesting shapes. He also makes fiery paintings by laying thin trails of gunpowder in a stencil cutout, then lighting the trail under a protective cover. As the powder burns, it leaves a scorched picture behind. Cai likes the idea of using the sometimes destructive power of gunpowder to create art and joy instead. He also likes the way fireworks bring people together outdoors to share art.…

Ancient Americans were the first to grow and eat popcorn around 9,000 years ago. The Aztec people of southern Mexico called it totopoca, which if you say it fast kind of sounds like the popping noise the cooking corn makes. Archaeologists have unearthed ancient ears of popping corn in the American Southwest as well. When they dropped the old kernels in some hot sand, lo and behold, they still popped after over 1,000 years. This amazing feat is largely due to each kernel’s sturdy, protective outer layer, or hull. This hard hull, it turns ! out, is also key to what makes popcorn pop. Snack-robatics Surprisingly, no one really knew what goes on when popcorn pops until recently. In 2015, two French scientists decided to unravel the secrets of the…

BOOM... After everything was removed from inside the Kingdome, explosives were carefully set up to go off in a special order. Crack.... The first set of blasts cracked the columns around the edge and broke the ribs in three sections of the roof. Because there are metal bars inside the roof, it bent but did not break. And down it comes. The second set of blasts broke the rest of the roof sections. The weight of the roof falling pulled the columns inward, and the whole building collapsed. Easy as pie! A final round of blasts broke everything into smaller pieces for easy removal.…

Dear Bone Pony, I love horses! My favorite is red dun no black points. I also like flea-bitten grays and blacks. Tell Avery we have lots of squirrels in our yard. My brother loves raccoons. Do you have any idea how to write in a diary regularly? Claire R., age 8, Washington Dear Claire, I use my diary as a place to write down odd thoughts so I can think about them some more. It sounds like you think about horses every day—why not start there? My favorite horse is...very old! Your pal, Bone Pony Dear Plush, Be careful! I have heard that Marvin is going to do a prank on you! Hide your mirror! I know a prank you could do on Marvin—mess up his bedroom. Your savior, Joshua…