Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2017 i Ask Science and Arts Magazine for Kids and Children

Kids vs. Climate Change One brave group of kids has come up with bold plan to fight climate change: they’re taking the United States government to court. A judge recently gave official permission for the group’s lawsuit to proceed. The students, ranging in age from 8 to 19, argue that the government has a duty to protect the planet for future generations. They hope their lawsuit will get the government to take action to slow climate change, so that their generation won’t have to clean up the mess. The group still has a long fight ahead, and they might not win their lawsuit—but being heard is a good victory to start. Hi, NEIGH-bor! Horses can’t read (yet), but scientists have discovered that they can learn to understand symbols. They can…

Dear Dr. Darwin, I have a nice home in a pine tree. Lately, a lot of strange birds are moving in. They say their old homes got too hot and dry. I like to be hospitable, but it’s MY tree. What’s the right thing to do? Worried Warbler, Wyoming Dear Worried, If your home seems nice to birds from the south, it might soon be too warm for you. Ask yourself, when you fly north, how would you like the birds in your new home to treat you? Be kind—your visitors didn’t ask for their homes to change. And I’m sure there are enough bugs for everyone! Dear Dr. Darwin, I am concerned about going extinct. Is there anything I can do? Pika Pete, Pike’s Peak Dear Pete, Extinction is…

The Pacific Ocean covers almost a third of the Earth. Scattered around its rim are many groups of islands. In recent years, the people of these islands have noticed tides getting higher and storms getting worse. And they wonder—is their world about to change? Rising Tides As the climate warms, the huge ice sheets at the North and South Poles are melting, releasing water into the oceans. That makes the ocean higher, like when you add water to a bath. Warmer water also takes up a bit more room than cooler water, so as the oceans warm they rise even more. Scientists expect that if the planet continues to warm, sea levels around the world may rise 1 to 4 feet (0.5 to 1.5 m) or more by 2100. That…

Some engineers have a radical idea to help islanders as the sea levels rise—why not build artificial floating islands as new homes? We think that sounds like a fun challenge! So for this month’s contest, design a perfect floating house, town, or city. What should it include? How will it move? Would it be fun to have the whole ocean in the basement? Draw us a picture of your ocean-going home, and we’ll launch a flotilla of them in an upcoming issue of Ask. Contest Rules: 1. .Your contest entry must be your very own work. Ideas and words should not be copied. 2. .Be sure to include your name, age, and address on your entry. 3. .Only one entry per person, please. 4. .f you want your work returned,…

Earth is warming up. Driving cars, burning rain forests, and other human activities send gases like carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere, where they trap heat. Climate is not the same as weather. Weather is what’s happening right now—it changes all the time. Climate is big weather pattens over hundreds or thousands of years. And it’s clear that even if the weather today is cold, Earth’s climate is heating up. Climate change doesn’t always mean hotter summers and warmer winters. Its effects are complicated and hard to predict. As Earth heats up, some areas are getting more rain. Others are getting less. High winds that normally circle the Arctic are shifting south, so some places are actually getting colder while the rest of the world heats up. As the…

A massive shape launches itself out of the ocean—fins spread, 10 long tentacles flying. As it soars through the air, the creature’s skin flashes, turning from white to purple-red. Is it an alien from another world? In a way, it is. It’s a creature from the deep—a jumbo flying squid. And we may soon be seeing a lot more of them. Meet the Jumbo Squid Around 2002, fishing boats along the northern Pacific coast of the United States and Canada started reeling in an unfamiliar catch: large, fierce, red squid. Some reported spotting huge schools of them. Where had they come from? Why now? And were they here to stay? The newcomer, Dosidicus gigas, is also known as Humboldt squid, jumbo squid, flying squid, or diablo rojo (“red devil”). They…

Imagine boarding a plane and flying to a new city. In this new place, you discover delicious foods you’ve never eaten before. You like the weather—it’s warm and sunny, so you can play outside, but it’s not too hot. You love this place so much that you decide to stay. And if you’re a butterfly, you don’t even need an airplane ticket. Meet the Quino For hundreds of years, quino checkerspot butterflies have lived in brushy spots of Southern California and Mexico. A quino is a medium-sized butterfly, about the size of a large paper clip. Its wings sport jazzy red, black, and white checks. In spring, female quinos lay their eggs on a small flowering plant called dwarf plantain. The female quino can tell when she lands on one…

What you’ll need A water or soda bottle (any size) A .balled-up bit of paper that almost fills the bottle neck. It should be able to get in and out of the bottle without forcing. What to do Place the paper ball just in the neck of the bottle (held sideways) and bet someone they can’t blow it in. It looks like it should be easy, right? But when they blow, what happens? The ball leaps out! Try it on anyone; no one will be able to blow the ball into the bottle! What’s going on? When you blow, the air flowing around the sides of the ball is moving faster than the still air behind the ball. Plus, the bottle is already full of air. Faster moving air presses…

On my first visit to Glacier National Park in Montana more than 30 years ago, I rode my bike over Going-to-the-Sun Road. As I huffed my way up the mountain pass, I saw waterfalls, snowfields, marmots, bighorn sheep, and a black bear that decided to sit down for a rest in the middle of the highway. Jackson Glacier gleamed white in the distance. Even from far away, I could see cracks in the ice and sunlight reflecting off the snow. It was the first glacier I ever saw—and ever since, this park has been my favorite. Even small changes, such as more rain instead of snow, can have big effects. Glacier without Glaciers? Glacier Park got its name from its dramatic landscape, carved out by ancient moving sheets of ice.…

“El Niño” is a natural warming of the eastern Pacific Ocean that happens in some years near the equator. Most of the time, winds push warm surface water west across the Pacific Ocean from South America to Asia. Cooler water rises from the deeps near South America to take its place. But in El Niño years, the west-blowing winds weaken, or even switch direction, causing warm water to collect along the South American coast. That’s El Niño. El Niño can alter weather patterns all over the world. It can cause heat waves in Australia, floods in California, strong typhoons in Asia, and ice storms as far away as Maine. The first northerly squid sightings were in an El Niño year, when the ocean was warmer than usual. El Niño is…

Dear Avery, What’s your favorite nut? Mine is almond. I like to climb trees. My favorite tree to climb is holly. If you’re wondering why I don’t get pricked, the spiky leaves only grow on the outside. I also speak German. Love, Andreas, age 9, Virginia Dear Andreas, Hollies are sneaky trees—all those spiky leaves make them look unfriendly, but near the trunk there are no leaves! My favorite nut has a black mask and a stripey tail. But I also enjoy acorns and hazelnuts, and black walnuts, if I can find them. Mmm! Auf wiedersein, Avery Dear Bot, I recently went to Crater Lake, Oregon. Did you know in 2015 there was a fire at Crater Lake that burnt 20,960 acres? Have you been there? I thought it was…