Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2018 i Ask Science and Arts Magazine for Kids and Children

APES GET A FRIZZY NEW FAMILY MEMBER Scientists have discovered a new species of orangutan, hiding in plain sight. This animal joins the “great apes,” a family that also includes chimps and gorillas. Two other orangutan species swing through the trees in Sumatra and Borneo, islands in Southeast Asia. The new species also lives in Sumatra. But it lives apart from the other orangutans there. When researchers studied this separate group of orangutans, they found some differences. The new or angutans have smaller heads and frizzier hair. Scientists also found differences in their DNA. They decided the frizzy apes are different enough to be their own species, called Pongo tapanuliensis. There are only about 800 of the new orangutans. That makes Pongo tapanuliensis one of the world’s most endangered great…

Imagine a hunter that stalks and traps its prey with all kinds of trickery. Creatures of its kind are feared and hated around the world. The last thing its prey sees are sinister fangs striking. Now imagine an animal that can only eat liquids. That’s right. The only way it can eat is to slurp up its food. Not very scary, right? What if I told you that the fierce fanged hunter and the animal that has to slurp its food are the same creature? If you guessed that this mystery animal is a spider—you’re right. (Did the pictures give it away?) All spider species have a dilemma. They are carnivores, which means they eat other animals (mainly bugs). But their mouths can only eat liquids. And you can’t drink…

Bugs like to nibble plants. Plants evolve thorns and poisons to stop them. For this month’s contest, draw your own little cartoon showing how a clever plant might defeat a nibbling insect (or animal) and how the nibbler might adapt so it can keep eating. Who will win in the end? Send us your creative chomping contest, and we’ll share the most devious 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. If you want your work returned, enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope. 5. Your entry must be signed or emailed by a…

Like you and your pet dog, plants are living things. They eat, drink, and grow. Unlike you and your dog, plants can’t run away, yowl, bite, or hide under the covers when they’re threatened. But they can fight back. Why would a plant need to fight back? To avoid being eaten, of course! Plants have many ways to defend themselves. Some like to grow in hidden or hard-to-reach places, like steep, rocky cliffs. Or a plant could make some parts of itself so tasty that hungry insects and animals don’t eat anything else. If a plant has tasty leaves, nibbling animals might ignore the seeds. The plant needs its seeds to make more plants, so it would rather lose a few leaves. And some plants grow slippery or sharp outsides,…

Welcome to the Poison Garden of Alnwick castle in England. Inside, 100 different kinds of poisonous flowers, trees, and shrubs grow in neat beds. Every one can sicken people and even kill. Some are famous poisons. Here’s deadly nightshade. Over there is monk’s hood. And look, yew! Some visitors are surprised to see familiar plants from their own gardens. There’s laurel, daffodils, and lily of the valley. But yes, they too are poisonous (if you eat them). The poison garden was planted in 2005 by Jane Percy, Duchess of Northumberland, who lives in Alnwick castle. She got the idea from an old medical garden in Italy. Hundreds of years ago, castles and towns often had special gardens that grew plants for medicines—and poisons. Percy thinks poisons are a great way…

The Tricky Sipper Sometimes the secret to a good magic trick is not the magic. Can you drink water through a hat? Your friends will be amazed! What you’ll need • A glass of water • A drinking straw, or any object you can pretend to sip through (fork, pencil, carrot…) • A hat, pot, box, or something that completely covers the glass What to do Put the glass of water on a table and cover it with the hat (or pot, or box). Announce that you can drink the water from the glass without touching the hat. Anyone bet you can’t? As your audience looks on in disbelief, touch your “magic drinking straw” to the hat and make dramatic slurping sounds. When you’re done, smack your lips and say…

“What a pretty tree!” That’s what people thought when they imported the Brazilian peppertree from South America. They liked its shiny green leaves and bright red berries. The peppertree, also called “Christmas berry” and “Florida holly,” was first brought to Florida more than 100 years ago. Gardeners thought it would look nice in their yards and hedges. Outlaw Tree But the peppertrees spread like weeds. They escaped gardens and grew wild. Today, peppertrees cover more than 700,000 acres in Florida. That’s an area larger than the state of Rhode Island! Peppertrees have crowded out native mangrove and pine trees. They grow quickly and shade out other plants. And peppertrees have an even sneakier trick. When their pretty red berries fall and get crushed, they release a poison that stops other…

More than 700 species of cone snails live in tropical oceans around the world, from the Caribbean to the South Pacific. They hide under rocks or dig under the sand around coral reefs. At night, they come out to hunt. Each kind of cone snail hunts a different kind of prey. Some hunt sea worms. Some eat other snails. Some prey on fish. And they make some of the most potent poisons around. Secret Weapons How can a slow, nearly blind snail catch a speedy fish? First, the cone snail has a fine sense of smell. It sniffs the water with its long nose. When it smells a fish, it slowly extends another long tube, called a proboscis. This long, flexible straw can stretch more than twice the length of…

Dear Plush, I just thought I ought to warn you, there’s a recipe for fake worm sandwiches in this month’s Spider magazine. Don’t be fooled, they’re just jelly! Regards, Your friend, Ophelia, Spider’s Meadow Dear Ophelia, Thanks for the warning! I’ll bet Marvin will try that one. Time for a prank of my own—what if I swap a REAL worm sandwich for the fake one? For once, I’m looking forward to April 1! Thanks! Plush the prank queen Dear Bot, We’re back from our trip to space in my super rubber-band-powered rocket. Only it turned out we just flew across the road. Now I’m starting work on a better rocket. Any ideas? Want to come help? Your fellow inventor, Sam, Spider’s Meadow Dear Sam, We have lots of great ideas…