Innholdsfortegnelse for November/December 2018 i Ask Science and Arts Magazine for Kids and Children

Big-Headed Worms Invade France Would you notice a giant worm with a head like a hammerhead shark cr awling in your gar den? Scientists hav e just discovered that these flatworms invaded France—20 years ago. Recently, a French gardener sent a scientist phot os of a weird worm in his soil. The scientist recognized it as a “hammerhead worm.” These flatworms usually live in Asia, not France. The scientists went online and on TV to ask people ar ound the country to send pictur es if they found worms with big heads. They got 111 reports of hammerhead worms. The oldest w as a video from 1999. The scientists wer e surprised that the slimy invaders hav e been in France for so long. Now they worry that the worms…

When a theater puts on a show, someone has to make the bare stage look like a castle, or a forest, or a school. That person is the set designer. But before she gets out her hammer, she makes a miniature model called a maquette. Lizzie Bracken designed the set for a play called You Think It’s Easy Being the Tooth Fairy? at Lifeline Theater in Chicago. We asked her to tell us a bit about it. Q Why do you make models? A I think almost every set designer in the world starts with a model. It’s a fast way to see what the set will look like. You can rip a model apart and put it back together and play with it and make sure everything works before…

Bonsai is a Japanese word that means “potted tree.” But a bonsai is far more than a plant in a pot. Inspired by nature, bonsai artists create beautiful living sculptures from trees or shrubs. Bonsai are not special small species of trees. They are regular full-sized trees, but grown in pots and trimmed to keep them small. While all bonsai are smaller than full-grown trees, they range greatly in size. Some you can hold in your hand, while others are so big they need a forklift to move. The Chinese first trained trees in pots more than 1,300 years ago. They called their miniature trees penjing. They would often create elaborate landscapes or animal shapes with trees. A good bonsai tells a story. Different styles are meant to look like…

A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter. A single human hair is about 80,000 nanometers wide. Nanotechnology works with things that are only nanometers big. That’s very, very, very, very small—much too small to see with the naked eye, or even with most microscopes! Although nanotechnology is pretty new, it is already very useful. In sports, nanotech is improving tennis balls. Balls are sprayed on the inside with tiny plates just one nanometer thick. The plates overlap, making it hard for the air to escape. This helps the balls keep their bounce twice as long. Because nanoparticles are so small, doctors can use them to deliver medicine right to single cells. They are also experimenting with ways to build tiny traps for germs that cause sickness. Other scientists use nanoparticles…

Dear Bot and Avery, If I were shrunk to the size of a bug and fell ten feet, would it hurt as much as if I were regular size? What is your favorite kind of acorn, Avery? Your fellow Avery and science lover, Averyanna K., Louisiana Dear Averyanna, Bugs are champions at falling and not getting hurt. They are so light that the air holds them up. If you were that small, you would fall gently too. Avery says his favorite acorns are the ones already in his cupboard. Gravitationally yours, Avery and Bot Dear Bone Pony, I think you should make an issue on likeliness, unlikeliness, possibility, and impossibility, such as things like spontaneous combustion. I read really fast. George, Massachusetts P.S. I have syndactyly, which is tiny bits…

1. Use math—and your eyes. Experts use math to make sure the main pieces of their dioramas—like houses and people—are the right size. After that, they just eyeball it. Kate says it’s OK to estimate. 2. Blend the background. Pay attention to the edges, where the model meets the painted background. If this “seam” blends nicely, the scene will look more realistic. 3. Step back. Frustrated with getting your tiny things to look just right? Step away and look again. 4. Add a surprise. Some diorama makers like to hide “Easter eggs,” or surprise jokes, in their work. To find one, viewers have to look hard. Next time you’re at a museum, see if you can find one. And then add something secret to your next diorama!…

Dalton Ghetti uses pencils to make art—but not in the usual way. He carves them into tiny sculptures using a sewing needle. Charles Gunner drew these views of Windsor Castle on rice grains. If you have a very small fish, Anatoly Konenko has made the world’s smallest aquarium. Colleen Moore was a film star in the 1930s. She built a huge fairytale dollhouse with the help of over 700 artists and jewelers. Each room has a fairy-tale theme. This is the “Voyages of Sinbad” room. British sculptor Willard Wigan carves his tiny sculptures from sugar, toothpicks, and grains of rice. Mesut Kul is a Turkish artist who likes to make tiny paintings. This picture of a castle is etched onto a single grain of sand. Artist Vik Muniz drew the…