Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2023, issue 108 i Eco Kids Planet Magazine

Welcome to your gloriously luminous issue. Let there be LIGHT! But can you actually see me? I am a 12cm-long cockatoo squid living in the boundless deep of the twilight zone… Being a squid, I have no protective shell – no room to call my own, only the vast darkness of the deepest ocean. Like many squid species, I was born closer to the surface and there, too, my transparency helped me to blend into my background. But then, at around four months old and fully mature, I descended. Deeper and deeper, down to two kilometres below the surface… And here, I can really disappear. By closing the tiny pigment sacs in my skin, I turn as see-through as glass. It’s the perfect invisibility cloak to hide from both predators…

Simon's helper: JD Savage A ghostly green glow in the forest at night could give you the creeps! Is it a tree-loving ghost? It’s more likely foxfire. That’s the name given to the faint, spooky light some mushrooms produce. Yes, some mushrooms glow in the dark like nature’s little lanterns! FINDING FOXFIRE Now’s the best time to see it, too, because the mushrooms sprout in autumn, ready to release their spores to create new ones. The fungi grow on dead, decaying wood (hmm, doesn’t sound like ‘fun’ to me). The light can be dim, though – especially from glowing mushrooms in the UK, which are also rare. There are about 100 known species of glow-in-the-dark mushrooms worldwide. Their glow colour can range from blue and green to yellow, depending on…

There’s much more to this marsupial than super-sharp teeth and blood-curdling screams. Let’s go with the glow and meet the terrific Tasmanian devil! Not so devilish Devils could once be found roaming across mainland Australia. But they became extinct there thousands of years ago, surviving only on an island off the south-east coast. You guessed it, an island called Tasmania! So, that’s the first part of their name sorted. But why devil? Their fearsome surname comes from their habit of baring their teeth and making all sorts of terrifying noises, including growls, screeches and screams! But they’re nowhere near as scary as they seem. For example, experts think that they show off their teeth when they’re feeling scared, not aggressive. Did You Know? Devils are nocturnal. During the day, they…

SNAIL MAIL! Hi, Rusty fans! When you post a letter the old-fashioned way, people call it snail mail. That’s because letters take a thousand years to arrive. Not like emails and texts, which get there straight away. But maybe snails heard people calling it snail mail and got the wrong idea. A postbox in the Cornish village of Marazion has been around for ages. It even survived the two world wars. But it’s finally been sealed up. Why? Because snails keep munching the mail! It has a note on it reading “TEMP CLOSURE – SNAILS EATING MAIL”. They must have been crawling up the wall, climbing through the hole and dropping into the letter pile. I wonder what Royal Snail, I mean Royal Mail will do about it. It often…

DAZZLING CROSSWORD Down 1. Deep-sea fish with a luminescent lure 2. Multi-tentacled red jellyfish 7. Unnatural, made by humans 9. A deep-sea squid that produces its own light 10. Tiny marine creatures that make the water sparkle 13. Lightning bug Across 3. What are baby platypuses called? 4. Living light 5. Faint glow emitted by some mushrooms 6. Almost transparent 8. A bird with a fluorescent beak 11. Which group of mammals does the Tasmanian devil belong to? 12. The biggest light-making shark TRUE OR FALSE QUIZ Test your knowledge! DAZZLING MAZE Help the firefly find the way out of the maze SPOT 10 DIFFERENCES FIND THE CORRECT SHADOW JOKE CORNER "I spend all afternoon cooking and you just go ruin your appetite with a belly full of fireflies!" Answers…

Rhona: It’s time for a new debate. Remember how we discussed noise pollution a few months ago? Amy: Yes. Rhona: This time we should talk about light pollution! Rusty: But pollution harms things. How can light be bad? Rhona: Well, I’m talking about unnatural light at night. Light that’s created by humans. Rusty: It’s still good. I always keep my nightlight on overnight in case I get scared of zombies. Simon: Yes, but the light our towns and cities create increases every year. Charlie: Nights are getting brighter and brighter. It’s becoming harder to see many stars at night. Amy: But I bet you’re thinking of its effect on animals, Rhona. I know the brightness of our cities can confuse migrating birds as they fly overhead. Rhona: Some birds even…

Amy's helper: Gabby Dawnay But an incredible 90% of deep-sea animals make their own light. As you’ve already learned, it’s called bioluminescence. These glorious creatures include jellyfish, worms, fish and crustaceans. In fish alone, there are about 1,500 known bioluminescent species. But why do they glow? In the icy inky blackness, a shimmer of light is a good way to communicate. Sometimes it can mimic the light above to provide camouflage. Light displays might attract a mate, lure prey or confuse predators. Imagine all this glowing, sparkling, pulsing light dazzling and mesmerising… Suddenly, this world of darkness doesn’t seem so dark! Let’s take a look at some of these brilliant deep-sea dazzlers! 1. CRYSTAL JELLY – famous for its green fluoro gene Measuring up to 25cm in diameter, crystal jellies…

Congratulations to our four winners Daisy the Dolphin loved to sing. She sang in the coral. She sang in seaweed. She sang in the reefs. She even sang when she was jumping high in the air. All the fish loved to hear Daisy sing in her sweet high voice. Everyone loved her music except Blue Whale who was very jealous of her beautiful voice. One night, when everyone was asleep and the ocean was dark, Blue Whale swam over quietly and stole Daisy’s beautiful voice. In the morning, when Daisy woke up, she tried to sing GOOD MORNING to all of her friends, but – oh no! – her voice was gone. Quickly, she swam over to William the clever clam and cried, “Please, help me find my voice!” Annoyed…