think. what you can be

W INNER OF THE MPASA P I CA AWARD 2007 & 2008 FOR PUBL I SH I NG EXCEL LENCE

April 2009/Issue 28

GOING GA(S)LACTIC

Why you air what you eat

THE HEIGHT OF FASHIONWhat’s inside a space suit?

YOU CAN RUN ...But you can’t dodge death from the skies

ZERO-G RULES

How movies fake it in space

cover 28Art director.indd 1 3/25/09 11:42:02 AM

PHO

TOG

RAPH

: GA

LLO

/GET

TYIM

AG

ES.C

OM

• CO

VER

PH

OTO

GRA

PHS:

GA

LLO

/GET

TYIM

AG

ES.C

OM

, iST

OCK

PH

OTO

S

SMART READS

The really big fi ve: what to spot on a space safari_p 12Careers in space_p 16Which planet will be our next home?_p 19Mooning around_p 20Who wants to be a space tourist?_p 21Death from the skies: how the universe will kill you_p 22Technology in space_p 24

REGULARS

Ed’s note_p 2Community of Hip: your news, your views_p 4 What’s new in science?_p 6Smart technology_p 8Deconstruction: how a spacesuit works_p 10Body smart: why gas stinks_p 27HIP2B2: meet your 15 Brand-new Ambassadors_p 29 Sci DIY: make a solid liquid_p 34Sport science: how do athletes jump so high?_p 36Smart maths: shapes in space_p 38Brain busters: puzzle over these_p 46Simply science: claustrophobia explained_p 48

INTELLIGENT ENTERTAINMENT

Be there – B2: what’s hot this April_p 40Music: Jeremy de Tolly and his Dirty Skirts_p 41 Movies: how fi lmmakers fake scenes in space_p 42Games: the ABCs of MMORPGs_p 43Books: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_p 44

Unscramble this alien’s request and you could win a HIP2B2 backpack. Send your name, school, grade and answer to <win@hip2b2.com>.

contents28.indd 1 3/24/09 12:39:58 PM

´

CHAT ROOM

PHO

TOG

RAPH

S:D

ENVE

R H

END

RICK

S; G

ALL

O/G

ETTY

IMA

GES

.CO

M

Editor Janna JosephArt Director Anton Pietersen

Managing Editor Desireé KrielJunior Writer Nicklaus Kruger

Copy Editor Sally RutherfordProofreader Deanne Vorster

Contributors Nikki Benatar, Ellen Cameron, Paul Carter, Erin Classen, Simon Crundwell,

Nina Liebenberg, Jacqui Lund, Michelle Minnaar, Ambre Nicolson, Linda Pretorius, Anthony Samboer,

Bruce Farthing, Justine Staff ord, Mark van Dijk Educational Consultants Wordwise

Publisher Helena GaveraExecutive Editor Ami Kapilevich

Editorial Director Stefania Johnson

BSQUARE COMMUNICATIONS EDITORIAL BOARDGeneral Manager Cathryn Treasure

Marketing & Sponsorship Lauren Terras<lauren@hip2b2.com>

HIP2B2 pioneered by Mark Shuttleworth

ADVERTISING & MARKETINGSales Executives Nick Armstrong +27 (0)21 417 1188

Michael Daly (JHB) +27 (0)11 263 4804

PRODUCTION, CIRCULATION & SYNDICATIONProduction Manager Shirley Quinlan

Subscriptions John Pienaar +27 (0)21 417 1218Subscriptions Call Centre 0860 103 662

Syndication Manager Glynis Fobb Repro by New Media Repro

Printed by Paarl Print

Published on behalf of BSquare Communications by New Media Publishing (Pty) Ltd

+27 (0)21 417 1111 • <www.newmediapub.co.za>

Advertising Director Aileen Lamb New Business Development Martha Dimitriou

+27 (0)21 417 1276Creative Director Crispian Brown

Production Director Lucrezia WolfaardtDigital Manager Heléne Lindsay

Finance Manager Mark Oaten

EXECUTIVE DIRECTORSEditorial Development Director Irna van ZylBusiness Development Director John Psillos

Managing Director Bridget McCarney

All rights reserved. While precautions have been taken to ensure the accuracy of information, neither the editor, publisher nor New Media Publishing can

be held liable for any inaccuracies, injury or damages that may arise.

ABC 101 265

When explorers set out to discover new lands, they found Africa, Australia, North America and South America. And on each new continent, they found strange people who spoke languages they had never heard and didn’t understand.

Centuries later, the exploration of Earth is over – we know all the lands and the languages on it. We have breathed the air on top of the highest mountain and we’ve touched the silent ocean fl oor.

But we aint seen nothin’ yet. Truth is, our planet is only a tiny speck in that mysterious place

called the Universe. Which is why the exploration has begun again. But this time around, the unknown is so much greater. Kilometres have become light years. Continents have become planets. Islands have become galaxies. Ships have become shuttles.

Are you the next Marco Polo, destined to discover new lands and civilizations? If so, the Space issue of HIP2B2 is here to give you a taste of what you’re in for. Good luck and bon voyage!

JANNA

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

The HIP2B2 roadshow may be coming your way soon!

Look out for us in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London, Joburg,

Durban, Limpopo, Potchefstroom, Welkom and Pretoria – click to

<www.hip2b2.com> for our full travel itinerary.

Chat room28.indd 1 3/25/09 11:18:28 AM

We spoke to learners at the Kellogg’s HIP2B2 Brand Ambassador Event.

YOU SAID IT

CHANEL DANIELS

Grade 10, Settlers High SchoolStar sign: Leo.My role model is myself – I think it’s better to live your own way than to follow someone else.I’d like to be a neurologist someday, so I can fi nd out how people think and study their brains and nerves.

RORY WILLIAMS

Grade 10, Settlers High SchoolStar sign: Cancer.I’d like to be a fl ight engineer or pilot. I love the idea of fl ying.Moon landing: hoax or real? Real. Why would anyone think it wasn’t? If I could visit any planet, I’d choose Venus, because they say that’s where women are from!

ALEX SWAN

Grade 10, Stellenberg High School, BellvilleStar sign: Virgo.My role model is David Beckham. When he was young, a coach told him to stop playing soccer, but he didn’t – and look where he is now.If I could visit a planet, I’d go to Pluto – it’s so far from my parents!

CHARNE MOSES

Grade 12, Berg River High SchoolStar sign: Virgo.I’d like to be a physiotherapist, because I love working with people. My favourite presenter was Jessica; her talk was useful and informative, telling us how to treat dogs in dangerous situations.

KAYLIN BALL

Grade 10, Stellenberg High School, Bellville Star sign: Cancer.I really loved Louis’s presentation; it’s amazing that someone our age can do something so important.Moon landing: hoax or real? Hoax – I love to be different, and there are very good arguments for it not having happened.

B R A N D N E W S !

KAYLIN

On 2 March 2009, the HIP2B2 Brand Ambassadors presented their annual projects to Mark Shuttleworth and an audience of learners. Johannes Jonker won fi rst prize for his social

bookmarking site (<www.yoop.co.za>), while Louis von Biljon took second prize for his Eyes for the Blind invention (<www.eyes4blind.co.za>). Jessica West was awarded Brand Ambassador of the Year – and a brand new laptop! – with Johannes and Hayley

Minter-Brown in tied second place. To see all the Brand Ambassadors’ projects, click to

<www.hip2b2.com>.

PHO

TOG

RAPH

S: D

ENVE

R H

END

RICK

S, W

ILLI

E LA

TEG

AN

; iST

OCK

PH

OTO

S

4

CHA

NEL

RORY C

HARNE

Jessica West with HIP2B2 General

Manager, Cathryn Treasure.

ALEX

community28.indd 2 3/24/09 12:45:08 PM

FORUM

5

Dear HIP2B2

I’ve wanted to be an astronomer since I

was 10 years old and I’m always looking for

information about this fi eld. Many people

probably want to be astronauts, but they

don’t have the knowledge they need. I was

wondering if some day you could talk about

astronomy, on behalf of us, the South African

astronauts of the future – I promise that

South Africa will be proud of us someday.

– Nomfundo, Grade 10

Hey Nomfundo (and all aspiring astronauts) …

you’re either really lucky or so supersmart that you

knew we were working on the Space Issue! Keep

reading for 48 pages of out-of-this-world info, and

see page 16 for some great careers in space. – Janna

ON THE MOBISITE

Would a human body decompose on the moon? – THOBEKA, G8A body decomposes in the presence of humidity and bacteria. These don’t exist on the moon, so a body would probably just lie there forever, losing moisture to the vacuum but otherwise staying pretty much intact for the next moonwalker to trip over. Gross. – Janna

SMS ‘HIPCOM’ followed by your thoughts to 34978 (R2 per SMS), or comment free of charge on our MOBISITE at <mobi.hip2b2.com>.

EMAIL <talk2us@hip2b2.com> or <hip2b2@newmediapub.co.za>.

WRITE TO HIP2B2, PO Box 440, Green Point 8051

T A L K T O U S

YOU SMSED

8

BY N

ICKL

AUS

KRU

GER

• PH

OTO

GRA

PHS:

iSTO

CK P

HO

TOS

W H AT ’ S N E W I N S C I E N C E ?SCI FILES

OF MICE, MEN AND MEMORIES

Memories are mysterious things. And often they’re not very pleasant. How many of us can say we have no regrets and that there’s nothing we’d rather forget? Well, you’re in luck – the ability to erase memories may seem like science fi ction, but it’s on its way.

Researchers from the Medical College of Georgia have managed to erase both new and old memories in mice. Using protein engineering and organic chemical synthesis, they found that by increasing the levels of the brain enzyme alpha-CaMKII before recall of a memory they could erase only the specifi c memory being recalled. In addition, the memory vanished rapidly and without causing physiological damage.

As yet, the researchers haven’t tested their technique on human beings, but our brains work in much the same way as those of mice, so they don’t anticipate real diffi culties. They hope the technique will be useful in treating conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, and for generally making life a little more bearable, at least after the fact.

ONE SMALL SHOCK FOR MAN

In 1969, man fi rst walked on the moon. Since then, only 11 other human beings have done the same. NASA is planning to increase this number by 2020, but they’ve just learnt that it could be a shocking experience.

Astrophysicists have recently discovered that the lunar surface becomes electrifi ed during each full moon. Once a month, for six days, the moon passes through the Earth’s magnetotail – a long ‘tail’ that forms when the highly charged particles of the solar wind* whiz past Earth and mix with its magnetic fi eld.

For those six days, the moon’s surface becomes highly charged, and any astronauts walking on it would feel a static shock. It wouldn’t be deadly, but it would be painful, a bit like walking across a carpet and then touching a doorknob. NASA plans to investigate other effects of the magnetotail when they send their electroshock-therapy patients – sorry, astronauts – up there again.

Of course, none of that will explain why we can put a man on the moon, but we still can’t make a decent cup of instant coffee …

Looking for a list of all the world’s moonwalkers (except for the guy who did that Thriller thing and is not Billie-Jean’s lover)? Check out <www.infoplease.com/askeds/moon-walkers.html>.

*The solar wind is a stream of high-energy electromagnetic radiation and charged particles emitted by our Sun. The Earth’s protective magnetosphere shields us from the Sun’s harmful effects.

MEMORABLE MOVIES

Some of the most famous movies about memory manipulation include Keanu Reeves’ Johnny Mnemonic (fun), Jim Carrey’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (thought-provoking), and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Total Recall (an Arnie movie – ‘nuff said).

If you could, would you erase any of your memories? Why (or why not)? Email us at <talk2us@hip2b2.com>.

YOU THOUGHT

HI

P

BY

N

UM

BE

RS

YOU WROTE 9 9 , 9 8 % of the mass of our solar system is contained in our Sun. It’s so big that a million Earths could easily fi t inside it, with plenty of room to spare.

Over 1 m i l l i o n unsold copies of Robbie Williams’ latest CD (Rudebox) will be crushed and used to resurface China’s roads.

2 2 0 m i l l i o n t o 2 5 0 m i l l i o n years is how long it takes for the Sun to complete a revolution around the Galactic Centre (of the Milky Way), moving at about 220 km per second!

1 0 % of an adult’s fat cells die throughout every year. Unfortunately, the body always replaces them.

7 5 % of the universe is made up of hydrogen.

1 9 8 2 was the year in which Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster fi lm ET was released. The eyes of the main character, the alien ET, were modelled on those of Albert Einstein. Einstein’s forehead appeared on Yoda in 1977’s Star Wars.

Hey there! I just want to respond to the question you asked in the Feb ’09 issue: would I erase any of my memories?

Well, sure, who doesn’t want to forget embarassing bloopers or stupid mistakes?

But isn’t remembering all the painful times in your life and learning from them the basis of wisdom? Bad memories teach us lessons, make us stronger and help us appreciate what we have.

Then of course there are experiences that can cause phobias and should be forgotten – hostage situations, rape, witnessing a murder and so forth.

Still, I think this technology shouldn’t be implemented as there are too many ways it could and would be abused. But then, I’m not the one with the phobia!

Have a good one. – Jan-Paul du Plessis, 16

DID YOU KNOW?

Mark Shuttleworth created HIP2B2 when he returned from his trip into space.But as Africa’s fi rst astronaut, he’s more than

just the inspiration behind the brand – he is a reminder to us all that the sky is the limit.

community28.indd 3 3/25/09 11:20:06 AM

Sure, you know about hurricanes and other dangerous weather phenomena. But what are the chances of being killed by an invisible tornado, or a megacryometeor? Find out at <http://tinyurl.com/weatherkillers>.

BY N

ICKL

AUS

KRU

GER

• PH

OTO

GRA

PHS:

iSTO

CK P

HO

TOS

W H A T ’ S N E W I N S C I E N C E ?SCI FILES

6

FUN ON THE ANT FARM

Farming is hard work – just ask leaf-cutter ants. These creatures place their freshly cut leaves in ’gardens’, so that a particular type of fungus they like to eat can grow upon the leaves. The worker ants even ‘weed’ their gardens, by pulling out microbial pests.

Now, research has shown that they also use chemical means to keep their gardens healthy. Some worker ants carry Actinobacteria (the same bacterial group that produces 80% of modern antibiotics), which destroy any fungus-killing pests that could wipe out the ants’ entire crop (or even the ants themselves).

This is the fi rst time we’ve discovered other animals using pathogens for their own benefi t. No word on whether the workers are unionised, though. At least we got that going fi rst …

A STAR’S GOTTA EAT

It may be a dog-eat-dog world, but it’s a star-eat-star universe. Inside globular clusters (spherical groups of about 100 000 stars), there are stars called big blue stragglers. These are much larger than the other stars – and seem a lot younger. All stars in a cluster are born around the same time, though, so the stragglers should have burnt out long ago (massive stars die faster). So what’s up?

Researchers have found that the big blues are practising ‘stellar cannibalism’. One star is basically eating its buddy to keep on keeping on. Talk about bad neighbours!

THE BAD WEATHER BRAIN

Sunshine and happiness are wonderful things but they may not be good for your memory, say psychologists at the University of New South Wales, Australia.

Researchers tested the ability of 73 people to recall 10 objects on a shop counter. Half the shoppers were tested on sunny days, while the others were tested on rainy days. The cold-day customers

remembered three times as many items as the others, and were less likely to falsely ‘remember’ objects that were never there.

A questionnaire confi rmed that the rainy-day buyers were in a worse mood, which is known to trigger a more cautious mode of thinking. So, if you have a test tomorrow, fi nd a rainy, miserable spot to study in. Or fi nd some other way to make you feel bad. It’ll pay off in the long run.

CHILDREN OF THE STARS

Almost all elements heavier than hydrogen and helium – including those in our bodies – are created inside the cores of stars. That means we’re literally made of stardust.

Whats new 28.indd 1 3/24/09 12:50:58 PM

clever,cool or crazy

SMAR

T TEC

HNOL

OGY

BY N

ICKL

AUS

KRU

GER

• PH

OTO

GRA

PHS:

URB

AN

TRE

ND

(HK)

LTD

, DAV

ID G

ON

CALV

ES, T

HIN

K G

EEK,

RED

EYE

GO

LF, V

UZI

X, P

RETT

Y U

SEFU

L TO

OLS

JUST FIVE MORE MINUTES ...

It’s perfectly natural to hate your alarm clock. It’s even more natural to hit the snooze button and go back to sleep when it turns off. But now the machines are fi ghting back.

The Memory Game Alarm Clock is based on a game from the ’80s called Simon. The program featured lights and sounds that were associated with certain colours; to continue playing, the user had to match each sound to its corresponding colour. To stop the Memory Game Clock’s alarm, it’s not enough just to hit the right button: you have to hit the right sequence of colours to shut the noise off.

You’ll probably still hate it, but at least you’ll have the daily satisfaction of beating the thing at its own game. <www.urbantrendhk.com>

MEET THE SCARABMOBILE

If the pen is mightier than the sword, then ThinkGeek’s Ultimate Geek Pen rules them all.

As well as using ink to write (as any good pen should do), it also functions as a stylus for your touch-screen phone or computer, a torch, a laser pointer and – if you’re in the mood for a bit of crime-scene investigation – a sneaky tool that can shine UV light (or black light) onto your surroundings. Not much more you could ask for in a pen – except maybe a built-in sword. <www.thinkgeek.com>

A L L - P U R P O S E P E N

DIY: FUN IN THE SUNSo you love playing your Nintendo DS Lite, but you hate running out of power? Luckily, there’s a way to attach 60 x 60 mm solar panels to the device – enough to power your games quite nicely, as long as you’re out in the sunshine. To switch to solar power, click to <http://tinyurl.com/DScharge>.

8

Move over, James Bond and your fancy rides. This ultra-compact concept vehicle is the smartest new car on the block. Able to transform from a sleek, fl attened speed machine to an upright urban cruiser, the Scarab consists of interchangeable modules so you can fi nally have your own customised Insert-Your-Name-Here-Mobile.

Powered by a battery, biofuels or fuel cells, the Scarab comes with sensors, radar and Lidar (like radar

but with light) to detect pedestrians and other vehicles. GPS provides location data, while a wireless modem

tells you what’s ahead in time to change your route. It doesn’t come with antivillain

missiles, but maybe some day … <www.orizein.com>

smart technology28.indd 2 3/24/09 12:53:06 PM

SMART TECHNOLOGY

SEE L I F E D I F FERENTLY

BY N

ICKL

AUS

KRU

GER

• PH

OTO

GRA

PHS:

URB

AN

TRE

ND

(HK)

LTD

, DAV

ID G

ON

CALV

ES, T

HIN

K G

EEK,

RED

EYE

GO

LF, V

UZI

X, P

RETT

Y U

SEFU

L TO

OLS

LOW-TECH MOMENT:THE SOUND OF SIMPLICITY

Worried about the state of our planet? Even Michael Jackson’s plea to Heal the World can’t make Earth’s problems go away. But if you want to listen to the song anyway, at least you don’t have to pollute the planet with a clunky set of metal speakers. Instead, get some Inbox Speakers from Pretty Useful Tools.

They may not be big and shiny, but these baby blasters make up for their size with their massively smart and ecofriendly design. Folding fl at into a carry pouch, they’re made from recycled cardboard or plastic (using the minimum amount of material possible). Just plug them into a standard headphone jack – like the one on your laptop or MP3 player – and you’ll have all the sound you need, guilt-free. Click to <www.prettyusefultools.com>.

9

Golf may be called ‘the beautiful game’, but anyone who’s failed again and again when the hole is a metre away wouldn’t agree.

Those poor sods might want to consider practicing with RedEye Golf’s Laser Putter. Its laser sensory system easily fi nds the Smart Target, and even emits a constant tone when perfectly aligned – you’d have to be blind and deaf not to line up the shot (making it is another matter, though). Practice makes perfect, and perfect practice is the best kind there is, after all.

But it’s not just for behind the scenes: it’s endorsed by several PGA tours, and a quick conversion makes it tournament-legal. It’s even been used in competitions to devastating effect by long-time pro golfer Fred Funk. <www.redeyegolf.com>

Sometimes, you just want to climb into the TV and be surrounded by another world for a while.

That’s not possible (yet), but Vuzix has created the next best thing – video

eyewear that converts your 22” screen into a 64” monster.

Their new iWear AV920 goes even further. Not only can you plug it in to supersize your screen, but the eyewear is also semitransparent, so you can wear it as ordinary glasses to get a new perspective on life. Using

‘augmented reality’ technology, it can display information as you

look around. Kind of like being the Terminator, without the Austrian

accent. Click to <www.vuzix.com>.

A PUTT ABOVE THE REST

smart technology28.indd 3 3/24/09 12:54:27 PM

we take it apartDECONSTRUCTION

ILLU

STRA

TIO

NS:

AN

THO

NY

SAM

BOER

AN

D B

RUCE

FA

RTH

ING

Display and control module (DCM) (13).

Connector to the PLSS for water supply.

Liquid cooling and ventilation garment (LCVG) (14).

In-suit drink bag.

Gold-coated outer visor (10).

Clear polycarbonate visor (11).Set of three sunshades (12).

TV camera and lights attached to the outer shell of the helmet.

Extravehicular communications module.

Antenna.

Caution and warning system (5).

Communications carrier assembly (CCA) (8).

Sublimator to extract moisture and heat from suit (6).

Primary life-support subsystem (PLSS) backpack (1).

PLSS inner shell, which houses water tanks and other components.

Battery.

Primary oxygen tanks (2).

Secondary oxygen pack (SOP) housing.

Secondary oxygen tanks (7).

Plastic helmet (9).

Bearings allow connected parts to swivel and create an air-tight seal.

Contaminant-control cartridge (CCC) (3).Wrist mirror for reading

back-to-front writing on DCM.

Fan/separator/pump-motor assembly (4).

Simplifi ed aid for extravehicular activity rescue (SAFER).

decon28.indd 2 3/25/09 11:22:24 AM

11

DECONSTRUCTION: SPACESUIT

IF YOU CAN’T STAND THE HEAT ...

It may look like your winter PJs, but the full-body liquid cooling ventilation

garment (LCVG) (14) is great at cooling you down. Equipped with 91,5 m of narrow

tubes, it pumps water near your skin to remove excess heat, and draws sweat off your body through built-in vents,

which it then recycles in the water-cooling system.

THE INNER WORKINGS

Next time mom tells you to put on a jersey, spare a thought for the overdressed guys in space.

Without a spacesuit, you wouldn’t want to be an astronaut. Why? Because within 15 seconds of stepping into space, you’d faint from the absence of air. Thankfully, this means you wouldn’t have to feel all your bodily fl uids boiling without any air pressure. In the sunlight (120 °C), you’d be grilled alive, while the shade would quickly cool you down to a joint-crackling -100 °C. If you survived all this, plus radiation from cosmic rays and charged solar particles, then the fl ying bits of rock and debris would surely fi nish you off.

To keep you alive and (fairly) comfy out there, a spacesuit must provide oxygen and remove carbon dioxide. This is done by the primary life-support subsystem (PLSS) backpack (1), which contains the primary oxygen tanks (2), carbon-dioxide removal equipment, known as the contaminant-control cartridge (CCC) (3), a ventilation fan (4), a warning system (5) and a sublimator (6), which is a moisture-management and water-cooling system. The secondary oxygen tanks (7) at your waist offer 30 extra minutes of ‘air time’.

Even your head needs several layers, starting with the communications carrier assembly (CCA) (8). This contains earphones and a microphone so you can talk to the crew and hear warning tones. Next comes the plastic helmet (9), which is then covered with a gold-coated outer visor (10) to protect you from the Sun, as well as a polycarbonate visor (11) for thermal impact protection and three adjustable shades (12) to shield your eyes from the Sun’s glare.

The best part? You can monitor your in-suit environment using the display and control module (DCM) (13). The worst part? Beneath all this, you have to wear a maximum-absorption garment (MAG) – basically, an adult nappy.

Lights.

Extravehicular visor assembly (EVA).

Display and control module (DCM) (13).

Temperature control keeps astronaut cool.

Wrist bearing connects arm to EVA glove.

Wrist mirror.

Safety tethers.

Simplifi ed aid for extravehicular activity rescue (SAFER).

Controls for PLSS.

In-suit drink bag.

Primary oxygen tanks (2).

Secondary oxygen tanks (7).

Bearing connects boots to lower leg.

decon28.indd 3 3/25/09 11:23:16 AM

you think the African Big Five is impressive, get a load of the intergalactic Big Five: you’ll fi nd eagles, eyes, Mexican hats, very big dogs and more ...

But before we blast off, remember to take a bathroom break. In 1961, when Yuri Gagarin was driving towards the rocket that made him the fi rst man in orbit, he got an attack of pre-trip nerves. So he took a leak on the rear right tyre of the bus. Since then, Russian cosmonauts have always ‘relieved themselves’ on their bus’ wheel before take-off, as did Mark Shuttleworth!

HOURGLASS NEBULA

When pictures of the Hourglass Nebula were fi rst published in 1997, the editors of National Geographic wrote: ‘Astronomers looked 8 000 light years into the cosmos … and it seemed that the eye of God was staring back.’ This isn’t really the eye of God, but rather a planetary nebula. When stars get old, they increase their size and energy output, and eject their outer layers. The UV radiation that escapes from the core causes the surrounding cloud of matter to glow.

13 7

00 0

00 0

00 Y

EARS

AGO

The ‘Big Bang’ occurs. Minutes later, the fi rst stable atoms (hydrogen and helium) form.

13 2

00 0

00 0

00 Y

EARS

AGO

Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is one of the earliest galaxies to be formed.

4 57

0 00

0 00

0 YE

ARS

AGO

Our Sun is formed as a result of the rapid collapse of a hydrogen molecular cloud.

TIMELINE OF THE UNIVERSE (As more-or-less agreed by scientists … but nobody’s exactly sure of the dates.)

Pack your bags for a virtual space safari, and look out for these spot-worthy sights.

PHO

TOG

RAPH

S: R

AG

HVE

ND

RA S

AH

AI A

ND

JO

HN

TRA

UG

ER (J

PL),

THE

WFP

C2 S

CIEN

CE T

EAM

, AN

D N

ASA

/ESA

,

BIG FIVE 28.indd 2 3/24/09 1:18:33 PM

EXPLORING SPACE

VY CANIS MAJORIS

Introducing the biggest known star in the universe, located in the constellation of Canis Major, which means – and resembles – ‘big dog’. The star is about 500 000 times brighter and 2 100 times bigger than our Sun, which means you could fi t seven quadrillion (that’s seven with 15 zeroes) Earths into it!

EAGLE NEBULA: PILLARS OF CREATION

Inside the Eagle Nebula stand the ‘Pillars of Creation’ – columns of hydrogen gas and dust that incubate new stars. Research has found that the shock wave from a nearby supernova (exploding star) probably toppled them 6 000 years ago, but with their light taking 7 000 years to reach us, they should appear to stand for another 1 000 years.

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the fi rst humans on the moon.

4 54

0 00

0 00

0 YE

ARS

AGO

Our Solar System forms out of the mass of dust and gas left over from the Sun’s formation.

1 82

4 YE

ARS

AGO:

185

AD

Chinese astronomers are the fi rst Earthlings to record seeing a supernova.

40 Y

EARS

AGO

: 21

JULY

196

9

NA

SA/E

SA A

ND

R. H

UM

PHRE

YS (

UN

IVER

SITY

OF

MIN

NES

OTA

), JE

FF H

ESTE

R &

PAU

L SC

OW

EN (A

RIZO

NA

STA

TE

UN

IVER

SITY

, AN

D N

ASA

/ESA

13

BIG FIVE 28.indd 3 3/24/09 1:18:59 PM

14

EXPLORING SPACE

NEBULA A cloud of dust, hydrogen gas and plasma.

NEUTRON STAR What’s left over from the gravitational

collapse after a massive star goes supernova (ie, explodes).

RED HYPERGIANT Hypergiants are the biggest stars in

the universe, but they’re very rare and they have a short

life span. While our Sun has a life span of about 10 billion

years, hypergiants only survive for a few million years.

Depending on surface temperature, they can appear to be

red, white, yellow, blue or luminous blue.

SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE As the name suggests, this

is a really, really big black hole with a mass of between

100 000 and 10 000 000 000 times that of our Sun.

SOMBRERO GALAXY

Whizzing 28 000 000 light years from Earth, we come across the Sombrero Galaxy – a spiral galaxy with a dust ring that makes it look a bit like a Mexican hat. Researchers have also found that there’s a supermassive black hole at the centre, with a mass of at least one billion times that of our Sun. ¡Ay caramba!

MESSIER 87

Named after French astronomer Charles Messier, this giant galaxy measures 120 000 light years in diameter. But what astronomers like most about it is the jet of electrons and subatomic particles that shoots out of its nucleus at nearly the speed of light, creating a ‘tadpole tail’ that extends at least 5 000 light years.

G A L A C T I C G L O S S A R Y STRANGE STUFF LEFT IN SPACE

As well as bits of space shuttles, we’ve left other interesting objects in space. This includes a glove lost on the fi rst American space-walk, a camera left near Gemini 10, a wrench, pliers and a toothbrush.

A briefcase-sized tool bag recently fl oated away from astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, containing specialised hardware for space conditions and valued at a R1 million.

Most of these objects have re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere within a few weeks. We’re still waiting for the tool bag, though.

DID YOU KNOW? In 1997, an Oklahoma woman was hit on the shoulder by a piece of a fuel tank from a Delta II rocket. She was unhurt and lived to tell the tale.

PHO

TOG

RAPH

S TH

E H

UBB

LE H

ERIT

AG

E TE

AM

STS

cI/A

URA

AN

D N

ASA

/ESA

, N

ASA

/JPL

-CA

LTEC

H A

ND

TH

E H

UBB

LE H

ERIT

AG

E TE

AM

(STS

cI/A

URA

)

BIG FIVE 28.indd 4 3/24/09 1:20:04 PM

16

EXPLORING SPACE

It’s not easy getting an interview with ace astronomer,

Professor David Block. ‘Since the launch of my book, Shrouds Of The Night,

I’ve been getting calls from journalists, TV crews and fans wanting to know more,’ he says.

What’s all the fuss about? Surely astronomy is just for science boffi ns who spend long, lonely

nights staring at the stars? ‘Oh no,’ says Prof. Block. ‘We live in a digital age, and today astronomy is all

about using hi-tech space cameras to unravel the mysteries of the universe.’

One of those mysteries is the subject of Block’s book, which he cowrote with world-famous Australian astronomer, Professor Ken Freeman. The book shows never-before-seen images of Earth’s neighbouring galaxies – some more than 200 million light years away – thanks to a super-powerful infrared telescopic camera that penetrates the space dust hiding these galaxies.

HOW DID YOU GET INTO ASTRONOMY? ‘As a boy, I watched Bennett’s comet, which had a long, fi ery tail. It was like a candle had been lit in my heart and I wanted to know more! After school, I completed

a BSc degree, which gave me an excellent foundation in Maths, Physics and Applied Maths – essential

for understanding the cosmos. I then completed my Honours degree in Applied Mathematics,

a Masters degree in Relativistic Astrophysics/

Applied Mathematics and a PhD in Astronomy. My fi rst research paper, on relativistic astro-physics, was published in London when I was 20. Since then, I haven’t looked back.’

WHAT DO YOU DO EVERY DAY? ‘Research is a very important part of my job. I also lecture at The University of Witwatersrand in Joburg, mentor new students and communicate the wonders of the universe to young minds.’ WHAT’S THE BEST THING ABOUT YOUR JOB? ‘I think of myself as a little beetle on a sand dune, born to scratch away until I set off the avalanche! That’s what being an astronomer is: chipping away at life’s biggest questions, like “How did the world begin?” or “What is time?” It’s terribly exciting.’

WHAT’S THE WORST THING ABOUT ASTRONOMY? ‘Some of my students don’t cope well with times of silence. Deep thinkers like astronomers can’t afford to be distracted by things like TV or MXit. Technology must be your slave, not your master!’

LAST WORDS OF ADVICE? ’Find your passion and reach for the stars. Most importantly, never give up. Even if astronomy isn’t for you, fi nd the environment you’re happiest in, then be Sirius – the brightest star in the night sky.’

‘Rings of fi re’ in the Andromeda Spiral Galaxy, as imaged by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope.

careers28.indd 2 3/24/09 1:25:15 PM

17

BY J

UST

INE

STA

FFO

RD •

PHO

TOG

RAPH

S: iS

TOCK

PH

OTO

S; P

ORT

RAIT

: PIE

RRE

POTG

IETE

REXPLORING SPACE

We all watched as Afronaut Mark Shuttleworth blasted off into space, and cheered when 15-year-old Nomathemba Kontyo was chosen to work on NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover mission. But for most people, becoming an astronaut takes many years of training, during which they learn how to command, pilot or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft. Their job? To conduct research and experiments, like observing and photographing natural and manmade changes on Earth so we can better understand our planet. Cool, huh?

Ever said, ‘Well, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist!’, and then wondered what this term means? ‘Rocket scientist’ is just an informal name for an aerospace engineer – an extremely clever person who engineers the design, construction and science of aircraft and spacecraft. It’s such a complex and diffi cult job that they’re considered the brain surgeons of space. Needless to say, you have to be superbrainy to become one, so if building and blasting things off into space is your dream career, you’d better start studying now!

Look up at the night sky. Now think about what man has discovered in space: stars, planets, even other galaxies. Wouldn’t it be amazing to understand what these entities are made up of and how they work? Well, that’s the job of an astrophysicist: to use disciplines of physics (such as electromagnetism, relativity and nuclear physics) to better understand the physical properties (like luminosity, temperature, density and chemical composition) of celestial bodies. Phew, all those long words and this is just the simple explanation!

• The National Astrophysics and Space Science Programme, Cape Town: <www.star.ac.za>.

• University of Cape Town, Department of Astronomy: <mensa.ast.uct.ac.za>.

• University of the Free State, Department of Physics: <www.uovs.ac.za>.

• University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, School of Pure and Applied Physics: <www.nu.ac.za>.

• University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg,

Other awesome careers in space.

R

OCKET SCIENTIS

T

ASTRO EXPERTSPACEMAN

Interested in a career in space? Check out the following departments. STUDY IT

School of Chemical and Physical Sciences: <www.ukzn.ac.za>.• Rhodes University, Department of Physics and

Electronics: <www.ru.ac.za>.• University of South Africa (Unisa), Department of Mathematics,

Applied Mathematics and Astronomy: <www.unisa.ac.za>.• University of Stellenbosch, Department of Electrical and

Electronic Engineering: <www.ee.sun.ac.za>.• University of the Witwatersrand, School of Computational

and Applied Mathematics: <web.wits.ac.za>.

careers28.indd 3 3/24/09 1:25:41 PM

BY N

INA

LIE

BEN

BERG

• PH

OTO

GRA

PHS:

iSTO

CK P

HO

TOS

19

EXPLORING SPACE

It’s great to be part of a solar system. One day, when our lovely planet runs out of space or energy, there’ll be seven other planets to choose from. The problem is, none of them can support human life. Which is why the clever guys in white coats are researching a technique called terraforming: making a planet suitable for human habitation. Mars and Venus are the top two candidates, but which planet will scientists choose?

MIGHTY MARS The red-hot favouriteProbably the most ‘Earthlike’ already, Mars contains all the elements for life: water, carbon dioxide and nitrogen. It also has a rotation of 24 hours and 37 minutes, an axial tilt of 24 degrees (Earth’s is 23,5 degrees) and a gravitational pull one-third

Global warming; nuclear warfare; robots taking

over the world … is there life after Earth?

of Earth’s (so ditch the diet – if you weigh 60 kg on Earth, you’ll weigh 20 kg on Mars).

So why aren’t we rocketing off for Martian vacations? For starters, there’s too much carbon dioxide and not nearly enough oxygen and nitrogen.

It’s also very cold, with an average temperature of -62,77 ˚C.

Project Mars Makeover would start with heating the surface. For

this, we’d need to build large orbital mirrors to refl ect the sunlight, or

simulate global warming by pumping harmful gases into the atmosphere. Then, we could plant trees for extra oxygen.

VOLUPTUOUS VENUS The smouldering sirenCalled our sister planet, Venus is our closest neighbour and virtually our twin in size

and mass. But she’s more Evil Stepsister than Caring Older Sister – you wouldn’t

survive long on her surface, since you couldn’t breathe the air.

You’d also be crushed by the atmosphere – about 90 times heavier than Earth’s – and be burnt alive by the surface temperature of 480 ˚C. There’s also almost no water

– even the rain is primarily sulphur and carbon dioxide.

Project Venus Makeover would begin with solar shades or refl ectors to cool the surface down. Then, we’d have to remove or convert that nasty carbon dioxide atmosphere.

AND THE WINNER IS ... Clearly, Mars wins the makeover vote, but don’t hold your breath. Our next home is likely to take hundreds of years to prepare. Until then, look after Earth – after all, she’s the only natural beauty.

Terraforming28.indd 1 3/24/09 2:30:59 PM

DID YOU KNOW? Astronauts have reported that moon dust felt like snow and smelled like spent gunpowder.

BY M

ICH

ELLE

MIN

NA

AR

• PH

OTO

GRA

PHS:

iSTO

CK P

HO

TOS

without this, large volumes of water would slosh from the equator (where the moon causes higher ocean levels)

towards the poles, and the Earth might even spin six hours faster. Now imagine how much less you

would get done with only 18 hours in a day.

THE MOON AND MADNESS

The word lunatic is derived from luna, or ‘moon’ in Latin. Researchers have suggested that the full moon is responsible for increased instances of alcoholism, car accidents,

madness, epilepsy, arson, suicide and homicide. Policemen, emergency room attendants and

bartenders all attest to this, although nothing can be proved scientifi cally (yet).

You see it almost every night, but how much do you really know about the moon?

The moon is Earth’s only natural satellite, and takes 27 days, 7 hours, 43 minutes and 11,6 seconds to make one full orbit. Because it takes approximately the same amount of time to rotate about its own axis, we only ever see one side of the moon from the surface of the Earth.

Like our planet, the moon is not a perfect sphere – it’s shaped like an egg, so if you go outside and look up, one of the small ends is pointing directly at you.

LIFE WITHOUT LUNA

Without its lunar companion, our planet would be quite a different place (and we’re not just talking about the absence of that romantic evening glow). The tides are caused mostly by the gravitational pull of the moon, and

The moon’s gravity pulls on Earth’s oceans, creating a high tide directly in line with the moon. Another high tide occurs on the opposite side of the planet because gravity pulls Earth toward the moon more than it pulls the water.

HOW IT WORKS: THE MOON AND TIDES

LOW TIDE

LOW TIDE

HIGH TIDE

MOON’S GRAVITATIONALPULL

EARTH’S CENTRIFUGAL

FORCE

HIGH TIDE

EXPLORING SPACE

20

Orbiting earth.indd 1 3/25/09 11:25:00 AM

EXPLORING SPACEBY

MIC

HEL

LE M

INN

AA

R • P

HO

TOG

RAPH

S: iS

TOCK

PH

OTO

S

SPORT IN SPACESport in space is a whole new ball game. Space Quidditch, à la Harry Potter, will soon be an astronaut’s sport of choice – NASA plans to establish a permanent lunar base by 2024 and it predicts that this game will be the ideal way to stay fi t.

Zero-gravity water sports offer exciting new options. Imagine a ‘water-room’ with big blobs of liquid you can throw or even dive through. But be warned – at zero-G

you won’t just fl oat to the ‘top’.In 2006, cosmonaut

Mikhail Tyurin shattered all golfi ng records when he hit a golf ball from the International Space

Station. It orbited Earth for two to three days before falling

through the Earth’s atmosphere. Now that’s what we call a birdie.

WHO WILL TAKE US THERE?

Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic plans to transport its fi rst tourists this year. A ticket on its fi rst spaceship, the VSS Enterprise, will set you back about R2 million. But Virgin Galactic already has over 7 000 initial reservations and about 1 500 actual down payments.

Each passenger will be trained for three days before the launch, and the average fl ight will last two-and-a-half hours. Passengers will only experience weightlessness for three to six minutes of this time.

WHY DO IT?

Aside from zero gravity, the view is spectacular. At night, parts of the globe fl icker with lightning storms and you may even get to see a volcano, a forest fi re or the mysterious Northern Lights.

HOW WILL IT WORK?

Half of the voyage will involve climbing to a safe altitude with the mother ship, VMS Eve. At 15 240 metres, the spacecraft will detach from the ship and launch from mid-air to reach a

maximum height of 109 km above Earth’s surface. This method

is considered to be safer than NASA’s space shuttle

ground-based launch. When re-entering

the atmosphere, the spacecraft won’t need a heat shield as it won’t experience the extreme

aerodynamic heating typical of re-entry at orbital

velocities (normal space shuttles come in at Mach 22,5

and from an altitude of 300 km).

SPACE PIONEERS

In 2001, American Dennis Tito became the fi rst fee-paying tourist in space. He was later followed by

our very own Mark Shuttleworth and American entrepreneur Gregory

Olsen, who each paid R200 million for the out-of-this-world

opportunity.

READY TO GO?

Visit <www.virgingalactic.com> or <www.spaceadventures.com>.

Got cash to spare? Join the fi rst space tourists for the adventure of a lifetime.

21

Space_tourism28.indd 1 3/24/09 2:33:58 PM

22

This is how the universe is planning to kill you. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

For most of recorded history, Earth looked like a nice, comfy place to raise a human race. Not too cold, not too hot, just what Goldilocks ordered. And barring the wrath of angry gods, it looked like nothing could ever destroy it – or us.We know better now. The universe is a scary place, and our tiny Earth is constantly on the verge of a nasty (and potentially fatal) encounter.

ASTEROID IMPACT There are millions, maybe billions, of asteroids zipping around, and occasionally one reaches Earth. Small ones burn up in our atmosphere, forming shooting stars. But once in a while a larger one makes it to the surface, touching off a mini-explosion. And sometimes, really big asteroids hit Earth – like the one that killed the dinosaurs.

<< HOW IT GOES DOWN >> A suburb-sized rock comes screaming in from space and smashes into Earth. If it crashes on land, the shock wave demolishes everything within a few thousand kilometres. Dust and debris block out the sun, killing plant life and disrupting food webs. If it meets a watery end, massive tidal waves demolish our coasts and reach hundreds of kilometres inland, while earthquakes end most oceanic life. Whichever way, we’re not happy.

DEATH FROM THE SKIES

death sky_28.indd 2 3/24/09 1:35:37 PM

EARTH VS UNIVERSE

23

<< WHAT ARE THE CHANCES? >> Pretty good in the long run, but only about 1 in 700 000 in your lifetime.

<< WHAT CAN WE DO? >> There are several plans for dealing with asteroids, besides sending Bruce Willis up there to Die Hard them to destruction. Rockets could possibly push them off course, nukes could blow them up, or directed, focused solar energy could change their momentum.

GAMMA-RAY BURSTS Extremely high-energy gamma-ray bursts have occurred in other galaxies, lasting from a few milliseconds up to several minutes, followed by a longer, less energetic ‘afterglow’ (caused by ultraviolet radiation, X-rays and so on). Most of these bursts appear to be caused by hypernovae – exploding stars thousands of times bigger than our Sun, which collapse to form black holes with two rays of radiation projecting out of them, like massive laser beams.

<< HOW IT GOES DOWN >> You’re playing a gruelling game of touch rugby. Suddenly you feel a searing pain that lasts a fraction of a second. Then it’s all over. The ozone layer has been blasted away, Earth’s crust is on fi re and everyone on this side of the planet is dead. The rest of the world has to deal with a reduced atmosphere, lots of UV radiation and X-rays, and generally a painful, brief existence.

<< WHAT ARE THE CHANCES? >> Honestly? We just don’t know. Our best estimate, however, is somewhere around BY

NIC

KLAU

S KR

UG

ER •

PHO

TOG

RAPH

S: G

ALL

O/G

ETTY

IMA

GES

.CO

M

THE DEATH OF THE SUN The Sun is a big nuclear-fusion reactor: when the hydrogen in its core fuses into helium, it loses some mass as energy, lighting up our solar system. In a few billion years, the hydrogen will run out and the Sun will start fusing helium into carbon and nitrogen. This will heat the core and cause the Sun to expand into a red giant, over 200 times its current size.

<< HOW IT GOES DOWN >> Either the Sun consumes the Earth (and us) or it engulfs Mercury and Venus and stops short of us. If that happens, massive amounts of solar radiation strip away the Earth’s atmosphere and fry the planet, boiling away the oceans and crisping all life.

<< WHAT ARE THE CHANCES? >> Inevitable. But it’s about fi ve billion years away, so don’t panic.

<< WHAT CAN WE DO? >> Not be here when it happens.

ALIEN INVASION Most scientists believe extraterrestrial life is likely. But don’t expect little green men to attack – if life is out there, it’s probably in the form of bacteria-like cells or viruses. And they’ll be wanting something to infect when they get here …

<< HOW IT GOES DOWN >> A meteor lands in your garden.

Two days later you start vomiting. Treatments are ineffective and doctors

are baffl ed. A few more cases are reported, and suddenly it’s everywhere.

<< WHAT ARE THE CHANCES? >> The Drake equation lists many probabilities to help us determine whether life is out there. Unfortunately, we don’t know the actual numbers – like how many planets there are – so the equation can’t be solved.

<< WHAT CAN WE DO? >> We can’t tell whether a meteor carries life before it gets here. But once it arrives, we can fi ght it with the full force of modern medicine. Sadly, that might not be enough.

1 in 14 000 000 during any person’s particular lifetime.

<< WHAT CAN WE DO? >> Not a thing. But we won’t know about a gamma-ray burst until it hits, so there’s no point in worrying about it.

GAMMAS ON CAMERA

Can’t quite imagine a gamma-ray burst? Click to <http://tinyurl.com/GRBursts>.

death sky_28.indd 3 3/24/09 1:36:32 PM

TINKER TINKER LITTLE STAR

Learn maths. Study science. Get top marks and you may become an astronaut. Then you can use these gadgets.

The Lunar Roving Vehicle – used in the Apollo 15, 16 and 17 missions – was more than just a zippy little buggy. It had full four-wheel-drive capabilities and was powered by two 36-volt batteries (a petrol motor wouldn’t work without air). The chassis was made of hard-wearing aluminium alloy and the tyres had woven steel mesh and zinc plating to protect them from punctures.

MOON BUGGY

Designed for spacewalks, the I-Suit is made of soft material (previous spacesuits used fi breglass) and weighs 29 kg (compared to the old EMU spacesuit’s 49 kg) without its life-support backpack attached. The suit includes a display that provides read-outs on the inside of its visor, GPS capability and speech-recognition software to let the user ask for and receive information.

No, it’s not one of those hand-held lasers from Star Trek. Used by American astronaut Ed White on the fi rst spacewalk in 1965, the Space Gun was a pressurised oxygen jet that enabled White to steer himself around in space. But he had to be careful: according to the law of the conservation of linear momentum, if he’d zoomed in one direction without applying a counterforce, he’d still fl ying today!

I-SUIT SPACE GUN SAFER

Of course, the Space Gun was never going to last (it was way too much fun). Modern spacewalks are done using a self-contained backpack called the Simplifi ed Aid for EVA Rescue (SAFER – with EVA standing for Extra-Vehicular Activity). The backpack uses small nitrogen thrusters, which are controlled by hand and moderated by computer. And, no, you can’t have one for Christmas.

Tech in space28.indd 2 3/25/09 11:28:19 AM

25

TECHNOLOGY

THE SPACE ELEVATOR This is a proposed project for the transport of material (and people!) into space. The contraption will run up and down a cable stretching from a point near the Equator to just outside Earth’s geosynchronous orbit*.

With a counterweight attached to the upper end, the cable will remain taut thanks to gravity, inertia and centrifugal force (to understand how this works, tie a string around a stone and then spin it around).

‘This is no longer science fi ction!’ said NASA scientist Dave Smitherman when the project was unveiled in 2000. Now, all we need is a several-

LIVING SPACE Six things in this modern home are aff ected by space in some way. Can you spot them?

BY M

ARK

VA

N D

IJK

• PH

OTO

GRA

PHS:

NA

SA •

ILLU

STRA

TIO

NS:

SIM

ON

CRU

ND

WEL

L

thousand-kilometre-long, superstrong, carbon-nanofi bre cable …

*A geosynchronous orbit is any orbit that takes the same amount of time as Earth to complete one full rotation, and spins in the same direction.

THE ALTAIR This is the proposed lander spacecraft that NASA plans to use in Project Constellation – the programme that will put man on the moon and on Mars, starting in 2018. The Altair will have an airlock chamber so that astronauts can take off their spacesuits without traipsing moon dust into the main cabin.

ROBONAUTS These handy humanoids could soon replace astronauts and cosmonauts. A new NASA project is working on robots (a combination of WALL·E and the Star Wars robot C-3PO) that would be able to safely and cheaply perform space walks and other extravehicular activities.

AIR-BREATHING ROCKETS While the existing rocket engines run on liquid oxygen (which is heavy to transport), air-breathing rockets would extract oxygen from the air to burn the fuel required to blast beyond the atmosphere. They may soon replace NASA’s current spacecraft engines.

WATCH THIS SPACE Travel technology of the (very near) future …

<< Answers on next page >>

Tech in space28.indd 3 3/25/09 11:28:54 AM

SILVER

So what do Mom’s silver tea set and Dad’s gold wedding ring have in common? Both have their origins in outer space – more precisely, in supernovae. The heavier elements on the Periodic Table – like silver (Ag), gold (Au), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), platinum (Pt) and uranium (U) – were all forged during enormous stellar explosions, and later landed on Earth.

WATER

And you thought water came from the sea? Scientists believe that when Earth was formed, the planet was hot and completely dry – so all the water we have must have arrived after our Earth cooled down. But where did it come from? One likely candidate is asteroids, which – like comets – contain large amounts of ice. When these asteroids hit Earth’s surface, the ice melted and created our oceans.

LIVING SPACE ANSWERSTECHNOLOGY

CELLPHONE

You know how your cellphone suddenly cuts off during a call? Blame space. More specifi cally, blame the Sun. Cellphones get their signal from towers that communicate with other nearby towers. But sometimes the Sun emits bursts of energy, which – if they happen at sunrise or sunset – interfere with cellphone towers’ signals. So next time your cellphone ‘dies’ during a MXit chat, blame it on the sunshine.

SATELLITE TV

If it weren’t for space, you wouldn’t have DStv. If the Earth were fl at (which, by the way, it isn’t), you could pick up a terrestrial TV signal from a broadcast centre thousands of kilometres away. But the Earth is round, and the curved horizon causes the signal to fade. With satellite TV, the signal is beamed from the broadcast centre to the satellite, and then back down to your satellite dish.

SKIN

Got strong bones and healthy skin? Then you have the Sun to thank: its UV rays help your body produce vitamin D, which builds calcium in your bones and provides nutrients for your skin. The Earth’s atmosphere blocks about 98,7% of the Sun’s UV radiation – but the small percentage that sneaks through is all your body needs. Be careful, though: over-exposure causes sunburn, DNA damage and, in some cases, cancer!

26

PORTABLE CORDLESS VACUUM CLEANER

This little sucker comes to us courtesy of the Apollo and Gemini space missions. NASA needed a portable drill to extract samples from beneath the moon’s surface, so Black & Decker (power-tool developers) created a computer program to help optimise the drill’s performance. Back on Earth, this program led to the development of the household Dustbuster.

Tech in space28.indd 4 3/25/09 11:30:41 AM

BODY SMART

27

BY L

IND

A P

RETO

RIU

S • P

HO

TOG

RAPH

S: G

ALL

O/G

ETTY

IMA

GES

.CO

M, i

STO

CK P

HO

TOS

It all begins when you eat. Food contains air, which you gulp down along with every bite. Chemical action in your stomach adds more gas, namely oxygen and nitrogen. Some of this stays in your stomach and is later burped out, while the rest passes into your gut.

During digestion in the small intestine, digestive acid reacts with bicarbonate to produce yet another gas: carbon dioxide. When the small intestine has done its work, the leftovers (and the growing gas cloud) are shoved to the colon, where gazillions of bacteria feast on partially digested starch and fi bre, making hydrogen, methane and even more carbon dioxide.

FOOD FOR FARTS You get out what you put in. Deciduous fruit, yeast-containing stuff like bread and beer, and dairy products (if you’re lactose intolerant) can lead to excess gas – all because of incomplete digestion of fi bre and starch. But beans are especially notorious. Humans don’t have the enzyme that converts complex bean sugars into absorbable single sugars. Colon bacteria, however, digest them chop-chop to produce copious amounts of hydrogen. Add a bit of cabbage or caulifl ower for a really nasty gas cloud.

GAS All this gas has to come out

somewhere and it’s no use trying to send it back up. Chemical analysis of a fart (yes, scientists have actually checked!) shows

that it consists of fi ve main gases: nitrogen (N2), oxygen (O2), carbon

dioxide (CO2), hydrogen (H2) and methane (CH4).You normally produce 500 to 2 500 ml

gas per day, depending on what you eat. And letting go – about 100 ml a shot, 15 times a day – is good. Dr Estelle Wilken, gastroenterologist at Tygerberg Hospital says: ‘Gas is a normal by-product of healthy digestion and passing a little bit every now and then during the day shows that your digestive system is functioning properly.’

Venting discreetly, though, is not so easy. The combination of gas

volume and tension down there generates a repertoire of quite surprising sounds. High-volume/high-tension combos make for Big Bangs, while passing small volumes through

a more relaxed rear is fairly uneventful. Smelly farts, on the

other hand, are a lot like dark matter: invisible, but easily detected because of

the effect on nearby bodies. Trace amounts of volatile sulphur compounds like hydrogen sulphide (H

2S) and methanethiols* are usually the culprits. In fact, hydrogen

sulphide concentrations as low as three parts per millilitre are enough to, uhm, blow your cover. Your best strategy? Squeeze, run or shoot a very disapproving look at your neighbour … ’cause there’s no escaping Mother Nature.

*Methanethiol (noun) A smelly, volatile sulphur compound naturally found in nuts, some cheeses and skunks’ spray.

FART FACT

A Frenchman, Joseph Pujol, could consciously relax his rear end. He drew large audiences at the Moulin Rouge by farting various tunes.

DID YOU KNOW?

Astronauts may experience increased gassiness because pressure conditions can make

CO2 diffuse from the blood into the gut.

GIANTS Uranus is a gassy place. But we’re not talking about the planet …

Body smart28.indd 1 3/25/09 11:32:13 AM

Brand ambass28.indd 1 3/24/09 1:53:23 PM

30

St Andrews School for Girls, G10Why I became a Brand Ambassador: to meet amazing individuals who have completely different ideas to me. Plans for 2009: I’m really looking forward to organising community events!Subjects: English; Mathematics; Afrikaans; Life Orientation; History; Geography; Physical Sciences.Extramural activities: Debating, dancing.

Interests: I’m an obsessive baker! Cookies, cupcakes, cheesecake, anything and everything! It’s great to love something that, even if you fail, there’s still cookie dough to enjoy!Dream job: environmental engineering and part-time nursery school teacher/baker/lawyer … okay, so I’m not very decisive.Role models: my friends and weird animals like sheep.Three words to describe myself: magic …

St Andrews Schools for Girls, G11Why I became a Brand Ambassador: I’m concerned about the future, and I’d like to make a difference in my community. Plans for 2009: I would like the youth of this country to become more aware of science and inventions.Subjects: Physical Sciences; Biology; Computers; Mathematics; English;

Afrikaans; Life Orientation.Extramural activities: tennis, hockey and water polo.Interests: like any other girl – fashion, friends and fun. Postmatric plans: sport, sport and more sport!Dream job: a neonatalist.Role model: my mom.Three words to describe myself: loving, ambitious, fun!

CHELSEA TUCKER

CLAIRE FOLEY

St George’s College, G11Why I became a Brand Ambassador: I wanted to become a part of a prestigious and funky programme.Plans for 2009: I want to inspire young people to reach for their dreams.Subjects: Physical Sciences; Biology; Accounting; Mathematics; English; Afrikaans.

Extramural activities: community service work.Interests: I enjoy contemporary dancing, hockey, listening to music and shopping.Dream job: becoming a surgeon.Role models: everyone important in my life – my parents, Grade One teacher, dance teacher …Three words to describe myself: cool-nerd, cute, outgoing.

THANDOKAZI NGCELWANE

Seagotle Secondary School, G11Why I became a Brand Ambassador: I would like to inspire learners in my area (and the country) about science, maths and technology.Plans for 2009: this year, I aim to complete my Science project, and I would like to see my Science group winning and participating in events.Subjects: Mathematics; Physical

Sciences; Life Sciences; Agricultural Sciences; English; Sepedi; Life Orientation.Extramural activity: soccer.Interests: I like to play soccer, watch TV and chill with friends.Postmatric plans: I want to study medicine.Role models: my sisters.Three words to describe myself: ambitious, diligent, smart.

THABANG MODIBA

PHO

TOG

RAPH

S: J

ACQ

UES

STA

ND

ER

Brand ambass28.indd 2 3/24/09 1:54:14 PM

31

Heather Secondary School, G10Why I became a Brand Ambassador: to motivate the youth of this country to get involved in subjects that are said to be boring. Physics and Maths are amazing subjects that are fun to learn.Plans for 2009: I hope to form a Science Club at school and get as many learners as possible involved in Science and Maths.

Subjects: English; Afrikaans; Life Sciences; Life Orientation; Accounting; Mathematics; Physical Sciences.Interests: singing, dancing (Bharatanatyam) and reading.Postmatric plans: to study medicine and publish my poetry.Dream job: cardiologist.Role models: my parents and Nelson Mandela.Me in three words: motivated, committed, encouraging.

TENIELLE SALIK

Taxila Combined School, G10Why I became a Brand Ambassador: to change young people’s minds about maths, science and invention.Plans for 2009: I’d like to help infl uence change in the Limpopo Province – one of the poorest provinces in the country.Subjects: Sepedi; English; Mathematics; Physical Sciences; Business Science; Accounting; Life Orientation.

Extramural activities: I’d love to take piano or guitar lessons.Interests: playing scrabble, word puzzles and sudoku, singing (though I’m really bad) and dancing (which I’m also not good at).Postmatric plans: either Actuarial Science or Business Science.Role model: Patrice Motsepe – he is a really terrifi c businessman.Three words to describe myself: outgoing, competitive, selfi sh (when it comes to schoolwork).

MMABATHO MOLOISI

Wynberg Girls’ High, G10Why I became a Brand Ambassador: I thought it would be a great way to learn from many different people.Plans for 2009: I want to learn and teach, and inspire young people to take an interest in science and technology.Subjects: English; Afrikaans; History; Life Sciences; Physical Sciences; Mathematics; Life Orientation.

Extramural activities: cricket, drama, badminton and Afritwin (<www.afritwin.net>).Interests: reading, writing and singing.Dream job: architecture, mechatronics, structural engineering or being a recording artist.Role model: I have many … Three words to describe myself: funny, wacky, innovative.

AMEERA CONRAD

BRAND AMBASSADORS

St Alban’s College, G10Why I became a Brand Ambassador: to lead and inspire the youth who will lead the country in a few years. Plans for 2009: I want to have a great project and a successful year, inspiring and leading people in the right direction.Subjects: Afrikaans; English; Mathematics; Physical Science; Biology; Information Applied Mathematics;

Technology; Accounting; Life Orientation.Extramural activities: acting, rock climbing, nature, library club.Interests: reading, outdoor activities, PS3, writing screenplays.Postmatric plans: study engineering or something in entertainmentDream job: nanotech robotics or cinematography. Role models: my dad and Lance Armstrong.Three words to describe myself: wacky, positive, fun.

REGHARDT PRETORIUS

Brand ambass28.indd 3 3/24/09 1:55:45 PM

32

St Andrews School for Girls, G11Why I became a Brand Ambassador: I want to make a difference in other people’s lives and I felt that this was a good place to start.Plans for 2009: I would like to increase the awareness of HIP2B2 in the country and encourage education in a fun way.Subjects: Mathematics; Physical Sciences; Biology; Information

Technology; Life Orientation; English; Afrikaans.Extramural activities: swimming, hockey and music.Interests: photography and swimming lessons.Role models: I am inspired by people who try to make others’ lives easier, and people who are motivated, driven and brave enough to dream big.Me in three words: motivated, hard-working and caring.

Waterstone College, G9Why I became a Brand Ambassador: I applied to be a Brand Ambassador because I wanted to gain experience and exposure. I will also have the opportunity to learn a lot this year with HIP2B2.Plans for 2009: this year, I would like to publish a book.Subjects: I haven’t chosen my

subjects yet, but so far, I plan on taking Accounting, History and Business Studies.Extramural activities: I enjoy playing tennis and debating.Interests: public speaking.Dream job: President. Role model: my father – he is a very hard worker.Three words to describe myself: awesome, quick and legendary.

JANSIE SMART

FUAAD COOVADIA

Kuils River Technical School, G11Why I became a Brand Ambassador: I have the potential and zeal for science and technology.Plans for 2009: I want to encourage every boy and girl to bring out their potential, and show them how interesting science and technology can be.Subjects: English; Afrikaans; Life Orientation; Information Technology;

Electrical Engineering; Physical Sciences; Mathematics.Extramural activities: I attend extra Maths classes in the evenings.Interests: I love reading and taking things apart. Dream job: to become the world’s best digital forensic expert.Role model: Albert Einstein.Three words to describe myself: ambitious, vibrant, smart.

TIMOTHY PIENAAR

Marist Brothers Linmeyer College, G11Why I became a Brand Ambassador: I felt that it was an amazing opportunity to make a difference.Plans for 2009: this year, I would like to break the stereotype that goes with being ‘clever’.Subjects: Biology; Physical Sciences; Design; Computers; Mathematics; Applied Mathematics; English; Afrikaans.

Extramural activities: dancing, public speaking and poetry.Interests: cars, dancing, music, fashion (shopping), biking.Postmatric plans: I would like to design cars (become an automotive designer).Dream job: to be a supermodel!Role model: Charlize Theron. Three words to describe myself: perfectionist, caring, funny.

GIA IRELAND

Brand ambass28.indd 4 3/25/09 10:05:27 AM

33

Potchefstroom High School for Girls, G9Why I became a Brand Ambassador: it will give me the chance to express my leadership abilities and provide me with opportunities to expand my project.Plans for 2009: I want to inspire and motivate the youth to get involved with the community. I also want them to realise how important STeM subjects are and how these subjects can benefi t them.

Subjects: Accounting; Business Studies; Consumer Studies.Extramural activities: tennis, debating, community work.Interests: reading, politics, chess and helping the less fortunate.Postmatric plans: I’d like to be an investment banker.Dream job: astronaut. Role models: Sol Kerzner and Sir Richard Branson.Me in three words: ambitious, outgoing, outspoken.

Merensky High School, G10Why I became a Brand Ambassador: to inspire the youth of South Africa in different ways – like protecting nature for future generations.Plans for 2009: I want to encourage the youth of this country to save nature. If we stand together, we can make a difference.Subjects: Biology; Computer Application Technology ; Agricultural Sciences;

Physical Sciences.Extramural activities: ballet, drama and maths.Interests: drama, ballet, debating, photography, reading, talking to children, writing, catching butterfl ies and insects.Dream job: entymology, having a nature show, editing a magazine. Role model: my grandpa, Pieter van Niekerk.Me in three words: passionate, hard-working, adventurous.

Marais Viljoen High School, G12Why I became a Brand Ambassador: to inspire learners and get the chance to develop interactive software for people with special needs. Plans for 2009: I aim to promote science and maths to the youth of South Africa.Subjects: Afrikaans; English; Mathematics; Physical Sciences; Life Orientation; Accounting; Information

Technology, Computer Application Technology (CAT).Extramural activities: revue and debating.Interests: computers, chemistry and the human neurosystem.Dream job: being a world-famous neurologist or neurosurgeon. Role models: God inspires me, but I’d like to be as successful as Richard Branson.Three words to describe myself: extrovert, caring, people-loving.

CHANTEL SCHOEMAN SINENHLANHLA KHOZA

JUAN MENTZ

BRAND AMBASSADORS

15 + 11 = 26 BRAND AMBASSADORS FOR 2009Just because there are 15 new guys, that doesn’t mean you can forget about your 2008 Ambassadors. While they’ve survived their fi rst year in the spotlight, their work is far from over. Watch this space for more news about all 26 Brand Ambassadors.

Brand ambass28.indd 5 3/24/09 1:57:20 PM

34

SCI DIY

YOU’LL NEED • 300 g cornfl our (Maizena)• 250 ml water• a medium-sized metal bowl or pot• a spoon• a hammer• food colouring (optional)

WHAT TO DO 1 Mix the cornfl our and water together

until it gets too hard to move the spoon.2 Stop stirring and tilt the bowl or pot.3 Stir again vigorously.4 Add food colouring for decoration.5 Run your hands through the mixture, play

with it, hit it with a hammer. Have fun!

WHAT HAPPENS When you stop stirring and tilt the bowl, the sludgy mixture becomes fl uid again.

MAKE A SOLID LIQUIDBRAINY BAKING:

Stir it, and it thickens immediately. Basically, if you leave it alone it’s a liquid, but when you run your hands through it, it becomes a solid – you can even roll it into a putty-like ball. Stop rolling, and it turns back into a liquid (so be careful, or you’ll end up a bit of a mess). Hit it with the hammer just right and you can even shatter it! Weird stuff.

WHAT’S THE DEAL? You’ve just created a dilatant material, also called a shear-thickening fl uid (STF). In these materials, viscosity (resistance to fl ow) increases as the force on them is increased. In other words, the harder you

hit them or the more pressure you apply, the more solid (or resistant to deformation,

to use the technical jargon) they become. (Contrast this

to water, which has a consistent, fairly

low viscosity.) Under normal

conditions, the long starch molecules in the mixture are

loosely arranged, but the shock of

impact or pressure alters their alignment, locking

them in place. In the absence of stress, the material relaxes again – kind of like how you ooze back onto your couch after reaching for the potato chips.

MORE CORNY FUN

Had enough of your solid liquid? Just heat it

in a saucepan and add a bit more water and it transforms

into a thixotropic liquid, which gets more runny under pressure.

Tomato sauce is another example of a thixotropic

liquid.

BY N

ICKL

AUS

KRU

GER

• PH

OTO

GRA

PHS:

DEN

VER

HEN

DRI

CKS

Experiment28.indd 1 3/24/09 2:00:12 PM

ONE GIANT

In 1968, Dick Fosbury decided that instead of clearing the high-jump crossbar legs fi rst, he’d twist himself 180 degrees and ‘fl op’ over backwards. Many people laughed, but boy, did he show them – he added over fi ve centimetres to the world record, and the ‘Fosbury Flop’ became the next big thing in high jumping.

So how does it work? During the curved run-up, the jumper leans away from the poles, creating a centrifugal force that pulls him into a vertical position for the jump. The athlete overcomes gravity by pushing hard against the fl oor as he jumps. The tendons in his foot store kinetic energy from the push downward and use it to push the body back upwards. It works like a spring or a pogo stick.

High jumpers mainly use their gluteals (bum muscles), hamstrings (back of the legs), quadriceps (thighs) and gastrocnemius muscles (calves), as well as the muscles in their feet and the Achilles tendons.

PUTTING THE POLE INTO POLE VAULTING

WHAT A FLOP!

Energy is the big word in pole vaulting, and an athlete uses two kinds: potential energy, which is waiting to be converted into power – like the food in your stomach or the petrol in your car; and kinetic energy, which is created by movement. The more an object weighs and the faster it’s moving, the more kinetic energy it has. A pole-vaulter creates kinetic energy in his run-up to the bar. As he plants the pole into the ground, the pole sucks in that kinetic energy and stores it as potential energy, like a coiled spring.

A good pole is essential. Today, they’re made of carbon-fi bre composite, which is much lighter than the original aluminium type, so the jumper can move faster in the run-up and lose less kinetic energy to the ground on impact.

Muscle length also plays an important role. High jumpers are usually tall and thin, to gain as much height as possible. Pole-vaulters tend to be heavier and stronger, so they can run faster towards the bar and transfer more energy into the pole.

sport science28.indd 2 3/24/09 2:01:18 PM

SPORTS SCIENCE

37

We fi nd out what gives professional jumping athletes a spring in their step.

BY J

ACQ

UI L

UN

D;

PHO

TOG

RAPH

S: G

ALL

O/G

ETTY

IMA

GES

.CO

M, i

STO

CK P

HO

TOS

Ice skating is a graceful sport. But consider how tricky it is to glide into a triple-axel jump (where the skater spins three times in the air) and then land without losing your balance and coming down splat on the cold, hard ice.

Projectile motion plays a big role here. A projectile is a moving object that’s acted upon by only one force: in this case, big old Mr G. Jumping is a constant fi ght against gravity, and the height and distance of a skater’s jump is greatly infl uenced by take-off velocity (speed).

A skater has both vertical and horizontal velocity. Vertical velocity is the up and down of the jump, while horizontal velocity is the movement parallel to the ground. These work together so that the skater goes up and forward enough to spin many times before landing.

THE SPINNING AXEL

JUMPING ON THE MOONWe can jump much higher on the moon than on Earth, thanks to the moon’s weaker gravitational force. ‘A jumper has to generate enough power to overcome gravity,’ says Professor Mike Lambert at the MRC/UCT Research Unit for Exercise and Sports Science. ‘On the moon, gravity is about one-sixth that of gravity on Earth. So if you produce the same power that you’d use to jump one metre on Earth, you’ll end up jumping six metres on the moon.’ Olympics on the moon would be fun, but pole vaulters would have to be careful – or they may go into orbit.

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN JUMP?

To see champion high jumper, Javier Sotomayor, in action, click to <www.tinyurl.com/hijump>.

sport science28.indd 3 3/25/09 11:35:22 AM

BY P

AUL

CART

ER •

PHO

TOG

RAPH

S: G

ALL

O/G

ETTY

IMA

GES

.CO

M, i

STO

CK P

HO

TOS,

38

SMART MATHS

SHAPES IN SPACE It’s hip to be square, but not if you’re a planet.

Interesting shapes also exist closer to home. In fact, our home is an interesting shape. We often think of Earth as a sphere, but in fact it’s an oblate spheroid – a slightly fl attened sphere, like a soccer ball when you sit on it.

And here’s where things get interesting. If you cut the Earth in two, the circumference of each cross-section would be an ellipse! The Earth’s radius is 6 378 km at the equator and 6 356 km at each pole. This difference is caused by the rotation of the Earth, which makes it ‘bulge’ around the equator. Many other objects in space are oblate spheroids, including our Sun.

So keep an eye out for ellipses in the shapes around you – they’re more common than you think. And, thanks to Kepler, we have the maths we need to describe them!

SUM IT UP

We can measure the ‘fl attening’ of an oblate spheroid using the formula:

fl attening = equator radius – polar radius equator radius

HOW TO DRAW AN ELLIPSE

1 Place a piece of paper over a sheet of thick card.

2 Push two pins through the paper into the card. Each pin will be a focus of your ellipse.

3 Tie the ends of a piece of string together and loop this around the pins.

4 Use a pencil to pull the loop tight and then outline a shape around the pins.

5 The shape you draw is an ellipse. You can change its dimensions by moving the pins or adjusting the size of the loop of string.

The universe may be mostly empty, but it also contains some amazing shapes. Take the ellipse, for example, a two-dimensional structure commonly known as an ‘oval’. In the 17th century, German scientist Johannes Kepler published three laws of planetary motion. The fi rst states:

‘The orbit of every planet is an ellipse with the Sun at the focus.’

So what is the ‘focus’ of an ellipse? Draw your own to fi nd out.

So for Earth: fl attening = 6 378 – 6 356 6 378 = 0,0034

Using this information, see if you can answer the following questions.

1 What is the difference between Earth’s circumference around its poles and around the equator?

2 Calculate the fl attening of Saturn, if it has an equator radius of 60 268 km and a polar radius of 54 364 km?

ANSWERS

1 C = 2πr = 2 × π × 6 378 = 40 074 kmC = 2πr = 2 × π × 6 356 = 39 936 kmDifference = 40 074 – 39 936 = 138 km

2 fl attening = 60 268 – 54 364 60 268 = 0,098

Smart Maths sponsored by

smart maths28.indd 1 3/25/09 11:36:33 AM

INTELLIGENT ENTERTAINMENT

40BY

ERI

N D

RAYT

ON

• PH

OTO

GRA

PH: i

STO

CK P

HO

TOS

B2 DIARY • April Fools’ Day 01/04 • Easter weekend 10–13/04 • Freedom Day 27/04

BE THERE –

EASTER EXPO The Johannesburg Easter Festival promises a

digital lifestyle expo with loads of gadgets, a sports expo, a kids’

carnival and a tourism display that’ll show you the world, no planes

required. • When? 3 to 13 April. • <www.joburgeasterfestival.co.za>

GOTTA RUN! Heading into its 40th year, the Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon invites thousands of running enthusiasts to make their way along the scenic 56 km route around the Cape Peninsula. • When? 11 April. • <www.twooceansmarathon.org.za>

TEACHER’S PET You either love them or loathe them, but everybody has one special teacher who deserves recognition. Nominate yours for the MTN Sciencentre Best Teacher Award and you could win a trip to the Sciencentre for you and your class. • When? Nominate by 30 April. • <www.mtnsciencentre.org.za>

SCIENCE ON SCREEN Craving a regular fi x of

science and technology-related news, gadgets and info?

Tune in to SABC 2 every week for the HIP2B2 TV show.

• When? Mondays at 16:30 • <www.hip2b2.com>

IS IT A BIRD? The Wesbank Rand Airshow is set to fi ll the

skies above Johannesburg’s Rand Airport this May. Boasting food,

a fl eamarket and some superb fl ying stunts, it’s one show you

don’t want to miss. • When? 17 May. • <www.randairport.co.za>

pp opener28.indd 1 3/25/09 11:37:54 AM

B2 tip • sat on gum? Freeze the dirty skirt for six hours, then chip the chappie off.

MUSIC Jeremy de Tolly, The Dirty Skirts singer, reviews two bands he’ll meet on the Zero Fest stage.

41

BY N

IKKI

BEN

ATA

R • P

HO

TOG

RAPH

S:U

NIV

ERSA

L M

USI

C, S

ON

Y M

USI

C, C

AN

DIC

E H

EYN

S

I enjoyed the album thoroughly. Liam [Gallaghar] has a great voice, the melodies are beautiful and the chord shapes and songwriting are

exceptional. Tonally, you can hear Liam’s a Lennon fan. My best song is ‘The Shock Of The Lightening’, and my only reservation is the rather lacklustre instrumentation, apart from the drummer.

JEREMY REVIEWS . . .

OASIS: Dig Out Your Soul

Though I have a lot of respect for this band, I wasn’t blown away by this album. ‘Chasing Cars’, off the previous album, was a monstrously huge hit,

but I didn’t hear anything like that here. The songs I like most are ‘The Golden Floor’ and ‘Please Just Take These Photos From My Hands’ – they’re slightly more experimental than the rest of the album.

SNOW PATROL: A Hundred Million Suns

Like this? Try Coldplay and, locally, aKing.

Like this? Try Razorlight and The Parlotones.

ON SONGS, SMS-SPEAK

AND SAVING PLANET EARTH

Daddy Don’t Disco is the name of our album, but it started as the name of one of the tracks. It’s a song about the Earth and the title’s a subtle reference to our male-dominated world. We carry on living – and plundering this rather gorgeous planet – because we don’t feel the destruction we’re doing. The best part about being a musician is being able to create things and put them out into the world. It’s vastly different from making songs in your bedroom and wondering, ‘What if?’My name wasn’t the most convenient one to have at school – it got turned into things like ‘de toilets’, which got boring, but that’s school for you! If I could visit another planet, I’d choose Venus. She’s the brightest star and it excites me to think that there

are light beams zooting all the way from the sun, travelling across space, bouncing off the surface of Venus and then coming all the way to my eyeball in a long, uninterrupted stream.I have an Economics degree from UCT. It helped me to get by in the musically lean times, but I’m very happy to be doing what I do now.I really like good spelling and I don’t shorten words in SMSes. I like seeing the full words – they look pretty. ‘Cld’ instead of ‘could’ looks ugly. The three words that best describe me are enjoying, grateful and normal.

TICKETS TO ZERO FEST!

Want to see Oasis, Snow Patrol and The Dirty Skirts at the Coca-Cola Zero Fest? To win two Golden Circle tickets, email the word ‘Z-Fest’, and your name, school and grade to <win@hip2b2.com>.

Listen to The Dirty Skirts’ title track, ‘Daddy Don’t Disco’ at <www.hip2b2.co.za>.

pp music28.indd 1 3/26/09 9:44:03 AM

MOVIES Simulating space:

42 B2 fact • for a funny take on space, don’t miss monsters and aliens, starting 03/04.BY

NIC

KLAU

S KR

UG

ER •

PHO

TOG

RAPH

S: ©

INPR

A/R

EX

You can’t shoot a blockbuster movie in space. But somehow, many popular fi lms have been set there. So, if producers can’t use the real locations, how do they fake the experience?

LOW GRAVITY LIFE Many movies feature visits to Mars or the moon. But Mars has only one-third of Earth’s gravity and the moon has half of that. Actors have to learn to move slowly and to do the space bounce that astronauts do. For example, the actors in Mission to Mars had an astronaut coach to explain what it’s like. But even that’s not enough.

One solution is to put actors on wires that can pull them up and make their jumps really high. Another solution is to shoot scenes underwater, where buoyancy can counteract gravity.

The better – but rather more expensive – way is to take a ride in a Vomit Comet. These are planes designed to simulate

How do fi lmmakers fake it?

zero gravity conditions for brief periods and they are used to help train astronauts.

The plane fl ies in a long parabolic arc, climbing up and then falling into a powered dive, shooting groundwards at a speed close to that of gravitational acceleration. Depending on the speed of the fall, the plane can simulate a range of low-gravity conditions for several seconds or minutes.

SPACE STATION SIMULATION Movies like Armageddon and Apollo 13 involve a stopover at a space station or a space-shuttle journey.

The simple way to simulate zero gravity in these scenes is to attach actors and objects to wires and coordinate their movements so they look realistic. In zero-gravity conditions, objects don’t just stop moving, so if Tom Hanks pushes off a wall, for example, he should keep going until something stops him.

However, the best (but again more diffi cult) way is to invite the whole team aboard a Vomit Comet, but one that’s capable of falling at the same rate of acceleration as gravity. This gives 25 to 90 seconds of weightlessness – enough to shoot part of a scene – before the plane pulls up and saves the A-list actors from a tragic (but spectacular) end.

GO ZERO-G

If you have a few thousand bucks lying around, you too can experience zero gravity. Click to <www.gozerog.com> for more info.

LOONY CONSPIRACIES?

There are those who believe that Apollo 11’s moon landing was a hoax, fi lmed right here on Earth. Most scientists and historians disagree, though. What do you think? Write to <talk2us@hip2b2.com> and you could win a Bass on Tap!

pp movies28.indd 1 3/24/09 2:09:05 PM

GAMES Ready for an out-of-this-world experience? Get spaced out with EVE Online.

43B2 game • think you know everything about space? click to «www.prongo.com/space».

BY A

MBR

E N

ICO

LSO

N •

PHO

TOG

RAPH

S: iS

TOCK

PH

OTO

S

You’re cruising in your Minmatur frigate ship, having just completed a profi table transaction with a Jove Empire Corporation. All is well in outer space – if you’re playing EVE Online, that is. Set 21 000 years in the future, EVE Online is a virtual world fi lled with asteroids and intergalactic pirates. It’s also one of the most successful Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) ever made.

WHAT IS AN MMORPG? MMORPGs are online computer games in which a large number of players interact in a virtual world. They are ‘persistent world’ games, meaning that the virtual world

continues to exist and evolve even when you’re away. Many MMORPGs have a fantasy theme and all of them allow you to choose your own character within the game.

ALL ABOUT EVE EVE Online takes place in outer

space. As a player, you can choose your race, career and skills. After that, you get to pilot your very own custom-designed spaceship between any of over 5 000 star systems. Along the way

you can add to your skills, trade with other players, join in combat

or pledge allegiance to a corporation (a large team that plays together).

THE MUDDY BEGINNING OF MMORPGS EVE Online was launched in 2003, but MMORPGs have been around a lot longer. One of the fi rst such games was called

BEST OF THE MMORPGS• World of Warcraft is the most famous

game in the genre for good reason. It boasts a player base of over 10 million people around the world, as well as a great interface and superb graphics.

• Many people fi rst learnt about MMORPGs through EverQuest. The latest instalment lives up to its reputation for exciting gameplay and great voice-overs.

• Always wanted to be an elf? Here’s your chance. Lord of the Rings Online brings the world of Tolkien’s Middle Earth to your screen, complete with your very own fellowship of the ring.

MUD (Multi-User Dungeon). With the slogan ‘You haven’t lived until you’ve died in MUD’, this text-only game was designed by two UK science students in 1978.

Today, games like Final Fantasy, EverQuest and World of Warcraft offer entire universes to explore, all in sumptuous 3-D colour. And if you’re thinking MMORPGs are just for geeks who stare at a screen all day and don’t have a life, think again. At last count, over 12 million people around the world were registered players of an MMORPG.

Some experts even believe that playing such games in moderation can make you smarter. According to Professor Paul Gee, computer games can help develop problem-solving skills. But all that’s just a bonus … mostly, they’re just heaps of fun to play.

LEARN MORE

To join the millions of MMORPG players, go to <www.eve-online.com> or <www.worldofwarcraft.com>.

pp games28.indd 1 3/24/09 2:11:27 PM

NADINE HUGO

Grade 9, Aurora Private School, Johannesburg

This book showed me that you can’t put a cap on creativity – I don’t know how the author came up with some of the concepts!

I enjoyed the part where after seven-and-a-half million years of thinking, Deep Thought revealed that the answer to life is 42.

If I were to create my own planet, it would be called Cybernay 8. Money wouldn’t exist, as everyone would be mature enough not to be greedy. There would be liquorice bushes, macaroni and cheese trees and of course, pizza vines. Endorphins would fl ow perpetually through your body, and poverty and disease wouldn’t exist.

If the Earth was going to be destroyed tomorrow, I’d buy a jet and fl y to Paris where I’d shop, shop, shop! I’d confess my love to the guy I have a crush on and then race with my family to a tropical island.

THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXYPublished by Pan Books 1979Arthur Dent wakes up with a hangover and a house that’s about to be demolished to make way for a traffi c bypass. And that’s just the beginning; the Vogons are also preparing to destroy planet Earth to make way for a hyperspace bypass! Luckily, Arthur’s friend, Ford Prefect, happens to be an alien from Betelgeuse. Together, they escape the end of the world and embark on a quest to fi nd the question to the ultimate answer …

Would you like to review a book for us? Write to HIP2B2 Book Reviews, PO Box 440, Green Point 8051 or email <talk2us@hip2b2.com>. Please include your name, contact details, address, school and grade.

44

BOOKS The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

JUAN MENTZ

Grade 12, Marais Viljoen High School, Johannesburg

This book was absolutely awesome. It has an exceptional style of writing and breathtaking descriptions, and I will defi nitely read the other books in the series.

My favourite character is Arthur Dent – he has a lot of courage, and as the story goes on, he becomes more of his own person and has more conviction about what he’s doing.

If I could design my own planet, I would want it to be exactly like planet Earth, but with peace and love all around. I would sign my name over the south pole.

If the Earth was going to be destroyed tomorrow, I’d make peace with everyone that I’ve fought with or hated throughout my life. I would spend my last day with my two best friends (they know who they are) and would treat it like any normal day. There would be no point in trying to stop the destruction, as it is not in my hands.

If you was to take a year off and go hitchhiking, I’d go to the United States of America – it’s a wonderful and extraordinary country with its own unique character.

IF YOU LIKED THIS, CHECK OUT ...

The Meaning of Liff (London: Pan Books 1983) – The English language is a wonderful thing, but sometimes it’s sadly lacking. For example, there’s no single word for that feeling you get on a Sunday when you just don’t know what do with yourself. Until this book came along, that is.

REVI

EWS

COM

PILE

D B

Y N

ICKL

AUS

KRU

GER

• CO

VER

IMA

GE

SUPP

LIED

BY

EXCL

USI

VE B

OO

KS

DON’T PANIC!

Life, the universe, and everything can be pretty confusing stuff. Luckily, there’s a guide to help you fi gure out what’s going on – click to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy website at <www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2>.

pp books28.indd 1 3/25/09 11:40:18 AM

BBRAIN BBUSTERS

BY E

LLEN

CA

MER

ON

-WIL

LIG

ER •

ILLU

STRA

TIO

NS:

AN

TON

PIE

TERS

EN46

ANSWERS

Fill the numbers one to seven in on the grid so every row and column contains each of the seven numbers. Four numbers have been provided to start you off, but otherwise your clues are the greater than and smaller than signs between the boxes. HINT The bottom right-hand corner is a good place to start!

GREATER THAN, SMALLER THAN CELESTIAL HARMONIES

Join the words in the box below with one of the heavenly bodies ‘sun’, ‘moon’ and ‘star’, to form a brand-new composite word. For example, using ‘sun’ and ‘bathe’, you can form ‘sunbathe’. Each of the heavenly bodies must be matched with four words, and each word in the box must be used once.

fi sh beam board dress struck light glasses rise burn stone dust down

• SUN • STAR • MOON

Unscramble the letters in the following sentence to fi nd the name of an important research facility that is still under construction … in space!‘It is not a planet, or as ancient!’ANSWER _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

PLANET TRIVIA

See if you can fi gure out what’s what in the solar system. Each planet may be used only once.

URANUS • MARS • NEPTUNE • SATURN • JUPITER • VENUS

1 Which is the only planet in the solar system that spins in a clockwise direction?

2 Which is the only planet in the solar system that is named after a Greek god (not a Roman god)?

3 Which planet has the most moons?4 Which is the fastest-rotating planet in the solar system

(that is, which has the shortest ‘day’)? 5 The planet most likely to receive human visitors in the

coming decades is … ?6 Which planet is currently the outermost planet in the

solar system, now that Pluto (yes, we know Pluto’s status as a planet is being challenged!) has moved closer to Earth and will remain there until later this year?

CRYPTIC CODE

2

5

3

2

PLANET TRIVIA

1 Venus. 2 Uranus. 3 Saturn. 4 Jupiter. 5 Mars. 6 Neptune.

CRYPTIC CODE

International Space Station

GREATER THAN, SMALLER THAN

CELESTIAL HARMONIES

SUN: sundress, sunburn, sunglasses, sundown.STAR: starfi sh, starstruck, stardust, starboard.MOON: moonlight, moonbeam, moonstone, moonrise.(You may have found other combinations, but just make sure that the words you created are real words!)

2 1 56374

7 5 23461

1 2 74653

3 6 45712

4 3 61527

5 4 17236

6 7 32145

brainbuster28.indd 1brainbuster28.indd 1 3/24/09 2:16:04 PM3/24/09 2:16:04 PM

SIMPLY SCIENCE

48BY

NIC

KLAU

S KR

UG

ER •

PHO

TOG

RAPH

S: iS

TOCK

PH

OTO

S

Look around for a minute. Does it feel as though the walls are closing in on you? Are you fi nding it hard to breathe? Is your heart pounding and your blood racing? Are you feeling the urge to scream?

Either you’ve been buried alive with a copy of HIP2B2 … or you’re suffering from claustrophobia.

WHAT IS CLAUSTROPHOBIA?

Claustrophobia, as you’ve probably heard, is the fear of confi ned places (from the Latin claustrum, for ‘shut-in place’).

palpitations and fl ashing vision. You might also become nauseous, start trembling and sweating, and even feel light-headed or dizzy. All this could make you panic, which could worsen the symptoms, which in turn heightens your panic, and so the cycle goes.

Symptoms usually last only until you escape the situation, but if a full-blown panic attack has already been triggered, they could last for several minutes – or even hours – after that. Plus, the symptoms themselves may interfere with your ability to get out of the style-cramping situation.

If you think you may be claustrophobic, you should probably avoid coffi ns, chimneys, mine shafts and prison. But don’t think you’re missing out – most nonclaustrophobes have other reasons for avoiding those places anyway …

WHAT REALLY HAPPENS WHEN YOU FEEL ...

SCARED OF OPEN SPACES?

There isn’t really a technical name for the opposite of claustrophobia. The closest thing is agoraphobia, the fear of strange places. Literally meaning ‘a fear of the marketplace’, some agoraphobia sufferers never even dare to leave home!

Keen to come out of the (not too cramped) closet and learn to live with claustrophobia? Click to <www.how todothings.com/health-and-fi tness/a4708-how-to-overcome-claustrophobia.html>.

Of course, nobody’s a huge fan of being trapped in a tiny place forever, but claustrophobes have an irrational fear of the restriction and/or suffocation that may come with being in a confi ned space. When they’re in small or locked rooms, tunnels, elevators, caves or even just crowded spaces, they may experience anxiety symptoms or full-blown panic attacks.

WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE?

If you’re a confi ned claustrophobe, you may experience tightness or pain in the chest, faintness, breathlessness, heart

simply science28.indd 1 3/24/09 2:17:49 PM