You only need two ingredients to make this very cool stuff! Sand and waterproofing spary. Essentially, we ‘waterproof’ the sand with the same type of substance that we might use to waterproof a jacket or a tent. The sand becomes ‘hydrophobic’, or ‘water-hating’, and repels the water instead of mixing with it. You can make some very interesting underwater structures after creating waterproof sand. Make Waterproof sand...
You may have heard that oil and water don’t mix. But do you know why? It comes down to the differences in the molecules of oil and water. Water molecules are 'polar' and have a slight electrical charge. Oil molecules are ‘non-polar’ and do not have a charge. Polar and non-polar substances do not mix together. This activity uses this principle (and a bit of chemisty) to create a very groovy lava lamp!
Did you know that those big, black and white marine mammals we call ‘Killer Whales’ are not really whales but the largest members of the Dolphin family? Their scientific name is Orcinus Orca, which is why the other name used for them is ‘Orca’. As for the ‘killer’ part, although Orcas are apex predators (there is no animal that preys on them), they rarely attack humans. They do work together however, to hunt in packs to bring down animals such as whales and sharks.
Legendary Frenchman Jacques Cousteau crammed a lot of activity into his 87 years. He was a sailor in the French Navy, a record-setting free diver, co-inventor of the air regulator in scuba equipment, and even had brief stints as an international spy and an underwater archaeologist! However, it is his ground breaking and Oscar-winning underwater film making for which he is best known. In 1956 his documentary The Silent World was released. For the vast majority of audiences, this was their first glimpse of what the underwater world looked like, and many were enraptured with what they saw. The demand for [...]
This week’s question is a simple one, although it might require a little bit of research. What percentage of the Earth’s surface is covered by water? Send us your answer (to the nearest whole number) to be in the running for a fab prize pack from Mad About Science, including: a salt water fuel cell car or a salt water spider bot (please tell us which one you’d like in your entry), a pack of growing beads - just add water and watch them grow, and a pack of super water absorber - otherwise known as ‘nappy powder’. Email entries to competitions@madaboutscience.com.au, or send them via snail mail to Competitions, Mad [...]
‘If we can have rubbish bins on land, why not have them in the ocean?’ This was the question that Australian surfers and ocean lovers Andrew Turton and Pete Ceglinksi asked themselves a few years ago. So passionate about their idea, the forward-thinking surfers quit their jobs and developed the ‘Seabin’. The Seabin looks a lot like a ‘land’ bin, but it is anchored in a port, marina, river, lake or any other calm water location. The opening of the Seabin sits level with the top of the water. A pump inside sucks water down into the bin, where a [...]
The clear blue waters of the North Pacific Ocean are being choked by a giant floating island of rubbish. The shocking garbage dump dubbed the 'Great Pacific Garbage Patch' is located between the continents of North America and Asia, and is yet another piece of bad news in the fight against plastic pollution in our oceans. It is estimated to cover an area of more than 1 million square kilometres, that's an area as big as South Australia! It takes between 1 and 6 years for a piece of rubbish to be carried by ocean currents from the coast of North America or [...]
