"The time to look is during the dark hours before dawn on Tuesday, August 12th," says Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center. "There should be plenty of meteors--perhaps one or two every minute."

Right: A Perseid meteor over Joshua Tree National Park in California, August 11, 2007. Credit: Joe Westerberg. [more]

The source of the shower is Comet Swift-Tuttle. Although the comet is far away, currently located beyond the orbit of Uranus, a trail of debris from the comet stretches all the way back to Earth. Crossing the trail in August, Earth will be pelted by specks of comet dust hitting the atmosphere at 132,000 mph. At that speed, even a flimsy speck of dust makes a vivid streak of light when it disintegrates--a meteor! Because, Swift-Tuttle's meteors streak out of the constellation Perseus, they are called "Perseids."

(Note: In the narrative that follows, all times are local. For instance, 9:00 pm means 9:00 pm in your time zone, where you live. )

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"Earthgrazers are long, slow and colorful; they are among the most beautiful of meteors," says Cooke. He cautions that an hour of watching may net only a few of these at most, but seeing even one can make the whole night worthwhile.

A warm summer night. Bright meteors skipping overhead. And the peak is yet to come. What could be better?

The answer lies halfway up the southern sky: Jupiter and the gibbous Moon converge on August 11th and 12th for a close encounter in the constellation Sagittarius: sky map. It's a grand sight visible even from light-polluted cities.

For a while the beautiful Moon will interfere with the Perseids, lunar glare wiping out all but the brightest meteors. Yin-yang. The situation reverses itself at 2 am on Tuesday morning, August 12th, when the Moon sets and leaves behind a dark sky for the Perseids. The shower will surge into the darkness, peppering the sky with dozens and perhaps hundreds of meteors until dawn.

Above: The eastern sky viewed during the hours before sunrise on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2008.

For maximum effect, "get away from city lights," Cooke advises. The brightest Perseids can be seen from cities, he allows, but the greater flurry of faint, delicate meteors is visible only from the countryside. (Scouts, this is a good time to go camping.)

The Perseids are coming. Enjoy the show!

The program itself is not yet available but you can test drive the free trial version and if you like it, pre-order the full blown version which is scheduled for a September release.

Spore Creature Creator requires at least the following:

FOR WINDOWS XP
 * 2.0 GHz P4 processor or equivalent
 * 512 MB RAM
 * A 128 MB Video Card, with support for Pixel Shader 2.0
 * The latest version of DirectX 9.0c
 * At least 190MB of hard drive space for installation, plus additional space for created creatures.

FOR WINDOWS VISTA
 * 2.0 GHz P4 processor or equivalent
 * 768 MB RAM
 * A 128 MB Video Card, with support for Pixel Shader 2.0 
 * At least 190MB of hard drive space for installation, plus additional space for created creatures.

FOR MAC OS X
 * Mac OS X 10.5.3 Leopard or higher
 * Intel Core Duo Processor
 * 1024 MB RAM
 * ATI X1600 or NVidia 7300 GT with 128 MB of Video RAM, or Intel Integrated GMA X3100
 * At least 260MB of hard drive space for installation, plus additional space for created creatures.

 This game will not run on PowerPC (G3/G4/G5) based Mac systems (PowerMac).

For computers using built-in graphics chipsets, the game
requires at least:
 * Intel Integrated Chipset, GMA 950 for Windows, GMA X3100 for Mac OS X
 * Dual 2.0GHz CPUs, or 1.7GHz Core 2 Duo, or equivalent.

Do you like movies? We are giving away a $20 Fandango Voucher.Send us an email telling us what movie you want to see next and the winner will have the code for the Fandango Voucher sent directly to them. The Fandango Voucher is worth $20 and there are no restrictions or expirations- it can be used for any purchase at www.fandango.com. Win a $20 Fandango Voucher

But even if you are not interested in going to see the film, the online games are good fun. There are three of them. The first is a Scavenger Hunt in which you are asked five questions such as what is the tallest building in France and in what country are the great pyramids located. For each question you answer correctly you get an item. This game makes good use of Google's Google Earth technology, with each correct answer taking you to that exact location.  Be careful however, you need not only to answer correctly but to make sure your spelling is correct as well.

The next two games are more the video game variety. In Free Fall you are plummating down a great hole where you must grab as many diamonds as you can while avoid big rocks. Rock Hop has you jumping from one floating rock to another while gathering diamonds. If you misjudge your jump, well let's just say that its a long way to the bottom. The games are simple to play but provide enough challenge to keep them interesting. You can check out the games by clicking on the image above. 

Cabbage Chemistry

• What you need 
• What to do 
• What's happening

Caution: This experiment requires the use of a knife, poisonous chemicals and hot water. Ask an adult to assist you. Always follow the safety advice on the products you are using.

What you need

To do this experiment you will need:

• fresh red cabbage
• a sharp knife
• a cutting board
• hot tap water
• seven clear plastic disposable cups
• seven plastic spoons
• a large plastic bottle
• a range of the household substances which may include:
  • strongly acidic. For example, powdered toilet cleaner.
  • acidic. For example, vinegar, lemon juice, white wine, lemonade or citric acid.
  • weakly acidic. For example, cream of tartar.
  • neutral. For example, pure water, shampoo or baby shampoo.
  • slightly basic. For example, bicarbonate of soda.
  • basic. For example, milk of magnesia, washing soda or floor cleaner.
  • strongly basic. For example, dishwasher liquid or powder.

What to do

1. Using a sharp knife and cutting board, finely slice three or four red cabbage leaves.
2. Place the cabbage leaves in the plastic bottle, half fill the bottle with hot water and screw the lid on tightly.
3. Shake the bottle for a few minutes until the water becomes a deep purple colour. Leave the solution to cool.
4. Strain the solution and add sufficient water to the solution to make about one litre.
5. In each of the cups, place a small amount of one of the above household substances in the following order: strongly acidic; acidic; slightly acidic; neutral; slightly basic; basic and strongly basic.
6. Now half fill each cup with the red cabbage water and stir the solution. If arranged in order, the jars should display a spectrum of colours from cherry red (strongly acidic), pink-red (acidic), lilac (slightly acidic), purple (neutral), blue (slightly basic), green (basic) and yellow (strongly basic).

What's happening

The things we eat and drink are all acidic, and the things we use for cleaning are basic. This is because basic substances taste unpleasant, but a cleaning agent usually needs to be basic to remove dirt and grease.

Substances that are acidic or basic make the eyes sting, so baby shampoo is made neutral.

Acids

Acids are a very common group of chemical compounds, many of which occur naturally. Acids can be strong or weak.

Citric acid, which occurs naturally in lemons, is a weak acid. Hydrochloric acid (used for soldering) and sulfuric acid (battery acid) are very strong acids.

Bases

Bases (often called alkalis) are another group of chemical compounds that have different chemical properties from acids. When bases and acids are added together, they will neutralise each other's properties.

We describe whether things are acidic, basic or neutral by using a scale called the pH scale. The pH scale ranges from zero to 14. A substance with a pH of:

• 0 is a very strong acid
• 3 - 5 is a weak acid 
• 7 is neutral 
• 8 - 9 is a weak base 
• 13 - 14 is a very strong base.

Pure water has a pH of seven and is regarded as neutral.

Acids and bases can be detected by a group of chemical compounds called acid-base indicators. One of the first known naturally occurring indicators was a type of lichen called litmus. (Lichens are plant-like growths that are often found on rocks and tree bark.) Litmus turns red in the presence of an acid or blue with a base.

Most indicators used today to detect acids and bases are man-made. However, many plant pigments, such as the red cabbage you used, contain chemicals that act as acid-base indicators.

From: CSIRO 

There are various modern versions. One is a Christmas Tree, another is The Magic Garden KIt where you arrange specially treated, precut paper pieces in the molded plastic tray, pour the kits 3 different, non toxic, liquids into the 3 separate groves of the tray. Before long a crystal mountain surrounded by crystal trees and flowers appears.  It is pretty cool and kids love it.

Of course buying a premade kit is fun and easy but not as much fun (or as scientific) as making your own.

Gather Your Materials

To grow your Magic Crystal Tree, you'll need:
- Mrs Stewart's Bluing
- Table salt
- Household Ammonia (the kind with no soap added)
- Cardboard (not corrugated)
- Bowel
- Water
- Measuring spoon
- Food Coloring (optional)

The bluing is the hardest item to find but can be found in the cleaning section of many grocery stores. You can find the ammonia close by.

The cardboard I used came as packing material from a new shirt, or the backing from a paper notepad. Cereal box cardboard might work, but it's thinner & has printing on one side...

Depending on the temperature & humidity of your location, the ammonia is optional, but speeds up the crystal growth -- the tree in this Instructable started "sprouting" in less than an hour. Without ammonia, it may take a couple of days to start.

Cardboard Shapes for the Crystals to Grow OnFor this Instructable, I made a tree formed out of two cardboard triangles, roughly 2" at the base and about 3.5" high. If you'd prefer some form of unspeakable tentacled beasty, send me a picture!

Cut a slot from the top to the middle in one piece, and from the bottom to the middle in the other. The slots allow the two pieces to be assembled into a 3D shape.

Make sure that whatever shape you create can stand up by itself.

If you like, you can add a little color to your shape by putting drops of food coloring on the edges. The food coloring will soak into the cardboard.

Adding the "Magic" SolutionThe "Magic" Solution -- Mix together:
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon bluing
- 1/2 tablespoon household ammonia

I put everything into a small bottle that could be shaken to mix the ingredients.

Again, the ammonia is optional, but I'd recommend it.

Find a place where you can watch your magic tree grow undisturbed for a few days.

Put the tree into the bowel and add the solution

First sign of growth showed up at around the one hour mark.

You can keep your crystal shape growing indefinately, by adding more water/salt solution to the bowl

What's Going On?

Organisms that seem to appear out of nowhere have taxed some of the finest minds in history.

Aristotle, for example, was troubled by what he thought was the spontaneous appearance of aphids on his plants, and it took years until people realised that maggots came from flies.

Now biologists have figured out how water fleas – unable to survive outside of water – are still able to disperse between ponds.

Pond-dwelling insects call backswimmers are the culprits, they say, giving the fleas' eggs a lift as they fly between ponds.

Frank Van de Meutter and colleagues of the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium put backswimmers (Notonecta) in a bucket of water with 1000 eggs of the Daphnia water flea.

Handy hairs

They allowed the backswimmers to take flight, caught them and examined them for the presence of Daphnia eggs.

Of 45 backswimmers caught in flight, 30 had eggs attached. The researchers found that the insects' hairy abdomens allowed the eggs to easily latch on, explaining how the Daphnia can hop from pond to pond.

"Even after the backswimmers were rather roughly caught with a bucket, Daphnia eggs remained attached to the body, especially on the hairy keel at the underside of the abdomen and on the haired parts of the legs," says Van de Meutter.

From: New Scientist 

Which brings us to today's post. Korean artist Yeondoo Jung, whose Wonderland series of photographs re-creates children’s drawings as high-concept, elaborately staged, sweetly surreal photo shoots. Jung collected more than 1,000 drawings from South Korean children between the ages of 5 and 7. He then winnowed those drawings down to a small selection of favorites, which he used to stage the large-scale shoots that burst with vivid colors and outlandish costumes (check out the broom-riding wizard in The Magician Turned the Wale Into a Flower). It’s like seeing the raw creative vision of a 7-year-old — but, thanks to the power of props, models, and professional photography, everything in the drawings becomes perfectly, charmingly clear. From Very Short List.

But pictures speak louder than words to mix my metaphors, so take a look at what we are talking about by clicking here: Wonderland.