Hamster Power

Credit: Mylius at wikimedia

The story

Did you know:  The hamster species P.roborovskii have been said to run the equivalent of four human marathons per night?

This interesting but apparently useless fact came to my attention via Guardian blogger Grrl Scientist.  The blog post went on to explain the ways that all this kinetic energy could be harnessed to power electrical devices and I thought that it might be a fun way of teaching about energy transfer.

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Counting the animals

Credit: Shopping Diva at Flickr

The story

Today sees the start of London zoo’s annual stock-take where the numbers of each species are counted. This task maybe a quick job for the keepers of the big cats or large reptiles but spare a thought for the invertebrate keepers, counting every butterfly could keep them occupied for up to 4 weeks.

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Mega-crabs

 

This spooky video shows the giant red crab which have invaded Antarctic waters due to increased water temperatures: an example of how changes in non-living factors can alter the distribution of organisms.  This invasive species has the potential to destroy the delicately balanced food webs in this ecosystem.

Happy New Year!

image: K B @wikimedia commons

Snapshot Science’s new years resolutions:

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Snakes Alive!

The story

Remember, remember the 5th of November…

But does anyone remember the indoor fireworks that were so popular when I was growing up? More

Baby scientists

The story

I received an interesting letter in the post last week inviting my two year old daughter to take part in an international research study.

Feeling rather proud that scientists have realised her potential so early, I read on wondering what research they would exactly need her to carry out. More

Birthday blogging

Apologies in advance for the rather self-indulgent post but…

…Snapshot Science is now a year old!  I am actually rather proud of the fact that I have managed to keep on blogging for a whole year.  Since the birth of Snapshot Science I have posted 78 times and uploaded 41 teaching resources (see the menu at the top of the page to view them). More

World Health Day

The story

Today is World Health Day and the theme this year is antimicrobial resistance.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is introducing a six-point policy package to combat the spread of antimicrobial resistance in order to slow down not only its effect on the health of people today but to safeguard the effectiveness of antibiotics in the future. More

Easter eggs-periments

Image: Joy Stovall @wikipedia commons

Time for another seasonal post.  It’s nearly Easter so you may wish to have a go at some egg-based science experiments this week.

Teaching ideas

For an interesting spin on a lesson on chemical reactions you could try making a ‘naked egg’, that is an egg without its shell. More

Street lights to face cuts to working hours

The story

It seems nothing is safe from the wave of council cutbacks sweeping the nation as Pembrokeshire council has just announced that it is planning to start turning off 14 000 of its street lights in order to save money (and cut down on its carbon footprint). More

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