Dr. How's Science Wows

How to make lavender ice cream

August 18, 2015April 18, 2016nao

It is lavender season again. I just adore the plant, there are endless things that you can do with it, it smells divine, looks great AND it keeps the bees happy!

I like to harvest some of our lavender each year and make something with it, so this year we have made lavender ice cream. It tastes amazing…. here is what we did;

We used…

Four eggs yolks (we made meringues with the leftover whites!)

1 tablespoon of fresh lavender buds

140 g of sugar

250 ml milk

250 ml cream (one standard carton)

Red and blue food colouring (optional)

And then…

1. Heat the milk in a saucepan over a low heat and add the lavender (we used one tablespoon, but for a stronger flavour this can be increased, up to three tablespoons, if you really like a strong lavender taste).

2. Leave the lavender in the warming milk for five to ten minutes.

3. Add the sugar to the warm milk and stir until completely dissolved.

4. Crack the eggs, separate and place the four yolks in a bowl.

5. Whisk the egg yolks thoroughly with a fork.

6. Add the warmed milk to the egg yolks, one tablespoon at a time initially, and stirring constantly. You want to make sure that the milk is not too hot and that the eggs don’t scramble! You can strain the flowers from the milk before adding to the egg yolks but we left them in until the very end.

7. Once about half of the milk has been added, the rest of the milk can be poured in, mixing all the time.

8. Return the mixture to the saucepan and keep stirring, over a low heat, until the mixture thickens.

9. Turn off the heat and strain into a clean, dry bowl, to remove the lavender flowers.

10. Add the cream to the bowl, stirring continuously.

11. If you want to make your ice cream more “lavender” coloured then mix in some red and blue food colouring until you get the desired colour. We used about two drops of red to every one drop of blue.

12. And then it is time to turn it into ice cream, either using an ice cream machine or, as we did, place it in a shallow plastic container, add a lid and freeze; check on it every hour and stir up gently with a fork to mix and break up the crystals, until you are happy with the texture of your ice cream.

Next time we make it we are thinking of trying this (to combine science and ice cream making… how cool is that?!).

Enjoy!

If you want to see what else we have made with lavender check out this post, or this photo tutorial on how to make a lavender wand!

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And a little something else … The Boot’s Maternity and Infant Parenting Blog Awards 2015 are still open for voting. If you like what I do here and have a minute to spare I’d really appreciate your vote; You just need to click the image below and scroll down to the “Best Parenting Blog” section under “For the Family”; Many thanks!

Mystery Creature of the week – it is a mammal with an unusual ability

August 17, 2015April 18, 2016nao

This week’s Mystery Creature is a very unusual mammal… can you name it?

Image credit: Lip Kee Yap.

If you know what it is let me know here or on social media. If you don’t why not do a bit of research or, better yet, entertain the kids for an hour by setting them the challenge!

Remember to check back at the end of the week to find out all about this very interesting creature.

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Mystery Creature revealed – Guianan Cock-of-the-rock (Rupicola rupicola)

August 16, 2015August 16, 2015nao

How did you do with this week’s Mystery Creature? A pretty extravagant bird don’t you think? It was the Guianan cock of the rock (Rupicola rupicola), a native South American passerine.

Guianan Cock-of-the-rock; Image credit: Allan Hopkins

Here are ten interesting facts about this beautiful bird:

The colours are amazing, aren’t they? But as is common in the world of birds, these bright colours are just for the men (sexual dimorphism). The females are adorned with more muted colours and lack the large orange plumage of the lower back. However they do have the very distinctive, fan-like crest that makes these birds so easy to identify.

Not surprisingly… the males are brightly coloured to attract a mate. They participate in a Lek, and gather with many other males in a display of feather pluming and vocal calling in order to be noticed by a female.

Although they usually prefer the safety of the dense forest vegetation, for lekking, the males claim their space in an open area of the forest.

When the females pick their suitor they do so by pecking him on the back. Very romantic!

These are solitary birds, only coming together for breeding purposes. The female nests and rears the young hatchlings alone. They prefer high rocky terrain and caves for breeding, hence the name ‘cock of the rock’.

The female will build a saucer like nest out of mud, twigs and other forest foliage on the sheer face of a cliff, cave or bolder. This extreme nesting area helps protect the nest from predation. She lays two eggs.

Although these birds have a diet rich in fruit, they are also thought to occasionally supplement their diets with insects, small frogs and possibly small reptiles.

They themselves are preyed on primarily by Harpy Eagles, Hawk Eagles and Forest Falcons. Snakes and owls are also a common threat.

They make some very interesting sounds, from the crow, cat and chicken like mating calls of the males, to the unusual foraging sounds of both sexes that is apparently likened to ‘a rubber duck being strangled’.

The wings of the male produce a whistling sound in flight.

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The flying ant invasion

August 12, 2015August 12, 2015nao

The flying ant invasion of 2015 is upon us, at least in Dublin anyway. It seems they are everywhere and people are naturally a bit put out; but is there an advantage to all of this, and what exactly is the reason for this infestation?

Ants with wings… is this something new?

Not really. There is no one species of winged ants but many species will produce wings during a certain stage of the life cycle of the colony. As we all know, ants like to be busy so if all the chores are done, the larder is full, the young are being tended to and the queen is happy, well there is really only one job left to do…. procreate!

And it is a lot easier to get out there and find the right ant for you if you can grow a pair of wings for a while!

To put it a little more scientifically… in mature, thriving colonies, some eggs, treated under the right conditions, will produce winged ants, both male and female. The females are virgin queens with the potential to start a new colony of their own. The males, well, they have only one thing on their mind!

Carpenter_ant_drone_wiki — Image credit: Bruce Marlin;

Why so many?

The newly produced winged ants will remain in the colony until conditions are right for what is referred to as the Nuptial flight. These flights are very weather dependant, requiring warm temperatures with little chance of strong wind or rain. The ants will all leave the colony together in one coordinated flight. This is also synchronised with the flight of ants for neighbouring colonies.

The large numbers serve two purposes….

firstly, they increase the chances of a significant number of ants surviving predation and successfully mating and starting new colonies
secondly, where reproduction is concerned, it is always a good idea to widen the gene pool. The large swarms of flying ants from many different colonies allows cross breeding and the creation of a stronger genetic line.

What happens to the winged ants after the “deed is done”?

After mating both the male and female ants lose their wings.

The female will often mate with several males during the mating process but this will be the only time in her life that she will mate. She stores the male sperm in a pouch in her body called the spermatheca. After mating she will dig a nest to start her own colony… the sex on her offspring is decided by her. All fertilised eggs are female, all non fertilised eggs are male.

When she starts a colony she will produce only female ants, each of which will be infertile and wingless. The queen tends to the first set of eggs on her own but once the worker ants are reared they will tend to her every need and the needs of the colony.

The males? Well they actually die soon after mating… it is their sole purpose.. tough job but what a noble one!

And why is this of any interest to us?

I agree that it is not so pleasant having a face full of crawling ants every time you step out the door but if we look closely at these tiny creatures we have a lot to learn from them; from their engineering mastery to their incredible social networking, ants definitely deserve a second look.

From engineering to traffic control

Firstly, ants are known for their impressive architectural skills. In a very short space of time they can build incredible structures from just a pile of dirt. What is even more impressive is how they seem to work as a unified “machine”, without an apparent hierarchy of “foreman” and “worker”. We have much to learn by cracking to simple “rules” that they follow and we could apply this knowledge to such diverse areas as engineering, traffic control, cell biology and robotics.

Strengthening our social standing

Ants are incredibly social creatures. Without their social interaction, they face a much shorter life span and even seem to lose the ability to digest food. Working together they can achieve the unthinkable.

They are eusocial creatures, along with termites and some bees, wasps and aphids. A eusocial society usually expressed division of labour, an overlap of generations to help with care of the young and adults sharing living space. The advantages of such living arrangements include better protection (safety in numbers) and a more likely chance for a regular food supply. It can be argued that we humans are also eusocial creatures in a somewhat fragile existence and can better address any precarious imbalances with a greater understanding of how eusocial insects, such as the ant, sustain and strengthen their social system.

Learning how our brain works

Science shines a spotlight on the similarities between the communication within an ant colony and the workings of the human brain. It seems both operate very efficiently without any one direct control centre and, just like no two brains are exactly alike this is also true for each ant colony.

Maybe all this will show these tiny creatures in a new light and make their hair tangling flightless frustrating at this time of year.

Have you spotted them en mass in your area? Don’t despair, it doesn’t last long and, for the ant it is a life or death event, for us humans, it is a small inconvenience.

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And a little something else … I am delighted to see my blog listed among some favourite bloggers in the Boots Maternity and Infant Parenting Blog Awards 2015. If you like what I do here and have a minute to spare I’d really appreciate your vote; You just need to click the image below and scroll down to the “Best Parenting Blog” section under “For the Family”; Many thanks!

Mystery Creature of the week – an orange extravagance!

August 11, 2015August 16, 2015nao

This week I am returning to the somewhat neglected Mystery Creature series, this feathered one is very bright and… orange; Do you know what it is?

End of week update: Did you guess it? You can see what it was here and find out ten interesting facts about this beautiful bird.

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Volcanoes – a bit of science, facts and an experiment to try

August 4, 2015July 25, 2015nao

Who doesn’t love the volcano experiment? We will get to that in a minute, but before you go running for the vinegar and bread soda do you want to learn a little about them?

Firstly, what is a Volcano?

It is basically just a hole in the Earth’s crust. The word Volcano comes from Vulcan, the Roman God of Fire. Most volcanoes occur at weak spots in the Earth’s crust.

Scientists that study volcanoes are called Vulcanologists!

Scientists use a scale to measure the strength of volcanic eruption – it is called the Volcanic Explosive Index (VEI).

The VEI scale ranges from 0 to 8; volcanic eruptions of 8 are called super volcanoes.

photo credit: image49374 via photopin (license)

How about a bit of history?

Mount Vesuvius in Pompeii, Italy erupted in 79 AD killing all the inhabitants of the city. Everything was covered in a thick layer of ash preserving the scene as a snapshot in time.

The last super volcano to erupt was Toba on Summatra in Indonesia, 74,000 years ago. It spewed so much volcanic ash into the air that it blotted out the Sun, causing a volcanic winter that lasted nearly six years.

Krakatoa in Indonesia erupted in 1883 spewing hot ash more than 50km into the air. The force of the explosion was heard as far away as Australia and caused a tsunami.

Ever wonder what comes out of an erupting volcano?

When a volcano erupts it spews out hot liquid rock, dust, ash, rocks and poisonous gases. Magma is hot liquid rock contained under the Earth’s surface. When magma escapes from a volcano it is called lava.

Volcanic bombs are hot lumps of molten rock shot out of a volcano when it erupts. As they shoot into the air they
cool and fall to Earth as solid rock.

Did you know… the largest volcanic bombs recorded were from the eruption of Mount Asama in Japan and were
up to six metres in diameter?

How are volcanoes classifying?

Volcanoes can be classed as…

active (erupt regularly)
dormant (have erupted within recorded history but not of late)
extinct (have not erupted within recorded history)

They can also be defined by their shape:

shield volcanoes are dome shaped
cinder cone volcanoes have erupted from one single vent
strato or compsite volcanoes are tall with layers of magma and rock

What is Pumice?

Pumice is a type of volcanic rock, formed when frothy lava cools quickly? It is a very light rock that can float on water!

photo credit: Airfall pumice (~1065 A.D. eruption of Medicine Lake Volcano's Glass Mountain eruptive center, northern California, USA) via photopin (license) — Pumice; photo credit: Airfall pumice (~1065 A.D. eruption of Medicine Lake Volcano’s Glass Mountain eruptive center, northern California, USA) via photopin (license)

And the largest volcano is…?

The largest volcano on Earth is thought to be Tamu Massiff off the coast of Japan, and is completely contained under the Pacific Ocean.

The largest volcano in our solar system is Olympus Mons on Mars. It is slightly narrower than Tamu Massiff but has a larger overall mass.

Olympus Mons - image source NASA — Olympus Mons – image source NASA

Finally to the experiment – how to make your own volcano:

You will need: an empty jar, vinegar, bread soda, water, washing up liquid, food colouring and modelling clay

What to do:

You will use the jar as the volcano. If you want to make it look more realistic you can cover it in modelling clay, shaping it like a volcano and let this dry overnight.

To make the volcano erupt, first add some water into the jar (about one third full). Add a big squirt of washing up liquid and a few drops of red food colouring.

Add one large tablespoon of bread soda and stir well. Place the volcano in a clear plastic basin or deep tray.

Finally add vinegar, filling to near the top of the jar. Stand back and watch the fun!

To get the volcano going again just add more vinegar and bread soda!

What is happening?

The vinegar and bread soda react to form carbon dioxide gas. This gas gets trapped in bubbles formed by the washing up liquid making the lava appear thick and foamy.

Netflix Stream Team – some hidden gems

July 31, 2015July 25, 2015nao

Netflix is great is you want a series you can get your teeth stuck into or mainstream movies to sit back and enjoy but I always find it extra special when we stumble across some hidden gems. I thought you might be interested in hearing about some of these “off the beaten track” finds.

Here are our top three recent finds…

Safety not guaranteed:

A quirky delight of off-beat humour and fantastic acting; A movie about time travel, or is it? You’ll just have to watch it right to the end!

Winter bones:

A movie on the dark side but with some great characters. A very young Jennifer Lawrence plays the lead role and leaves is in no doubt as to why she became a household name.

On the way to school

This is a very touching documentary that shows how some societies see education as the gem it really can be and the obstacles that some children will go to, to receive it. Although it was a stark reminder of how good we have it I found the documentary had an overall feel good factor, due to the happiness of the children featured and their ability to see the positive in their situations.

Have you any hidden gems to share?

Disclosure: As a member of the Netflix Stream Team I have received a years subscription to Netflix, free of charge, and an Apple TV, for streaming purposes. As part of Netflix Stream Team I will be posting monthly updates on what we are watching and what is on offer. All opinions expressed will be my own.

Why does mint make your mouth feel cold?

July 28, 2015July 25, 2015nao

We can understand why ice cream makes us cold or why chewing on ice can give our mouth a chilly zing but why mint? The answer lies in a bit of mimicry.

Nerves rely on electrical pulses to send message to and from the brain. It is definitely in our best interests to know when something is hot or cold so we have receptors all over our bodies that can send nerve signals to the brain when triggered by temperature changes. The mouth of course has many, one receptor protein that detects cold is called TRPM8 (for those of you who really want to know that stands for transient receptor potential cation channel, subfamily M, member 8).

When we place something cold in our mouth the drop in temperature triggers a change in the TRPM8 receptor, effectively switching it from a closed to an open state so that it allows certain ions (calcium and sodium) to flow through. This flow of ions generates the electric current that triggers the nerve signal sent to the brain, and we register the sensation of cold.

mints — photo credit: sweet via photopin (license)

So what has mint got to do with all of this? Well, it seems that a change in temperature is not the only thing that triggers the TRPM8 receptor. Other natural compounds such as menthol, eucalyptus and icilin can trigger it too. Menthol is a waxy compound present in most mints and mint oils, such as peppermint, and is responsible for the minty taste and smell. Methol is known to mimic the effect of a temperature drop on the TRPM8 receptor, when it bind to the receptor it causes its ion channel to open, just as a temperature change does. Although this mechanism is well recorded, the reason behind it is still unclear.

Of course we don’t have to eat mint to get the cold effect; TRPM8 receptors are found in many places in the body and particularly in our skin, rubbing menthol oil on the skin can give the same effect as ice… causing local desensitization and numbing and even reducing swelling.

New chicks and a new look

July 23, 2015July 24, 2015nao

Nearly half way through the Summer holidays and it has been busy. We have had work and weddings and adventures and even hosted a barbeque in the Sun (it may have been the only sunshine we have seen this Summer but I’m not complaining). One big adventure so far this Summer is our new brood of chicks!

We decided to test out an incubator this year and somehow the five eggs we had planned to hatch turned into a little more.

I am glad to report that the incubator worked to great success… as our kitchen turned into a chick maternity ward. This little one was looking a bit dazed after his arrival!

Some of the chicks seemed to want to get to grips with some life skills from a very young age. I think this one has aspirations to be a writer…

And this one has a more adventurous side!

They are all destined to be stars though as they had their very own camera crew right in our kitchen. To see their tv debut you’ll have to tune in to the “Is Eolaí Mé” series on Cúla 4 (TG4) in early 2016.

In total twelve chicks hatched and we finally managed to watch and record the event, it was really beautiful.

Looking at that it is not hard to accept that birds are the living relatives of dinosaurs! Especially now that we know that dinosaurs had feathers.

Chickens are thought to be the descendants of a class of dinosaurs called Maniraptorans, three-toed meat-eaters that walked upright, had shorter forearms, hollow bones and fused collarbones just like the birds wishbone.

Now all we need to work out is which came first, the chicken or the egg?

On a completely different note, there have been some changes around here as the website finally got a well needed revamp. I hope you like the new look, let me know what you think!

Walking on Ooblecks – add it to your bucket list

July 5, 2015July 22, 2015nao

What do you get when you mix cornflour and water together? Those of you that are regulars to this blog will know by now that you get a Non-Newtonian fluid… commonly called Ooblecks.

Cad a fhaigheann tú nuair a mheascann tú gránphlúr agus uisce le chéile? Má leanann tú an blog seo go rialta, tuigfidh tú go bhfaigheann tú sreabhán neamh-Niútanach nó ‘Ooblecks’.

What is a Non-Newtonian fluid? Well we know that most matter is either a solid, a liquid or a gas, but a Non-Newtonian fluid breaks the rules a little. Sometimes it acts like a liquid and sometimes it acts like a solid, and that can make for a LOT of fun!

Cad atá i gceist le sreabhán neamh-Niútanach? Bhuel, tá a fhios againn go bhfuil an chuid is mó d’ábhar ina soladach, leacht nó gás ach briseann sreabhán neamh-Niútanach na rialacha beagán. Uaireannta gníomhaíonn sé mar leacht agus uaireannta eile, mar sholadach. Is féidir an-spraoi a bheith agat leis, dá bharr sin!

If it is that much fun, why not make a huge vat of it, right? An interesting theory and one that we just had to try! Thankfully everyone over at Meangadh Fibín felt the same way. They are currently filming a fantastic new science series, for children, to be aired in 2016 on Cúla 4, TG4. The series, called Is Eolaí mé (I am a scientist) is all about exploring the curiosity of science; the what ifs? the whys? and the hows? Best of all it is full of great experiments and a real hands-on approach to science.That brings us back to the subject of ooblecks… what can you do with a huge vat of the stuff? A LOT!

Má tá an méid sin spraoi le baint as, nach mbeadh dabhach mór dhe do-chreidte spraoiúil?! Bhí orainn triail a bhaint as agus bhí gach éinne i Meangadh Fibín den tuairim céanna. Tá siad i lár scanánaíocht don sraith teilifíse eolaíochta nua do pháistí, a chraolfar i 2016 ar Cúla4 ar TG4. Is Eolaí Mé is ainm don chlár a fhiosraíonn ceisteanna móra na heolaíochta; cad má? cén fáth? conas? Tá sé lán le trialacha eolaíochta iontacha agus tá cur chuige teagmhálach aige freisin. Tógann sé sin ar ais ag Ooblecks muid… cad is féidir a dhéanamh le dabhach mór de stuif? NEART!

On Friday, in the small hours of the morning, one tonne of cornflour was mixed with a fair amount of water… using a cement mixer and a lot of time and patience.

I lár na hoíche ar an Aoine, meascadh tonna gránphlúr le méid suntasach uisce… ag úsáid meascthóir stroighne, an-chuid ama agus foighne.

The result was a trough full of Ooblecks… one metre wide, three and a half metres long and 38 cm deep.

An toradh a bhí ann ná dabhach lán le Ooblecks… méadar leathan, trí go leith méadar ar fhaid agus 38cm domhain.

Two diligent young scientists carried out some quality control testing before the crowd arrived. The crowd in question was a few hundred bemused students at Colaiste Lurgan, Inveran.

Bhí beirt eolaí óga díograiseach ann le rialú caighdeán a chur air roimh a thánaig an slua – cúpla céad macléin mearbhallach ó Choláiste Lurgan, Indreabhán.

Once we got the nod from the young science team it was time to for the fun to begin. Peadar, the shows main presenter, had a test run…

Chomh luath is a raibh an nod ón fhoireann eolaíochta óg, bhí sé in am don spraoi tosnú! Bhí rith tástála ag Peadar, atá mar láithreoir ar an gclár…

Then there was ballet, juggling, limbo, hurling and a lot more besides… all on top of the Ooblecks.

Ansin bhí ballet, lámhchleasaíocht, limbo, iománaíocht agus neart eile leis… uilig ar bharr an Ooblecks.

It wasn’t long before everyone wanted a go!

Ní fada go raibh gach éinne ag lorg deis triail a bhaint as!

As far as we are aware, this is the first time anything like this has been attempted in Ireland; it certainly caught the attention of local media and made the day’s news (Nuacht) on TG4, take a look! (It is at the 10 minute point.)

Chomh fada is atá a fhios againn, ‘sé an chéad uair gur baineadh triail as seo in Eirinn; agus tharraing sé aird na meáin áitiúla freisin – gliogáil ar (Nuacht) TG4 le tuilleadh a fheiceáil. (Ar an marc 10 nóiméad.)

It was a fantastic day with lots of surprises… if you don’t have “walking on ooblecks” on your bucket list then I strongly suggest you add it! I can now tick that box!

Lá iontach a bhí ann le an-chuid iontais… agus muna bhfuil ‘siúil ar ooblecks’ curtha le liosta do mhianta mholfainn duit é a chur leis! Is féidir liomsa tic a chur sa bhosca sin anois!

So what happens if you do sink into that much Ooblecks? You’ll have to watch the programme to find out! Is Eolaí Mé will air in early 2016.

So, cad a tharlaíonn nuair a siúlann tú ar Ooblecks? Beidh ort breathnú ar an gclár le fáil amach. Craolfar Is Eolaí Mé go luath i 2016.

Want the science bit? Ooblecks is what we call a Non Newtonian Fluid… meaning that it does not follow the laws of Newtonian Physics. When left to rest it looks just like a regular liquid. However when disturbed by strong hitting, shaking or pulling it acts more like a solid. It is a phenomenon worth studying and although still a bit of an enigma, scientists think that the material normally acts as a liquid but can produce a sudden, local reaction to rapid impact and stress, reinforcing the area and briefly solidifying the suspension.

Ar mhaith leat an eolaíocht taobh thiar de idir an dá linn? Is sreabhán neamh-Niútanach é Ooblecks, rud a chialaíonn nach leanann sé rialacha Fisic Niútanach. Nuair a fágtar socar é tá cuma leachtach air. Ach, nuair a suaithtear é tríd é a chraitheadh, a bhuaileadh nó é a tharraingt, gníomhaíonn sé cosúil le soladach. Is feiniméin é gur fiú a staidéar agus cé nach bhfuil tuiscint iomlán air, ceapann eolaíthe go gníomhaíonn an ábhar cosúil le leacht de gnáth – ach gur féidir leis frithghníomhú tobann, logánta a chothú i gcoinne brú agus imbhualadh gasta. Treisíonn sé seo an ceantar agus cothaíonn sé fuaidreán soladach gairid san ábhar.

Ooblecks takes it’s name from the green slime that fell from the skies in the Dr Seuss book “Bartholomew and the Oobleck“.

Tagann an ainm Ooblecks ón sláthach glas a thit ón spéir sa leabhar “Bartholomew and the Oobleck” le Dr. Seuss.

A huge thanks to the lovely Sadhbh over at Where Wishes Come From for translating this blog post for me. There seems to be no end to that lady’s talents!

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