Jamboree Dining Shelter

We've recently benefitted from equipment used at the enormous 44,000 big Jamboree camp that took place at Hylands Park in Chelmsford earlier this year. Here, pupils at Stepping Stones have erected a dining shelter for use at their next expedition.

Polyethylene Oxide - "tubeless siphon"

Last Friday, during our science session, we played with a Polyethylene oxide solution which was dyed pink. This experiment is called the "tubeless siphon" and is an example of a non-Newtonian fluid, probably because it doesn't obey the usual rules. It is used it to illustrate the strength of the hydrogen bonds.

Here's how it works.

Simply pour the solution from one beaker to another. As soon as it begins to pour, put the pouring beaker into an upright position, as if to stop pouring. You'll notice that the viscous solution continues to pour or siphons into the other beaker. Clever, huh?

Watch the video! (shot from my mobile phone)

MacBook Pro gets hard disk upgrade

Upgrading the internal hard disk in my MacBook Pro seems to be a bi-annual task these days. The demand for fast, large data storage continues to grow at a rapid pace. I've upgraded to the Hitachi 250gb, 5200rpm disk, opting for faster disk rather than more space, that comes with the 300gb 4200rpm model. Will the available storage capacity be double that of today, in six months time?