The Mummy

Have you ever wondered how a body is mummified? View the following video to find out how it is done.



Natron was used to remove moisture from the body. This salt-like substance would dry out and preserve more flesh than bone. Once dried, mummies were ceremoniously rubbed with oils and perfumes. The hollowed out body was then covered in natron to speed the process of drying and preventing decay. Finger and toe protectors were placed over the mummy's fingers and toes to prevent them from breaking. Mummies were wrapped with strips of white linen to protect the body from being damaged. After that, they were wrapped in a sheet of canvas to further protect them. Many sacred charms and amulets were placed in and around the mummy and the wrappings. This was intended to protect the mummy from harm and to give good luck to the soul of the mummy. Once preserved, they were laid to rest in a coffin inside a tomb.

Test Your Science

1. Give two reasons why natron was used in mummification.

Read about the Missing Mummy in the Young Scientists Issue 112 Level 1.

The Jaguar

Let's take a closer look at the jaguar's unique skill in hunting. The jaguar uses the deep-throat bite-and-suffocation technique typical among the Panthera genus. It has an unusually powerful bite compared to the other big cats. This allows it to pierce the shells of armoured reptiles such as tortoises and crocodiles. It bites directly through the skull of its prey between the ears and pierces the brain with its canine teeth.

Its short and stocky limb structure makes it skilful in climbing, crawling and swimming. The jaguar has a sturdy head and an extremely powerful jaw giving it the strongest bite of all cats. It can bite with a force of 8,900 N. This is twice the strength of a lion and the second strongest of all mammals.

Test Your Science

1. What other animals do you think belong to the Panthera genus?

Look up the Unique Skills of other animals in the Young Scientists Issue 112 Level 2.

Tea Picking

Do you drink tea? Do you know how tea leaves are picked? Tea leaves and flushes are plucked from tea bushes twice a year, during early spring and early summer. In Malaysia, they are picked every three weeks.

A bud with two leaves is called a tea flush. When a higher quality tea is needed or where labour costs are not too expensive, hand-picking is done by pulling the flush with a snap of the wrist. Twisting or pinching the flush reduces the quality of the leaves. Tea flushes and leaves can also be picked by machine but there will be more broken leaves and partial flushes. It is also more difficult to harvest by machine on mountain slopes where tea is often grown.

Test Your Science

1. How is the quality of tea leaves being maintained during picking?

Discover the Uses of Tea Leaves in the Young Scientists Issue 112 Level 3.

The Border Collie

How many breeds of dogs do you know? One of them is the collie breed. As you can see in this video, the Border Collie comes from an intelligent breed. It is widely considered to be one of the most intelligent dogs.

The Border Collie is a working stock dog. It requires quite a lot of daily physical exercise and mental development. It makes a very demanding, energetic pet that is better off in a household that can provide it with plenty of play and exercise with humans or other dogs. It chews holes in walls and digs holes when it is bored.

It can be motion-sensitive and it may chase a moving vehicle. The natural life span of the Border Collie is between 10 and 17 years, with an average life span of 12 years.



Test Your Science

1. What type of environment would be suitable for the Border Collie?

Get to understand dogs in the Young Scientists Issue 111 Level 1.

The King of the Fruits

Is your favourite fruit durian? Well, some love it while others can't stand the smell of it.

The durian has not only nutritional value but medicinal value as well. The fruit contains a high amount of sugar, vitamin C and potassium. It is a good source of carbohydrates, proteins and fats. It is recommended as a good source of raw fats by several raw food advisors.

In Malaysia, the durian leaves and roots are boiled and used as a remedy for fevers. The juice from the leaf is applied on the head of a patient with high fever. The most complete description of the medicinal use of the durian as remedies for fevers is a Malay prescription collected by Burkill and Haniff in 1930. It instructs the reader to boil the roots of hibiscus with the roots of durian and take it as a drink or apply it on the forehead.

Durians were marketed as a health food supplement by a company in New York City in the 1920s.


The tall durian tree.


The durian flowers.


The durian fruit.

Test Your Science

1. What medicinal value does the durian have as believed by some people?

Find out more about the King of Fruits in the Young Scientists Issue 111 Level 2.

The Mobility Scooter

Have you seen a mobility scooter? It is often referred to as a power-operated scooter or electric scooter. It has a seat over three, four or now five wheels, a flat area or plate for the feet and handlebars in front to turn one, two or three steerable wheels. The seat may swivel to allow a person to get onto it when the front is blocked by the handlebars. The scooter is usually battery powered. A battery or two is stored on board the scooter and is charged by an onboard or separate battery charger unit from standard electric power. Petrol-powered scooters are also available in some countries, though they are rapidly being replaced by electric models.

The handle is the steering column which is centrally located at the front of the scooter. It has controls for forward/reverse directions and speed.The directions can be controlled by thumb paddles, finger controls or a switch.



Test Your Science

1. What power does the mobility scooter run on?

Refer to the Young Scientists Issue 111 Level 3 on the world's smallest caravan towed by an electric scooter.

Kites

Do you know that man first flew being tied to a kite? In China, criminals sentenced to death were used as test pilots for man-bearing kites by the emperor Wen Hsuan Ti in 559 A.D.

In the 12th century, the samurai Minamoto no Tametamo who was banished to an island off Japan is believed to have used a kite as a means of escape for his son. He is said to have tied his son to a kite and flown him to the mainland.

Today we have kites of various sizes and designs ranging from the tetrahedral kite of 3-D structure to the smallest kite measuring only 5 mm long.



Test Your Science

1. What do you think was invented as a result of the development of the kite?

Learn the skills required to fly a kite in the Young Scientists Issue 110 Level 3.

Recycling Plastic Bags

Can we recycle plastic bags? Definitely yes. Discarded plastic bags need not go to waste.These old plastic bags are getting a new lease of life in a recycling factory in Malaysia. They are transformed into recycled plastic pellets which are used to make stretch films for packaging purposes.

Here's how plastic bag waste is recycled:



Step 1: Plastic bag waste is sorted out according to type as different plastics melt at different temperature. Foreign materials such as paper labels are removed.



Step 2: The plastic bags go through a crusher to be cut into tiny bits. Shredded plastic is conveyed to the washing tank.



Step 3: There are two cycles of washing in water containing detergent and soda. The waste water is filtered, treated and reused so as to conserve water. Remaining residues are sent for disposal.



Step 4: Dried shredded plastic rains down from the 150m-long drying pipe, which has warm air flowing through.



Step 5: The plastic bits are conveyed to a machine to be melted. Molten plastic is of a grey shade due to oxidation.



Step 6: The molten plastic is moulded into noodle-like strings. As they pass through a water bath, the plastic noodles harden.



Step 7: A machine cuts the plastic noodles into tiny pellets of recycled plastic resin.

Test Your Science

1. What can we use in place of plastic bags when we do our shopping?

Discover the difference between the plastic bag and the environmental-friendly bag in the Young Scientists Issue 110 Level 2.

The Emperor Penguin

Let's get to know this flightless bird. It is the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species. It is found in the Antarctica. The male and female are similar in size, reaching 122 cm in height and weighing between 22 and 45 kg. As you can see here, it has a streamlined body and wings flattened into flippers for a marine habitat.

The Emperor Penguin is best known for the long journeys the adults make each year in order to mate and feed their young. It is the only penguin species that breeds during winter. It treks 50-120 km over the ice to breeding colonies which may include thousands of penguins. The female lays a single egg which is incubated by the male while the female returns to sea to feed. The parents then take turns to look for food and care for their chick in the colony. Its lifespan is normally 20 years in the wild but some of them may live up to 50 years.

View the following video from BBC Earth.



Test Your Science

1. Why do you think the penguin cannot fly?

Find out why birds are toothless in the Young Scientists Issue 110 Level 1.

Shark vs Dolphin

Can you tell the difference between a shark and a dolphin? Consider the following tips when identifying these two creatures that live in the same ecosystem.

The shark is a cartilaginous fish from a diverse group of animal with about 440 species. It can live in deep and shallow waters. It can be as small as 15 cm long such as the deep sea shark or as long as 12 m like the whale shark. The shark is the top hunter in the marine ecosystem. The shape of its tail varies within species. This creature does not have a swim bladder but its large oil-filled liver and its light cartilaginous skeleton help to keep it afloat. It breathes through gills and it can live for 20- 30 years.

The dolphin has mammalian features. There are about 40 species of dolphins all over the world. The dolphin is mostly found in shallow waters. Its size can vary from one to ten metres in length and from 40 kg to 10 tonnes in weight. Its streamlined body makes it a fast swimmer. It breathes through its lungs. It feeds on fish and squids. Dolphins are intelligent and they hunt in herds. The lifespan of a dolphin is about 20 years.



Test Your Science

1. Give two differences between the shark and the dolphin.

Look up the similarity between the dolphin and the shark in the Young Scientists Issue 109 Level 1.

Protect the Environment

Soil Contamination

Do you know how we can clean contaminated soil? There are three approaches to cleaning it up.

1. We can dig up the soil from the ground and treat or dispose it.
2. We can leave the soil in the ground and treat it in place.
3. We can leave the soil in the ground and control it to prevent the contamination from spreading to plants, animals or humans. This is done by placing a large plastic cover over the contaminated soil to prevent direct contact and keep rainwater from seeping into the soil and spreading the contamination.

Ways of treating soil include the following :~

1. Contaminants are flushed out of the soil using water, chemical solvents or air.
2. Contaminants are destroyed in an incinerator.
3. Natural organisms in the soil are encouraged to break down the contaminants.
4. Material is added to the soil to control the contaminants and prevent them from spreading.



Soil flushing













Adding materials










Incineration









Test Your Science

1. How do you think contaminants in the soil are destroyed in the incinerator?

Find out more about caring and protecting our environment in the Young Scientists Issue 109 Level 2.

Robotic Coffee Table

Let's take a look at the robotic coffee table. By placing some crumbs on the top of the table, mice are attracted to climb up the hole in its over-sized leg. The trapdoor in the centre of the table opens when sensors detect that a mouse is standing on it. The unfortunate rodent then falls into a microbial fuel cell underneath, where it gets digested and converted into energy to power the electronic parts of the table.

Since there might be hundreds of rats hiding behind the walls, we really shouldn't feel sorry for the rats rotting inside the table.

Test Your Science

1. Where does the robotic coffee table get its source of power?

Read the Young Scientists Issue 109 Level 3 on the Carnivorous Robotic Lamp.

The Delicious Orange

The orange is a hybrid between the pomelo and the mandarin cultivated long ago. It is an evergreen flowering tree that grows to a height of 9 – 10 metres. Some very old trees can grow up to 15 m.

The orange fruit belongs to the family of berries known as hesperidium. The delicious sweet fruit can be peeled or cut and eaten whole as a fruit. It can also be processed to extract orange juice and for the peel which is fragrant.

The orange has numerous seeds, is fleshy and soft and is covered by rough thick outer skin known as the rind. An orange seed is called a pip. The white thread-like material attached to the inside of the peel is called the pith.

The sweet orange differ in size and colour according to the climate. It usually has ten segments known as carpels inside. The unripe fruit is green. The exterior of a ripe fruit varies from bright orange to yellow orange. The orange is acidic. It has a pH level ranging from 2.9 to 4.0.

Test Your Science

How is an orange able to conduct electricity?