Wilnecote Warbler April 2019

SCIENCE
SCIENCE NEWS
It’s Been a Good Month:
Lazy Language Learners:
Scientists at the University of Bern played a
made up language (such as “tofer”=”key” and
“guga” = ”elephant”) and its interpretations
to napping test subjects. Upon waking they
couldn’t recall the words’ meanings, but were
able to categorise them (they knew a tofer was
something small and a guga was something
large).
Trypanophobes:
Got a fear of needles? Help may be on the way.
A team at MIT have developed a pill the size of
a pea that can inject a shot of drugs directly
into the stomach lining after being swallowed.
Wilnecote Warbler
April 2019
It’s Been a Bad Month For:
Chip lovers:
British chips were 2.5cm shorter last year,
thanks to extreme heat waves starving the UK
potato plants of water over the summer and
preventing them from growing to their usual
size, according to a study by the University of
Leeds.
City Drivers:
The limited availability and high parking fees in
cities could make it cheaper for autonomous
vehicles to cruise around slowly rather than
finding somewhere to park. According to
transportation planner Adam Millard-Bell at the
University of California, Santa Cruz, This means
they’ll be adding to urban gridlock rather than
reducing it.
Y9 Science Options
This is the time of the year when Y9 students get to choose between the double award
science course and the triple science course.
The double science course is the AQA Trilogy GCSE. Students study elements of chemistry,
biology and physics and will get a qualification equivalent to two GCSEs.
On the triple award course students follow separate full GCSEs in biology, chemistry and
physics. These student get extra time in Y11 to allow for the extra content. The course is open to
all students.
Students should consider opting for triple science if:
•They want to study any sciences at A level or go on to follow a career in science,
technology or engineering
•They really like learning about science
There was a presentation to the students on Wednesday 3rd April and a letter was be sent
home on that day. The deadline for returning the reply slip is Monday 29th April. This should be
given to their science teacher. A presentation will be posted on Doddle giving more details.
In Numbers
3.8 years
The metabolic age that a woman’s brain
appears to be younger than a mans at the
same chronological age. It may explain
why women tend to stay mentally sharper.
10 hours, 33minutes and 38 seconds.
The length of a day on Saturn as
determined using data recorded by NASA’s
Cassini probe
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