West Coast fossil park: before the dig site

Kids swarmed off the bus and into the playground at the West Coast fossil park after a chilly early morning bus ride from the MTN Sciencentre in Cape Town.



Kids met Mr Skinny in the museum. Of course, as our guide Heidi pointed out, if the body is a record of earth's history, mankind would only be a hair on top of the head. This is Yusuf Bharoochi with Amir Hoffman, 6, who divides his time between Tamboerskloof and Mitchell's Plain, and is in Grade R at Tamboerskloof primary.



Heidi Duncan was the volunteer who took us back in time - but not all the way back to the dinosaurs; that bit was washed out to sea long ago. (Which might have been easier because the sea covered the town of Langebaan Lagoon and the M7 freeway and in fact much of the old phosphate mine site we were standing on, at various points in Africa's history). Still, a couple of million years ago is good going!



The kids enjoyed hanging out with Mr Skinny prior to piling back into the bus for the trip down to the dig sites, which have been left open - complete with the lattice of square marking the bones sticking up out of the old riverbed - with a wooden boardwalk around anda greenhouse-style canopy around.



This last picture is Yusuf Bharoochi, 8, of Grassy Park. He's a grade 1 student at Vista Nova school in Rondebosch.

Peerless Peer's Cave

We marked African Origins Month with a stunning walk today to Peer's Cave, a stone age home/kitchen/cemetery overlooking the Atlantic Ocean coastline by Fish Hoek. Of course, the water level would have been a little higher back when this was a Stone Age condo, and much of the valley would have been flooded. Given climate change, maybe it's going to happen again!

Inside the cave are the terrible trio of six year olds - Jesse Dunbar, Benjamin Scott Wittenberg and Amir Hoffman. They were a tad disappointed that Victor Peers had already been and removed the skeletons from 9 burial sites in the cave, and had to be gently dissuaded from initiating their own dig.



Ali Wittenberg Scott chatting with MTN Sciencentre staffer Fikiswa Majola. Poured with rain last year; cooked in the heat this year - what would we talk about, if not the weather? Actually, we were also talked about - on Bush Radio, who then blogged us here - www.morningcruise.blogspot.com



A small portion of the group before listening to Jason discuss the rock art and dating methods (no, not that kind of dating).

Tweeked on TwitPic

Twitter is a brief - VERY brief - free microblogging option that lets people keep in touch with their mates using the web, their cellphone, or instant messaging. (The updates are called tweets, and you have to sign up to receive them.) More than two million people use it, including Barack Obama.

Twitter even does photos on twitpic, which makes text-based updates a lot prettier.

Here's someone by the name of Mario Olckers who recently posted a shot of his daughter at the Mars Rover exhibition at the MTN Science Centre - see http://twitpic.com/62db

Agulhas

What an oversight! How could we forget to blog about our fantastic open day on the famous South African ice-breaker the Agulhas, docked at the V& A waterfront. Close to 900 people came to tour, assisted by copious amounts of hot chocolate. Just a dozen staff worked hugely well assisted by copious amounts of briyani from Maharajah's (and all complaints about garlic must go to the Vampire Association!).



And MTN hothead beanies were in view, as per this shot of Ali Wittenberg-Scott perched temporarily in the cockpit of the SAS Agulhas helicopter on its launching pad, before the pilot got nervous and suggested that she should depart immediately because he didn't really want to crash next time on account of some kid fiddling with a switch!



The helicopter, by the way, doesn't take its normal complement of staff (which doesn't yet include 6-year-old Ben Scott Wittenberg, above) because the researchers are so bulked up in their cold-weather gear that they need extra space (imagine if this was the SAA economy seats).

The Agulhas trip was written up in the Department of Science and Technology's monthly double-page spread on science in the Mail & Guardian newspaper, and Bush Radio broadcast from the venue. We were also able to Skype and webcam with researchers currently working in the cold and dark of the South African base in the Antarctic. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday in July - and let's face it, the weather was better than in 2007. If this keeps up, we may even see sun when we do the Agulhas again in 2009, with any luck.

4 schools

It was prety much a full house for our first women's day function on Friday. 40 students came from Khayelitsha's Zola high school - which has experienced phenomenal increase in the number of learners writing (and passing) the matric examinations and increased the number of exemptions from two in 2002 to 16 in 2004. Not bad going for a school that doubled its numbers over two years.

Nerly 50 students also came in from Iqhayiya high, situated in a former primary school (and they're not complaining, at one point they were running on the platoon system afterhours in yet another primary school) in the delightful mix of low-income homes and shacks in section H in Khayelitsha.

Learners also came in from the Afrikaans-medium Scottsdene high school in Kraaifontein in the northern suburbs (which might explain why one explanation of MDR TB and XDR TB came in die taal!).

And students also came from the bilingual Elswood High in Epping Avenue in Elsies River, a suburb which was classified as 'coloureds-only' under the old apartheid nonsense. The grounds may be surrounded by many factories and block of flats, but the school itself is a bit of an oasis, with green trees and plants, as Elswood is the only school in the Elsies River community with an indigenous garden.

Nadia Isaacs at the PASCAP trust, www.pascap.org.za, which hosts the Big Sister events, also arranged for about 20 slightly younger students to attend. PASCAP stands for Partners with After School Care Projects, and they're also hosting a women's day/Cape Learning Festival event for 50 girls from Khayelitsha, Langa & Gugulethu on 11 August.



Thanks to Amandla Marine for putting up a table about jobs in their industry, as well.

Women's Day

The organisation South African Women in Science and Engineering (SA-WISE) hosted a women's day function on Friday morning for a predominantly female audience of high school students in our auditorium.

Speakers (seen above) at the SciCafé included GIS (Geographic Information Systems) mapper Takadzani Rambuda, conservationist Katy Lannas, chemical engineer Melinda Griffiths, immunologist Boipelo Sebesho, bat researcher Lizelle Odendaal - all from the University of Cape Town - and the sole representative from the University of Stellenbosch, systems biologist Jennifer de Beyer.

They're all post-graduate students who gave brief powerpoint presentations with lots of pictures. Audible gasps were heard from Melinda Griffiths when she pointed out that she got to live and travel in the United Kingdom.

More audible gasps were heard when Jennifer de Beyer - who also spoke at the science centre during National Science Week - said that next month she leaves for Cambridge University after winning a fellowship which will make her Dr de Beyer.

Boipelo Sebesho probably got the lion's share of questions, probably because she mentioned extremely drug resistant tuberculosis and multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, two issues of huge importance for South Africans - although her research area has narrowed down to focus on nasty brain infections caused by TB-linked meningitis.

Boipelo - who has to be cool, because she's on Facebook - said something really interesting in the question-and-answer session. ''Do we look hungry?'' she challenged the audience. Boipelo was pointing out tht even though many of the speakers are still studying, they're not suffering for science. They get paid to learn.

UCT zooogist Lizelle Odendaal - who's batty about bats - also got lots of questions. And smiles, when she said that she studies bats for all the official reasons (including them being the only flying mammals) but also because they're cute.

Melinda Griffiths' photos of mountain climbing helped to show that women in science are diverse and well-rounded, and that you don't have to be a slave to science and never get out to have fun.

Katy Lannas' photos of some of the beautiful places she works in were also quite impressive, and help to explain that science can get you out of the office and into intriguing situations.

The nice people from Popular Mechanics gave lekker calculators away to the students who could remember who did what at the end of the session, while Murray Steyn from the University of Cape Town provided branded pens, posters, magazines and computer mouse pads.

And well done to Anusuya Chinsamy-Turan, author of ''Famous Dinosaurs of Africa'' for putting the whole event together and hosting it.

Zooba gear

Both Zoob (sold at the Experilab shop here and used in our workshops) and the MTN Sciencentre have been praised in separate posts in a blog run by a Cape Town family who home-school not one, not two, not three but seven children.

I particularly like the creativity of turning the Zoobs into scuba gear (does that make it Zooba gear?), as seen in this 'Spy Kids' picture, which is taken from the blog http://www.se7en.org.za.

And the MTN Sciencentre is listed in one of the 7 best places to visit in Cape Town.

Busi's been blogged

Busisiwe Maqubela from the MTN Sciencentre has been blogged by Bassie Montewa, the host of the afternoon jazz and chat programme Backchat, after she was interviewed by him on Bush Radio in the Western Cape on Friday. The show is produced by Amanda Mathee.

http://bushbackchat.blogspot.com/2008/07/mtn-science-centre-equips-learners-with.html

Out and about in Cape Town

Rebekah Kendal and Lindiwe Mlandu have written an online article called Out and About in Cape Town which is mostly about how to survive the rotten winter rains.

Under the rather nice subheading 'Kiddies Adventures', we get a mention.

It says: 'More educational fun can be found at Canal Walk at the MTN Science Centre. With 280 displays, computer rooms, laboratories and camera obscura, the centre provides plenty of opportunities for your kids to have fun while learning about scientific discoveries and technological innovations. Admission: adults R20, children R25. More here: http://lifestyle.iafrica.com/content_feed/telkom/1028940.htm

Sibo Makes A Difference

“I can’t stand the idea of lecturing at children. I just wanted to chat in a constructive way,” says Ginny Stone, author of the first South African children's book about climate change, ''Sibo Makes A Difference,'' (Let's Look publishers) which is being launched at the 4 by 4 celebration of four women authors on Monday night at the MTN Sciencentre.

“There’s plenty that kids can do to help, all on their own,” says the creative rolling Stone, who also does OucHieS!, occupational health and safety cartoons for The Ripple Effect, a health-focused monthly newspaper from Durban.

“Parents have just handed the problem on to the next generation. We won’t see most of the damage – our children and grandchildren will.”

The author, science games designer Ginny Stone, likes to be a pathbreaker, which may be why in 2007 she moved from Cape Town to Springs, sometimes known as the armpit of the East Rand. “The wonderful highveld winters almost make up for lack of mountains and sea”, she says with only the faintest trace of sarcasm.

In the Western Cape, Stone was a prominent figure in science communication circles, always busy with multiple projects involving students and teachers at the world-class iThemba particle physics accelerator on the Cape Flats, across the N1 freeway from Khayelitsha and en route to Somerset West.

She was also a familiar face at South Africa’s national science festival, SciFest, in Grahamstown during the first school term every year, where she organised and hosted the popular sold-out ‘’Phat Physics’’ workshops for kids. And her latest science game, Super Silly Science, entertained Science and Technology Minister Mosibudi Mangena.



The move to Gauteng “gave me some time-out to write,” says the mother of two daughters and step-mother of one son. ‘I’ve been scribbling for most of my life but have never really done anything concrete with it. Having a book published, especially one that actually means something, is a dream come true.”

Stone even did her own artwork while she was playing around with the plot lines, using the Corel Draw computer programme, which was later reworked by the design team at Let’s Look publishing.

The Pretoria-based publishers of the book, Lets Look have embraced the project wholeheartedly - going one step further by using environmentally friendly paper and ink for printing. Miles Jarvis of Raptor Creative said the environmentally-friendly paper, sponsored by the NOR company, is free of chlorine and was harvested from a sustainable forestry programme. ‘’The inks used are derived from soya beans,’’ Jarvis said.

Ginny also produces a blog, online at http://dogsblog.blog.com and is a columnist for her local community weekly, the Springs Advertiser.

She remains passionately devoted to science outreach, which she says includes her husband Chris Theron, a physicist at Element 6, which makes industrial diamonds under pressure – rather like the writing process!

Stone is secretary and treasurer of the eleven-year-old Southern African Association of Science and Technology Centres (SAASTEC), and is busy preparing for their 2008 meeting in November at the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre in central Johannesburg.

She’s coming down to the SAASTEC council meeting in Cape Town on Monday July 14th here at the MTN Sciencentre and will stay on to launch her book in the Ericsson auditorium at the same venue in that evening at 6 pm.

Come along and join the party at 4by4 - four women authors. There's the conservationist and artist Betty Dwight, who's illustrated the first book on the flora and fauna of famous Rondebosch Common; SciDev.Net Africa news editor Christina Scott, and her new book on health issues for cash-strapped African students, published as part of the Heinemnn series ''10 Things You Should Know About ....'', and renowned dinosaur bone detective Professor Anusuya Chinsamy-Turan, author of Famous African Dinosaurs.

All books should be on sale at reduced prices, none of the authors suffer from repetitive stress injury and will thus be available to sign copies, and there will be food and wine.

Prior to talks by the four women authors, Connie September, the MP who chairs the water and forestry portfolio committee in parliament, will say a few words. Food and drink will be provided.

science is a mess!

St Albans College is having a major reunion of graduates from matching years in revious decades - 1968, 1978, 1988, 1998 - on Friday July 11 in Pretoria. And there's been a flood of memories.

Thought you might like to know that Peter Bower of the Class of 70 wrote about someone who is still going strong at the MTN Sciencentre - Detlef Basel, now in his 70s and still causing chaos, as can be seen in the photograph above.

This is what Peter wrote: In the 60s the Photographic, Printing and Puddlers (pottery) Clubs were all housed in one of the original farm outbuildings near the dining hall.

In the Puddlers Club somebody (Detlef Basel, I think) had lit on the idea of using a Morris Minor gearbox to drive the potter's wheel. For some reason, he hadn't removed the gear lever. The correct speed to throw a neat pot was to be found in 1st gear. Changing to top gear resulted in a most gratifying spray of muddy water and clay about the room.

Some things never change, as people who sit in the front row at Detlef's science shows might attest!

Info found here: http://www.stalbanscollege.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=380&Itemid=33

teaching goes nuclear

''On Monday I took the teachers to visit Melvyn Miles at the Koeberg nuclear power station on the West Coast. The teachers debated the effects of load shedding due to lack of coal-powered electricity on their communities and considered the need for alternative sources of power,’’ said John Crossland of the MTN Sciencentre.

That's John in the picture, seen here lurking between the 10 Gauteng maths, science and technology teachers on winter study break and Koeberg itself, the only nuclear reactor in the southern hemisphere.

‘’It was great to expose teachers to the world of work, particularly the science and technology driven sectors of South African industry,’’ explained Ryan Bruton, another MTN Sciencentre manager, who accompanied the group with Audrey Mosiapoa, a science graduate currently receiving training at the MTN Sciencentre through the Department of Science and Technology’s national youth service scheme.

David Sindele of the Potsdam sewage treatment plant in Milnerton also gave them a tour of some very practical – and very necessary - examples of the science involved in providing clean water and a healthy environment.

The MTN Sciencentre name also hosted the teachers on Wednesday, where they viewed MTE Studio's new exhibition on the pros and cons of nuclear energy, called Pebble Power for the People.

Teaching the teachers

While their students enjoy the last week of winter break, ten Gauteng maths and science teachers are trying out their first-ever study tour in Cape Town at the MTN Sciencentre. Here they are with Tony Williams, who is based at the science centre as part of the educator traiing programme ORT-Tech.

Hemant Waghmarae from the SciBono centre in Newlands, Johannesburg, initiated the new project with the help of Busisiwe Maqubela of the MTN Sciencentre.

‘’This has been the first time science centres have worked together like this to help motivate and inspire science teachers with real-world examples of the material they teach in the classroom. So far it’s been a great success,’’ said Ms Maqubela.

Themba Nkabinde, who coordinates the career development of maths, science and technology teachers for the Gauteng education department, agrees. The five-day trip was underwritten by the Gauteng education department.

Pretoria teachers include Johanna Chokwe from the recently-renovated Bona Lesedi no-fee school in Mamelodi East, Kgabo Manamela from Sohanguve Technical High School and Kriba Baloyi from Mamelodi’s J. Kekana High School, who came with Balam Subramani of the Tshwane north educational district

From Roodepoort came Princess High School teacher Sharon von Luiters, while teacher Winnie Alexander comes from Fred Norman High School in Ennerdale in southwest Johannesburg, both accompanied by Nduna Marobela of Johannesburg West educational district.

Representing the East Rand was teacher Venie Chetty from Springs secondary school and Sunward Park High School’s Enoch Thango from Boksburg.

The 10 teachers arrived in Cape Town on Sunday, July 6 – just in time for the heavy rains, cold weather and floods. They can keep warm while filling in their journals, perhaps?

They return to Gauteng on July 12, two days before the new school term starts, inspired and ready to revamp the classrooms.

see science with different eyes

Take a look at this shot of an old diagram, en route to the camera obscura at the MTN Sciencentre. Photographer Max Barners uploaded it on his website - http://maxbarners.com

Kaylyn at ExperiLab

Kids enjoy going into the Experilab shop and trying out the van der Graaf generator -this is Kaylyn, whose dad posted the pic online. The science centre is swamped with happy kids this winter school break here in wet Cape Town. And they're getting ready for the big sleepover on Wednesday 9th, to celebrate Nandi's birthday.

Sea-faring science

The venerable University of Virginia in the eastern USA is teaching future American science teachers - and broadening their educational horizons - in the 2008 Semester at Sea Course, which takes place in the northern hemisphere's fall - probably a good time to come to dock at places like Walvis Bay in Namibia and Cape Town, South Africa. That's their route, above, on what is roughly a 100 day voyage.

While conducting experiments and learning how to make balloon-powered cars and fan belts, there's also a section where they find out how museums teach science. First stop: us, the MTN Sciencentre, in Cape Town!

Other stops include the Tamil Nadu Science and Technology Centre in Chennai, India; Penang science centre in Malaysia, classrooms in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, and the Hong Kong Science Museum and the Shanghai aquarium, both in China.

Sounds fabulous, doesn't it? Semester at Sea has been running for nearly half a century - see http://www.semesteratsea.org




Ed Sobey, above, who will be running the course, specialises in Education and Environmental Sciences



Professor Sobey is president of the Northwest Invention Center (www.invention-center.com) to serve schools and museums with hands-on programs and exhibits, and to help inventors. and senior director of the Asian Institute for Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship (www.asiainvents.com).



In these roles he develops creative learning programs and museum exhibits, and writes books on technology, inventing, and science. His academic background is diverse: first physics and math, followed by oceanography.



In addition to his academic work in peer-reviewed journals, 100 magazine articles and 21 books (some of which we show here) not to mention directing museums for nearly twenty years, Ed Sobey has also hosted tv shows such as The Idea Factory and Blow The Roof Off and received many awards for his work in community education.



Ed served as the first director of the USA's Inventors Hall of Fame and founded the American Toy Hall of Fame. Quite a cool guy, we look forward to welcoming him!

MTN Sciencentre on Flickr

Smart photographers upload their photos on the Flickr photosharing system - and we show up a lot.

Gillian Arendse

A hectic National Science Week was had by all. But it's quite possible that nobody had a more hectic NSW 2008 than Dr Gillian Arendse, fisika fundi at iThemba particle physics accelerator on the other side of the highway from Khayelitsha. The man who comes from Paarl - home of rugby, he says, which he played in the days when they didn't use boots like softies do nowadays - and does mad physics shows.

That's because Gillian is also second tenor in the Libertas choir from the University of Stellenbosch, where he lectured until recently. And just before NSW 2008, he was up the West Coast in Lutzville, doing science outreach. Then it was bombing down the road to prepare for NSW. Then he had a performance up by the West Coast again. Then down for the first day of NSW for a brunch with teachers and other events.

Then it was up to Darling (site of South Africa's only wind-power) to perform just in time to relax, watch the rugby ... and travel back down to Cape Town again for the next day of NSW. And so forth, and so forth...

We salute your dedication, Gillian. But what's your carbon footprint like after something like National Science Week? At least with SciFest in Grahamstown - which is equally busy, and also lasts a week - there's always a lift from the Monument building down the hill into town!

Steve Sherman

Steve Sherman of Living Maths was one of the stars of National Science Week in May at the MTN Sciencentre in Cape Town.



It was usually Mr S himself - occasionally his facilitator Mark Whitehead - who bombarded incredibly diverse groups of kids - grade 4 to grade 12, isiXhosa and Afrikaans and English speaking - with brainteasers.

Who else but Mr S - seen here below surviving Victoria Girls' Primary School at SciFest in Grahamstown - could pull it off?

Varsity students pay it forward

Rondebosch-based Tsungai Jongwe (see above), a microbiology Masters student at the University of Cape Town medical school, was one of several young women scientists who gave motivational talks to high school students during National Science Week in May at the MTN Sciencentre in Canal Walk, part of a string of events happening across the country.

To remind the audience from Milnerton and Thandokulu high schools that scientists don't match the stereotypes put out by Cartoon Network, Jongwe pointed out that she competes on the UCT women's soccer team, loves movies and makes beaded jewellry for her friends. In addition, she's devoted to finding solutions to drug-resistant bacteria, like the mycobacteria that causes tuberculosis. She told the audience how - having failed one course - she put herself through the toughest class possible in order to graduate from her first degree in the minimum three years, with the help of a tutor who helped her for an hour every day and five hours on Saturday.



Talented biochemist Jennifer de Beyer, a Pinelands resident and a graduate of Herschel High School in Claremont, also participated. Jen, above is seen, speaking to students from Rhodes High School in Mowbray, including 15-year-old Lauren Lasker from Mandalay in Mitchell's Plain, and 16-year-old Gaironesa Cupido from Surrey Estate in Athlone, who both are interested in forensics.

Interesting questions for Jen included one young man who wanted to know if biochemists could cook up cocaine. She pointed out that first-year stuents get to make beer and bring two litres of it home, and the third floor of her building is devoted to wine - but no, not cocaine. Another student wanted to know if she was a ballet dancer - perhaps Cartoon Network ideas of scientists are stronger than we think!

National Science Week may be an annual event but the 2008 week may have been one of the last opportunities the public gets to interact with de Beyer, who leaves Stellenbosch University in September for Oxford University in the United Kingdom on a prestigious Commonwealth Bursary to get her doctorate in the new field of systems biology. Both de Beyer and Jongwe are 23 and did their honours degrees with funding from South African Women in Science and Engineering (SAWISE).

Lynthia Paul and National Science Week 2008

This is Dr Lynthia Paul, a microbiologist and post-doctoral fellow at the University of Cape Town - a long way from the little girl in the tiny copper mining town of Nababeep in the remote Namakwaland who dreamed of being a nurse!

Lynthia was a star of National Science Week 2008 - on the Friday she spoke about following your science dream to the students from many high schools who assembled at the Cape Academy of Science for the official launch; on the Tuesday she spoke to Cobus Bester, the presenter of the morning Afrikaans current affairs programme Monitor on Radio Sonder Grense, on Thursday she participated in a talk show on the women's programme Otherwise on English-language SAfm radio with presenter Nancy Richards and guests Tsungai Jongwe (who herself spoke to students from Milnerton and Thandokhulu high schools on Friday) and our own chemical engineer Fikiswa Majola.

And on Thursday evening, Lynthia was in the audience at the Ericsson auditorium at the MTN Sciencentre with some friends to watch and listen as renowned sports scientist Tim Noakes demolished the long-lasting urban legend about lactic acid pooling in athletes' muscles and causing fatigue. (It's the brain, dummies, that makes the difference!)

Thanks to Lynthia for being such a good role model and talking about how she really battled to adapt to her first year at Stellenbosch University - both socially and academically - and how once she discovered science, she never, ever regretted it.

Students and National Science Week

An article about the launch on National Science Week appeared in Independent Newspapers, available online at http://www.iol.co.za:80/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=2934&art_id=iol1210858605164S522

Here it is below, with a few pictures.

SA tackles science basics

May 15 2008 at 03:42PM

Western Cape Education MEC Cameron Dugmore, speaking at the opening of National Science Week on Friday May 9 in the Western Cape, announced a renewed focus on getting the basics of mathematics and science right at primary school level.

Dugmore, who spoke to teachers at the end of the launch ceremonies at the Cape Academy of Science, Mathematics and Technology in Tokai, beneath Table Mountain, said ''the numeracy rates are a major concern in grade 6. We need to strengthen what we do in our primary schools.''

On May 22, for the first time, the province will honour those primary schools which have made the greatest improvement in maths and science, he told the assembled teachers.



Also attending were Western Cape science communicators such as Sivuyile Manxoyi and Isobel Bassett from the South African Astronomical Observatory in Observatory and Dr Gillian Arendse, Ryan Linden and Ambrose Yaga from iThemba particle physics laboratory in Faure.

''If we don't get this right, in mathematics and science, our country is going to lose its competitive edge,'' Dugmore warned the audience, which included Busisiwe Maqubela, Jani de Bruin, Fikiswa Majola, Phakamisa Kwinana, Edzon Robyn and Detlef Basel from the MTN Sciencentre in Canal Walk in Cape Town.

Also present were National Youth Strategy science graduate volunteers Candice Arendse and Meshack Magatshavha, and National Research Foundation interns Samuel Motlhabane and Noluvuvo Maile, all from the Hermanus Magnetic Observatory, which monitors disturbing changes in the earth's protective magnetic belt.




Fortunately, many high school students (see above)attending the launch of National Science Week, which runs from May 10 to 17 with special events around the country, were already convinced of the value of science.



Southfield-based Monique Timmie, age 15, a grade 10 student at Heathfield High School, said ''I like physics, it's my best subject. You can go anywhere in the world with physics and South Africa needs more scientists.'' That's Monique on the righthand side of the photo above.



Kuils River-based student Spencer Horne, above, who studies and boards at the Cape Academy, spoke to the audience.

''Science is constantly evolving. There are daily discoveries. Science is stimulating,'' the teenager said.

Bersan Lesch, a speaker from the ''science and youth unit'' at the Department of Science and Technology in Pretoria, said over 250 000 science career booklets had been distributed and over 200 000 people were expected to participate in National Science Week.

Dr Lynthia Paul, a University of Cape Town microbiologist from Nababeep in Namaqualand, told the students ''sometimes there were people who told me my dreams were too big.

Don't let anyone tell you your dreams are too big. If you set your mind to it, it doesn't matter what your circumstances are.''

* South Africa's National Science Week runs until May 17th with lots of free things to do and try. The MTN Sciencentre in Canal Walk in Cape Town is throwing open its doors, with free entry, from 9 am to 6 pm on Saturday, May 17.

In addition to the standard favourites like spinning in the gyroscope, the hourly trip to the camera obscura to watch the ever-changing fantastic views of the Cape Town skyline, gross-out dissections of eyeballs, kidneys and fishguts at Lucky's Lab and the daily 2 pm blow-it-up chemistry show with the fabulous Fikiswa Majola and the dashing Detlef Basel, there are quite a lot of additional activities.

Consider a free screening of the movie Bushman's Secret, featuring breathtaking footage of the Kalahari landscape, or hang out with the man who was nearly the next president of the USA, Al Gore, as he explains how we're cooking the planet in ''An Inconvenient Truth.''

Or attend ''Not too hot, not too cold,'' a workshop which is a praise poem by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to the unique qualities of our home planet.

Or outsmart Lente Mare of Chess for Change with chessboard war, or make your own volcano out of kitchen cupboard ingredients such as vinegar, bicarbonate of soda and food colouring.

If you prefer something more active, head off on the hike of nearby Intaka Island wetland.

National Science Week 2008 on YouTube

Busi Maqubela on SAfm

Busi Maqubela joined the MTN sciencentre at the very beginning in 2000 as a callow University of the Western Cape graduate in biochemistry and microbiology, having survived boarding schools in Bloemfontein in the Free State and Butterworth in the Eastern Cape, courtesy of a well-connected relative.

She's since grown into an incredibly efficient floors and programmes manager of the MTN Sciencentre, and is busy putting the next generation of family members through high school in her turn.

But can she cope with an interview? Efforts to tape her for YouTube dissolved in laughter. So we're trying again. Busi will appear live on the English-language SAfm radio station, on the current affairs programm Saturday PM, which airs between 8 and 9 pm, to talk about the first day of national science week. Listen out for her at about 8:20 pm, on May 10.

She went to boarding school in Bloemfontein in the Free State and Butterworth in the Eastern Cape, but says it was nothing like the stories in Johan van der Ruit's Michaelhouse novel Spud. The MTN Sciencentre staff - including education manager Rhyme Setshedi, Fikiswa Majola, Detlef Basel, Anwar Goolam and Ryan Bruton - recently returned from Grahamstown after putting on a slew of exhibitions and workshops and shows at SciFest 2008.

Stukkend about National Science Week!

National Science Week kicks off from Saturday May 10 to 17th with lots of free things to do and try.

The MTN Sciencentre here in the Canal Walk shopopolis in Cape Town is throwing open its doors, with free entry all this weekend, from 9 in the morning until 6 pm, Saturday and Sunday. And the offer gets repeated on the following Saturday, May 17 as well.

In addition to the standard favourites like spinning in the gyroscope, the hourly trip to the camera obscura to watch the ever-changing fantastic views of the Cape Town skyline, gross-out dissections of eyeballs, kidneys and fishguts at Lucky's Lab and the daily 2 pm blow-it-up chemistry show with the fabulous Fikiswa Majola (picture above) and the dashing Detlef Basel, there are quite a lot of additional activities.

Consider a free screening of the movie Bushman's Secret, featuring breathtaking footage of the Kalahari landscape, or hang out with the man who was nearly the next president of the USA, Al Gore, as he explains how we're cooking the planet in ''An Inconvenient Truth.''

Or attend ''Not too hot, not too cold,'' a workshop which is a praise poem by Laurie Bowell and company from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to the unique qualities of our home planet.

Or outsmart Lente Mare of Chess for Change with chessboard war, or make your own volcano out of kitchen cupboard ingredients such as vinegar, bicarbonate of soda and food colouring. If you prefer something more active, head off on the hike of nearby Intaka Island wetland.

Late-risers can come in at noon to find out how to use your cellphone to operate a robot with Neels van der Westhuizen from FischerTechnik toys and find what's really inside the Nintendo Wii remote, or compete in the traditional marabara and mankala board games or polish up your paparazzi skills at the digital camera workshop.

Later in the week, there are talks:

* MTN Sciencentre founder Mike Bruton, now with MTE studios, on the funny side of science
* 23-year-old Stellenbosch biochemist Jennifer de Beyer, who's just won a scholarship to study at Oxford University in the UK
* young University of Cape Town microbiologist Tsungai Jongwe, who's sifting through indigenous plants in search of fresh medicines against drug-resistant tuberculosis
* renowned sports scientist Tim Noakes, who says new research indicates that belief in yourself may control whether you come in first, second - or last.

* Local science teachers mark the beginning of national science week with physics researcher Dr Zinhle Buthelezi at a brunch on May 10 at South Africa's only particle physics accelerator, the massive iThemba Laboratories complex off the N2 freeway near the Stellenbosch turnoff. But kids and their parents can come to iThemba's family day next weekend (17th) to celebrate the tail end of the week-long celebration of discovery. Mayhem is expected as the ebullient Steve Sherman of Living Maths joins Libertas choir tenor/physicist Gillian Arendse to present "Mal about Maths & Stukkend for Science". Cost is only R5, but booking is required because of super-strict safety regulations at iThemba. Deal with Ambrose Yaga at 021 843 1000 or 073 7273141.

* There's so much iron in the core of the planet that the Earth is a giant magnet. And that's a good thing for us. Without the magnetic field, we would get crisped by the solar wind. But there are troubling signs of changes in the planet's magnetosphere, which is why scientists at the Hermanus Magnetic Observatory are keeping a close eye on what's happening in this invisible but powerful force. Elisa Fraser of the Hermanus Magnetic Observatory in the Western Cape is also a participant in national science week on 028 312 1196.

* SciFest Africa, which just hosted the MTN Sciencentre at the national science festival in Grahamstown last month, is on the road to Lusikisiki this week for national science week, where Rhodes University students Dube Nyoni, Zandile Makina and James Aitchison will be explaining the biotechnology of umqombothi (traditional sorghum beer) and amarhewu, the popular soured milk drink. For more on national science week in the Eastern Cape, speak to Asanda at SciFest Africa on 046 603 1155 .

So wherever you are, get thinking, get doing. It's national science week, and it only comes once a year!

Science op die Vlaktes

The 21st of January is many things to many people. In the USA, it's Martin Luther King Junior day, in honour of the assassinated civil rights leader.

Elsewhere, it's International Spicy Food Day and the good residents of the United Kingdom are cheering themselves up (despite their miserable weather and crowded conditions) by making it National Fetish Day.

Here at the MTN Sciencentre, January 21 was the day we were visited by the students from four Cape Flats schools, courtesy of sponsorship from the Department of Science and Technology. Three of the schools came from Manenberg: Rio Grande primary school from Pecos Road; Manenberg primary school, on the corner of Kei and Kasouga roads and Downville primary school, on Tagus road in Manenberg.



But first up were the students from the Centre for Science and Technology (COSAT, online at http://www.cosat.wcape.school.za) in Khayelitsha/Mitchell's Plain. That's one of the COSAT students, Thembisa Qwabe, pictured above. There is a moving story behind that big grin.

Thembisa was brutally assaulted by two armed robbers who broke into the shack in which she was living nearly two years ago. Her father was away in the Eastern Cape at the time and she was at the time a Grade 11 learner at COSAT, fending for herself in one of the most dangerous areas in Khayelitsha.

The school says ''the attack itself and the indignities and fears that she subsequently had to endure almost broke her. But then, with a degree of determination and maturity quite extraordinary in one so young, Thembisa decided that she would not allow herself to become yet another helpless victim. She would not allow her dreams for the future to be compromised.''

Late in 2007 year, Thembisa (who has visited the MTN Sciencentre) matriculated at COSAT with an A-aggregate and distinctions in Biology, Maths and Xhosa. She attained Bs in Science and English. The picture above shows Thembisa leaving her home, armed with a suitcase and bedding, on one of the most exciting and fulfilling days of her young life. Her dream had finally come true. SHE WAS ON HER WAY TO STELLENBOSCH UNIVERSITY TO BEGIN HER NEW CAREER AS A MEDICAL STUDENT.

Now if that doesn't explain what motivates the staff at schools like COSAT and the team at the MTN Sciencentre, there are no words available!