One of the most difficult fields of scientific research is social behavior. Every year a large number of scientific studies are undertaken to try and understand the human nature better. Some of them come up with conflicting results, other defy common sense and logic, but all of them are immensely entertaining.

Most of the studies are based on the volatile area of relationships, while courtship rituals and dating behavior tend to dominate the scene. So it isn’t surprising that at the University of South Brittany a study was conducted to see how the weather could affect social behavior.

In specific, an attractive 20 year old male approached women in the 18-25 age bracket walking alone down the road and asked for their phone number. The solitication took place on cloudy days and sunny days but not on rainy days. The data collected indicated that the women were more receptive and open to flirtations when it was sunny as compared to when it was cloudy.

So if you are looking to get the phone number of that special girl, just wait till its sunny. Why not give yourself the boost of knowledge from a scientific research project to up your chances of getting that phone number?!

You think of a lake and its  usually pictures of still open waters on which you can float a boat that come to your mind. Not so with the lakes buried under Antartica. These lakes are hidden below many layers of ice, but they do exist as the US scientists who drilled into Lake Whilliam recently proved.

This lake which is buried almost under a kilometer of Antarctic ice was sensed by the drilling equipement. The breakthrough was then verified by sending down a remotely controlled camera. The scientific exploration project at Lake Whilliam is not th eonly one of its kind.

There have been ongoing efforts to shed light on the buried lakes of Antartica by a number of different nations. Last December a team of British investigators were unfortunate and had to leave their study of Lake Ellsworth incomplete as they faced technical problems.

The Russians were sucessful in obtaining samples from Lake Vostok, another buried lake in Antartica. They have not yet announced any major discoveries based on the tests conducted on the water sample as yet. There are more than 300 identified bodies of water under the Antartic ice and the scientific exploration project will be a long one.

There are germs everywhere, or so we have been told. In this fun to do science experiment we are out to prove that there are indeed germs to be found in abundance all around us. Germs are essentially microscopic organisms which are so tiny that they cant be seen by the naked eye.

Not all germs are bad for us, but some kinds of bacteria and viruses can make us ill. So it is a good idea to get rid of any germs on your hand before every meal. After all who knows which germs on your hand are going to cause you to fall sick and which ones are harmless.

 Thanks to Glo Germ Gel we can now actually observe the germs on our hands using the ultra violet light pen. First apply the gel to your hands like you would use a hand lotion. Now darken the room and shine the ultra violet light pen on your hands to see where germs are concentrated on your hands.

Now go to the sink and wash your hands with soap and water nicely. Return to the dark room and shine the ulta violet light again. You will see that washing your hands has truly helped you get rid of a number of germs on them. Try out this science experiment with your friends for fun.

A simple chemical reaction can be used to blow up a balloon as demonstrated in the last blog post. Now learn how you can use that simple scientific demonstration to make a full fledged science project. The process of the experiment has already been described so here we will focus on the variables that you can use to create the science project.

The size of the water bottle can be the first variable that we use in the project. Does the smaller half liter bottle help blow up the balloon better than a larger one liter bottle? Follow the identical process in both cases and note the difference down in your notebook.

Another variable can be the temperature of the vinegar in the water bottle. Warm up the cup of vinegar in the microwave for a minute and cool down another cup of vinegar in the freezer for one minute. Now use the two different temperatures of the cups of vinegar to observe what happens in the science experiment.

The last variable that you can use is the amount of baking soda that you fill into the balloon. Does two spoons of baking soda fill it up faster than one spoon. What happens if you increase the quantity to three spoons. Answers to all these variables will give you a great science project.

Here is another balloon based science experiment that you can perform. We use the by product of a simple chemical reaction to inflate a balloon. Here’s what all you will need to conduct this experiment.

A half liter water bottle, a balloon, a cup of white vinegar, couple of spoons of baking soda and a funnel. In case you don’t have a funnel handy you can make one out of plain paper by making a cone and taping it to hold it in position.

Stretch the balloon out a bit by pulling it along to loosen the rubber in it. That way it will be easier  Now use the funnel or paper cone to fill the baking soda into the balloon and keep it aside. Pour the cup of vinegar into the empty water bottle.Very carefully without letting any of the baking soda fall into the bottle attach the mouth of the balloon onto the open mouth of the water bottle that contains the vinegar.

Make sure that its a good fit and no air can escape out of the sides. Now hold up the balloon straight so that the baking soda inside can fall into the bottle. As the baking soda reacts with the vinegar the reaction will cause the release of a large amount of carbon dioxide which will shoot up into the balloon and inflate it. A simple science experiment that you can amaze your friends with.

Demonstrating how static electricity can help you roll an empty can of soda is a cool trick, but you can turn this brief and entertaining science experiment into a full fledged science project. The process can be kept the same but introduce some variables into the experiment and then make records of what happens with each variable.

Possible variables could include the size of the balloon, the length of  the person’s hair you charge the balloon on and even the amount of liquid inside the soda can. So here’s how you will structure your science project. Use two different sizes of balloons and see which one is able to roll the can faster.

A second variation will include using two volunteers with different lengths of hair to charge the balloon. Does the balloon get charged better with longer hair or with shorter hair? Try it out and then record the differences in your notebook.

The weight of the soda can may also be a major factor in the ability of the balloon to push it around. If it becomes too heavy the can will not be able to roll at all. So to check just how much water it takes for the can to not move you can measure out 10 ml water and add to the can and try the process again. The science project can have  many results based on the variables that you use.

Science can help you have a lot of fun if you know how to use it right. The static electricity we used to levitate an orb in the last blog post can be put to use to impress your friends or maybe even win a bet. Similar charges repel each other and so as soon as you touch the tinsel with the pipe the charges become the same and begin to push each other away.

Since the tinsel is thinner it levitates. In this case the soda can is heavy so its not going to float up in the air, but you can still get it to move. Here’s how you can move the soda can without your hands ever touching it.

First drink up the soda inside the can. Then blow up a large size balloon. now rub the balloon on your hair or a piece of silk, whichever is handy. Have your friend place the can on its side on a flat surface. Hold the balloon close to the soda can but don’t touch it.

You will find that the can will get attracted towards the balloon and will roll towards it. Make sure that the can does not touch the balloon or the polarity of charges will change and you will no longer be able to perform this science experiment.

Static Electricity is the charge that certain substances develop when they are rubbed against another material. For instance if you rub a plastic comb on your dry hair you will charge the comb with static electricity and be able to pick up small bits of paper with it.

So how are we going to use static electricity to levitate an orb? Let’s find out what materials we will need. You will need a PVC pipe one inch diameter and about two feet in length, along with that you will need some tinsel, the kind that is used to decorate the Christmas Tree at home. Pick the narrowest and thinnest tinsel so that its easy to levitate.

Now tie six strands of the tinsel about 6 inches in length together at both ends. Make sure that the tinsel is not tangles in between so that when it levitates it will form an orb easily. Now use your hair to charge the PVC pipe piece and use it to raise the tinsel orb.

The charge on the PVC pipe repels the tinsel and raises it away from the pipe making the tinsel form an orb. You will need to recharge the pipe with static electricity each time you want to do the levitation science experiment.

Will having a more interactive school desk help you learn better? Apparently these sci-fi types desks actually do students to do better at school work. Researchers at the School of Education, Durham University, have been conducting studies on how a more interactive and futuristic classroom can help students learn mathematics faster and better.

The scientists have been working on 400 students in the age group of 8 to 10 years for over three years to compile their research data on the specially designed desks. Professor Liz Burd who headed the research team said that their aim was to encourage far higher levels of active student engagement, where knowledge was obtained by sharing, problem-solving and creating, rather than by passive listening.

The SynergyNet project designed software and desks that recognize multiple touches on the desktop using vision systems that see infrared light. The new desks with a ‘multi-touch’ surface are the central component, and these are networked and linked to a main smartboard. This allowed all the students to participate instead of one or two taking the lead.

This classroom enabled both active engagement and equal access. Professor Burd said that the tables encouraged students to collaborate more effectively. They observed groups of students enhancing others’ understanding of mathematical concepts. Such collaboration just did not happen when students used paper-based approaches.

Oxidization is the layer on your metal possessions which takes away their sheen and shine. This layer of oxides can be cleaned up using some common acids available around the house. Here we can undertake a science project using a common device to be cleaned and trying out different types of acidic substances from around the house to clean them.

For the sake of simplicity the objects to be cleaned can be pennies that have lost their shine due to the copper oxide layer that has formed on them. The layer will be cleaned using three different types of acidic fluids namely white vinegar, lemon juice and orange juice.

The procedure for each liquid cleansing would have to be identical. First take three identical plastic containers and keep one penny each in them. Now pour vinegar in the first, lemon juice in the second and orange juice in the third container.Let the pennies stay submerged in the acidic liquid for ten minutes. Then take them out and rinse them off with some water.

Keep an observation notepad ready to see which of the liquids was the most successful in cleaning the copper pennies. You can repeat the science experiment by varying the time duration that you keep the pennies submerged.