BYO Death Ray: Smoking bushfires are bad for your health

Bushfire smoke covers Melbourne.

Victoria has been hit by large bushfires, resulting in dangerous smog over Melbourne. Dylan is here to explain.

The recent mix of wind and heat over Victoria led to an emergency situation, with bushfires burning around the state. The after-effects of bushfires include smog or haze. This smog/haze has been blown over Melbourne and with many fires still burning, the smog is likely to continue. Haze is defined as “an atmospheric phenomenon where dust, smoke and other dry particles obscure the clarity of the sky”.

The smoke presents a serious health risk, and health authorities and organisations continue to urge residents to be vigilant and take action to protect their health and the health of others. EPA Victoria issued an alert to residents about this issue. Their advice is as follows:

• People with respiratory or cardiac disorders should take their medication and minimise strenuous outdoor activity on smog alert days.
• Avoid driving where possible. Consider public transport, cycling or walking.
• Do not burn off outdoors or light incinerators (most local councils have restrictions on burning off).

Victorian Chief Health Officer Dr Rosemary Lester released a statement saying that children and the elderly should decrease outdoor activity when smoke levels are high to prevent medical issues. “Where possible, this sector of the community should also limit the time spent outdoors,” Dr Lester said. “Anyone with a heart or lung condition should take their medication as prescribed by their doctor... People with asthma should [also] follow their asthma management plan.”

Hazey links

• In Victoria, www.emergency.vic.gov.au has up-to-date information on bushfires and other emergency situations.
• The Country Fire Authority (CFA) has an awesome website for kids, where you can explore a bushfire, play games and more.

BYO Death Ray: Carbon nanohairs

Dylan is back with some nanonews.

Carbon nanotubes may help robots to better sense their environment and more!

Carbon nanotubes, is there anything they can't do?
Source Wikimedia Commons

Hairlike fibre sensors made out of tiny carbon tubes and silver particles may just be the new way to sense pressure. Whether for robots or micro-controllers, these new sensors open a world of possibility!

These sensors can detect tiny changes in pressure. A film of carbon nanotubes on the fibres carry tiny electrical signals that change when the nanotubes feel pressure, such as from wind or touch. The film of nanotubes also enables the fibre to flex over and over again while always returning to its original shape.

Help! I woke up 800 million km from home

Imagine going to sleep one night and when you wake up you are 800 million km from home. This happened to the comet-hunting Rosetta spacecraft this week after nearly three years of hibernation.

Rosetta was built by the European Space Agency and launched in 2004. It has been busy: It passed close to the Earth three times, in 2005, 2007 and 2009, and it had close encounters with Mars (2007) and two large asteroids (2008 and 2010). But its main mission is to study a comet called 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.

WAKE UP! You've got work to do.
A computer generated image of the Rosetta. Public Domain image

Young Wildlife Photographer - AND JOURNALIST - of the year

Are you 17 or under?

Yes? Then keep reading.

Do you own or have access to a mobile phone that takes pictures and video?

Yes? Then keep reading.

Do you want a free trip to London, England?

Yes? Then keep reading.

Do you want the chance to GO ON A FIELD ASSIGNMENT WITH THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM (London)?

Of course you do - keep reading.

BYO Death Ray: NASA News

Dylan is back with some recent news from NASA.

A 'creature' with large tentacles has appeared 600 km off the Australian coast. It was spotted in the south-eastern Indian Ocean by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) module on a NASA satellite. The 'creature' is more than 100 km wide and is quite bright in the ocean, sparking questions about whether there are large life-forms under the earth, like in the 2013 movie Pacific Rim.

A giant monster from the deep? Source: NASA

Silly Science: Chemistry Cat Compilation

That Crazy Chemistry Cat is always joking around. Dylan has sent in his favourites.

You can make your own here (if you do, share it with the Death Ray Science News community in the comments or send it to me at deathrayscience@gmail.com).

BYO Death Ray: Space station spotting

Dylan headed out into the field (just outside his house) to see the International Space Station. Here is his report.

On January 3, 2014 at 9:36pm, I was able to see the International Space Station for around six minutes, passing from the NNW (north-north-west) towards the ESE (east-south-east) at 50 degrees. As I was seeing it for the first time, I did not know what to expect. The skies were very clear and at around 9:38, I saw a fast moving straight white dot/line travelling in the correct direction. Using a compass and my notepad I took down some observations about the sighting.

• It travelled in the correct direction at 50 degrees from the horizon.
• It travelled faster and straighter than any other object in the sky.
• It is one of the brightest objects in the sky.
• It is far away from the stars and easy to see when you find it.

The ISS is the brighter dot in the centre of the screen as I took the photo.