Science, Nature and Tech

Everything You Need to Know about Rosetta and Philae

There has been a lot of excitement about Rosetta and Philae lately, but what are they and why are they so interesting?

What are Rosetta and Philae?

Rosetta is a spacecraft built by the European Space Agency; its primary objective is to help understand the origins and evolution of our solar system. In order to do this it has spent the last decade travelling into deep space so that it can rendezvous with a comet. Philae is the lander that has descended to the surface of the comet in order to take measurements and readings.

Science, Nature and Tech

Rock, Paper, Scissors… Robot???

The game rock-paper-scissors is well known around the world. We’ve all used it as a choosing method, or simply as a game! The easiest version is played between two people. Both players choose one of the three shapes for one of their hands, and reveal their choice at the same time, hoping their choice beats their opponent.

It’s nearly impossible to gain an advantage over your opponent, unless you wait long enough to identify their choice before you make yours, but the chances are that they will realise your cunning plan and call you a cheater!

This game is not simply a choosing game. There are mathematicians dedicated to constructing algorithms for the best strategy to win, and scientists devoted to creating unbeatable robots! In fact, researchers at the University of Tokyo have created a rock paper scissors robot that wins at rock-paper-scissors 100% of the time.

Art & History

Awesome History Resources for Kids

After the popularity of our Science Resources for Kids List, we’ve been asked to make a list of recommendations for history resources for kids.

We will update this list in the coming months, and will concentrate on resources you can access online – YouTube channels, online archives, websites and blogs. Don’t forget to look at the Jump! Mag History archive.

If you know any that we have missed, do leave a comment below.

Home, Health & Style

What is Procrastination, and Do You Have Time to Read This Right Now?

I’ve been trying to write this article for a while, but, well. I mean, I’ve had the time, but there just seems to be so much else to do. Like rearranging my books or the clothes in my wardrobe into colour order. And yesterday, I just had to plait all the tassels on my blanket and look through all my old photo albums.

Sound familiar? Procrastination is the science, no, the art of doing trivial things whilst putting off something important, like doing your homework or, ahem, writing an article. But putting things off for too long can get you into trouble. It’s much better to get on with tidying your room or revising for an exam than it is to see how many two pence coins you can balance on your nose (I managed 5 yesterday).

Food and Recipes

Interview with Great British Bake Off Finalists 2013 – Ruby Tandoh and Kimberley Wilson

We were lucky enough to catch up with Great British Bake Off finalists 2013 – Ruby Tandoh and Kimberley Wilson – at the fantastic ‘Be Remarkable‘ event sponsored by Nokia. They were happy to chat with us about baking, new experiences, and believing in yourself.