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.

Toys and Games

A Fun Rainy Day Activity – A Schnitzeljagd

What on earth is a Schnitzeljagd?’ I hear you say.

A Schnitzel is a German word for a thinly sliced piece of pork, chicken or veal, which is dipped in egg and then coated with breadcrumbs. Similar to chicken nuggets but much tastier! Jagd means hunt.

A Schnitzeljagd means a chicken-nugget-hunt? Not quite! The word Schnitzel is also used in Papierschnitzel – little bits of paper.

Art & History, Popular

The Indian Princess Suffragette – Sophia Duleep Singh

You’ve probably heard of the Suffragettes, who fought for women’s rights, but did you know that an Indian princess was one of the leading campaigners in England?

Art & History

Falconry and the Tudors

When you write a book that is set in a particular period of history, it is important to get the details correct. This means that writers of historical fiction have to do a lot of research.

The first scene of Katharine Edgar’s novel, Five Wounds takes place on a hillside in sixteenth century England, where her heroine, Nan, is hoping to see her young merlin falcon make its first kill. Katharine had find out all about falconry and the Tudors – the keeping and training of falcons, and other birds of prey.

When I showed the first scene of Five Wounds to some writing friends, some of them asked a question I wasn’t expecting. ‘How rich is Nan’s family? They live in a big house so why does she need to hunt for food?’

Good question!

Science, Nature and Tech

Real Life Minecraft – What is Quartz?

In Minecraft, Quartz blocks are used as decoration, and can be mined using any pick axe, but have you ever wondered about the real life stone, and asked yourself, ‘What is quartz, and what is it used for?’ Time to find out!

Nether Quartz is abundant in Minecraft, but did you know that the real life quartz is the second most abundant mineral in the earth’s continental crust? Beaten only by feldspur!