Planex News

The Magna Carta is a royal charter of rights (a document that is signed by a king or queen) agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. Although it is written in an early form of Latin, there are a few full-english translations such as this one: JOHN, by the grace of God King of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and Count of Anjou, to his archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justices, foresters, sheriffs, stewards, servants, and to all his officials and loyal subjects, Greeting. KNOW THAT BEFORE GOD, for the health of our soul and those of our ancestors and heirs, to the honour of God, the exaltation of the holy Church, and the better ordering of our kingdom, at the advice of our reverend fathers Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, primate of all England, and cardinal of the holy Roman Church, Henry archbishop of Dublin, William bishop of London, Peter bishop of Winchester, Jocelin bishop of Bath and Glastonbu

History has lots of mysteries that have never been solved. Wether it is the distant past or as recent as WWII, you never run out of questions to ask when you study this bizarre topic. The Bermuda Triangle Since humans just started to be able to read and write, vehicles have gone missing inside the Bermuda (or Devil’s) Triangle. Numerous reports of planes, boats, rafts - and evening people - going missing inside this area of sea have confused scientists, historians and investigators for centuries. Just what is so special about this mysterious patch of ocean? It is very mysterious as no scrap parts, dead bodies, or any objects suggesting that a plane crashed here. Adding to this, planes wouldn’t actually be able to crash, as there is no land in or anywhere near the Bermuda Triangle.   Since humans just started to be able to read and write, vehicles have gone missing inside the Bermuda (or Devil’s) Triangle Reports of vehicles suddenly going out of control are very popular around the Tri

In the Kamchatka Peninsula of far east Russia, there lies a coral reef formally known as the valley of death. Surrounded by seas that are very cold and are almost frozen all year round, there are dozens of mini volcanoes crammed into one space it has got the nickname ‘Land Of Fire And Ice’.  However, there is more to Kamchatka than its wild beauty - in the shadow of one of one of its fiery volcanoes, called Kihpinych, there is a small, narrow valley - that animals enter - but never leave. The Valley Of Death was first discovered in 1975 by volcanologist Vladimir Leonov. At first, Vladimir thought is was just a normal coral reef, but as he explored further, strange icy clouds and a number of dead animals drew him in. Nobody had properly explored them before, so it was a complete surprise to him. But, just as he feared, there were hundreds of dead animals with blood dripping down their head that had been perfectly preserved by the ice. What was even more strange is that they don’t seem s

Many companies like SpaceX have tried (but failed) to send rovers and robots to Mars, also known as the Red Planet. But now NASA is going to move forward with their new Mars rover. Just like Solar Orbiter, Perseverance promises to ‘touch the Red Planet’, with a whole heap of hi-tech technology on board. The mission takes the art of space travel further as the whole point of the mission is to see whether life existed on Mars, or even see if microbial life exists NOW. It does this by searching for habitable conditions or dips in ground level where water could have thrived millions of years ago. Perseverance introduces a fast moving, hi-tech drill that can bore into the ground. It sends a message to the ‘brain’, which sends ANOTHER message to the arm, which picks the sample up and stores it in a drawer which will later be examined back on a Earth. Bigger samples or samples that share too heave will be left behind a special rock which future humans will pick up on a future mission. There a

In Hucknall, Nottinghamshire we go past a theme park testing facility, a local told us. Here, they test exciting rides to see if they are safe before they are shipped all across the world. These, of course, are the latest rides available and I’m sure they will thrill and excite even more than they used to. In 15th century Russia, people would slide down wooden slopes covered in ice. Fast forward four centuries, this sort of entertainment was found in Paris, but with some simple modifications, like adding wheels. Later on, in the 19th century, there was machinery in place that would pull the cars to the top of the track. The first ever modern rollercoaster was revealed to the public in 1884 in the US. Although this only went up to speeds of 6mph, it still entertained people. The revolution in rollercoaster history happened when people decided to use metal instead of wood. Steel, the metal they used, is more aerodynamic, is stronger, and can cope with much faster and more forceful moveme

Ancient civilisations around the globe have made many petroglyphs (huge drawing on the ground). But what do they all mean? Did aliens come down to ancient peoples and tell them to create them? As many mainstream archaeologists continue to say they just made them, no reason, Toby Parry-Russell investigates. Most petroglyphs and other huge drawings of its type are carved into usually the desert floor. The most-used technique is to carefully rub away the the darker sand to reveal the lighter sand underneath. When this is repeated in various shapes, it can form amazing patterns and picture most people will never be able to do even in their wildest dreams.  Most petroglyphs show images of the so-called ‘gods’. Usually as figures, the ‘gods’ look like humans except with strange features, like strange hair, small heads, strange scaly skin or something else. For example, among the Nasca lines of Peru - an array of strange petroglyphs, there stands two figures. The first one’s name translates t

Parrotfish are more than just ordinary fish. As well as being able to create pyjamas for itself, it can also help create coral reefs! Living alongside many other fish, such as clownfish and stonefish, the parrot fish may seem ordinary. But in reality, it anything but. One of it’s amazing powers includes creating ‘pyjamas’. It essentially vomits out a thick protective mucus that coats its body and stops predators from picking up its scent Night-night, parrotfish! Adding to this, they can also change from male to female! It might sound impossible, but the parrotfish thinks not. Scientists, don’t know how this happens though; maybe they can’t change! Why do white sandy beaches look so nice? Probably not because they are actually made of parrotfish poo! Yep, you heard that right - they can also help to form coral reefs!  As remarkable coral reef residents, these superheroes of the sea can come in many different colours and sizes. Their front teeth are fused together to make a beak, and use

As far as we know, liquid metal robots from the future have yet to show up. But new research into alloys and lattice materials shows how liquid metal shapes can be deformed and reformed using heat. Researchers have developed a method of wrapping Field’s alloy - a mixture of bismuth, indium and tin - in a lattice or shell made out of rubber-like elastomers, which gives the liquid metal some useful extra properties. In particular, the liquid metal and elastomer lattice combination can be deformed after heating, and then recover its original shape after being heated up again a second time: not quite a robot rising up out of a lava pit, but the same sort of idea. “We spent over half a year developing this manufacturing process, because this new lattice material is very hard to process,” says mechanical engineer Pu Zhang from Binghamton University. “You need to find the best materials and processing parameters.” “Without the shell, it won’t work, because the liquid metal will flow away. The

Scientists have recently discovered that smokers are getting Covid-19 less than non-smokers. They do not know the cause for this, but most researchers suggest the smoke acts as a shield.