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...

There’s no use sugar coating it: According to one scribe in medieval England, A.D. 1110  was a “disastrous year.” Torrential rainfall damaged crops, there was an extreme shortage of food — and, as if that wasn’t bad enough, on one fateful night in May, the moon simply vanished from the sky. “On the fifth night in the month of May appeared the moon shining bright in the evening, and afterwards by little and little its light diminished,” the scribe wrote in the Anglo-Saxon script known as the Peterborough Chronicle. “As soon as night came, it was so completely extinguished withal, that neither light, nor orb, nor anything at all of it was seen. And so it continued nearly until day, and then appeared shining full and bright.” Clouds weren’t the problem; if they were, the scribe would not go on to describe how bright and twinkling the stars appeared while the moon faded from view. Nor was the moon being blocked from view by Earth’s shadow — if it was, the skywatcher would have seen the...

Geckos are small lizards that usually live in the jungle. They are only one among many species like Komodo Dragons, Vivipar Lizards, Green Lizards, Sand Lizards and hundreds more reptiles. In warm countries, where most geckos live, there are lots of houses that get annoying insects. Geckos sometimes come into people’s houses, and they are happy to have them there, because geckos eat the insects. Like chameleons, geckos have the ability to change colour to whatever they want. This can help them blend in to the surroundings and stop predators from spotting them. This also includes hunters who sell their scales for a lot of money. Scientists do not know how they do this. Most suggest there is a special organ in their body that stores chemicals and then, in a spraying-like action, it sends them up a tube which opens in a small whole in their body and it changes a colour when released to sunlight. Adding to this, their tongues are actually longer than their body! Yes, you heard that right -...

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...