Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2024 i The Primary Planet/News Flash Combo edition

Scoop the Poop Bolzano, Italy, close to the Austrian border, is turning to DNA to tackle the problem of dog poop on the streets. People are creating a DNA database for the almost 40,000 dogs in the region. Once that is up and running, street cleaners and health officials will be able to collect poop, have it tested and trace the owners, who will face fines of €50 to €500! Any owner who refuses the DNA profiling for their dog will face fines of up to €1,048. Owners will be expected to have blood tests for their dogs, at a cost ranging from €65 to over €100. Some other regions and cities are getting in touch with Bolzano, with a view to making similar laws. Bolzano receives over a hundred…

A nurse is trained to give care to people who are sick or injured. Nurses work with doctors and other healthcare workers to make patients well again and to help keep them healthy when they recover. Some nurses work night shifts so that patients are cared for during the night. In hospitals, nurses give medicine to their patients and check them regularly by taking their temperature and measuring their blood pressure. They have to be able to understand the computers and machines that monitor patients and they must keep exact records of everything they do during their shift. This information is passed on to doctors, specialists and other nurses so that the patient gets the best possible care. Nurses work in hospitals, doctors’ offices and out in the community. Sometimes…

The Shenzhou-18 crewed spaceship launched at 8:59 p.m. on April 25, 2024, from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The crew will stay in the space station for about 6 months and is scheduled to return in late October. It is reported that they will witness the arrival of the Tianzhou-8 cargo craft and Shenzhou-19 crewed spaceship during their stay. The crew will utilize the scientific experiment cabinets and extravehicular payloads to carry out more than 90 experiments in the fields of basic physics in microgravity, space material science, space life science, space medicine and space technology. The country’s first in-orbit aquatic ecological research project will also be implemented during the mission. Using zebrafish and goldfish algae to establish a self-cycling aquatic ecosystem in orbit, the project aims to make a…

I am a common iguana–a type of giant lizard- and I live in the rainforests of northern Mexico. Iguanas also live in Central America, the Caribbean islands, and southern Brazil. We are sometimes called green iguanas, but we can be brown, yellow, blue, orange or even purple. My tough waterproof skin acts as camouflage and can change colour, allowing me to blend into the trees in which I live. I spend most of my life high up in the trees, searching for food or just basking in the sun. I mostly eat leaves, flowers and fruit. I also like small insects, which I catch with my long tongue, and I’ve been known to snack on eggs every now and then. I am a cold-blooded reptile, so I need the sun’s…

Eye Spy Time for the magnifying glass, everyone! To solve this puzzle, all you have to do is find the 10 objects … in under 90 seconds. Time starts … NOW! Word Search For this month’s word search, we’ve packed the grid with museum-related words for you to find. As always, we’ve included a secret word not listed below. Here’s a clue: This person will explain everything. ▢ Museum▢ Gallery▢ Learn▢ Explore▢ Knowledge▢ Exhibition▢ Curator▢ Fossil▢ Ancient▢ Mummy▢ Planet▢ Art▢ Painting▢ Sculpture▢ History▢ Tour▢ Artifact▢ Gift shop▢ Display Crack the Quote Each answer to the multiplication sums corresponds to a letter in the grid provided. But don’t forget, once you figure out the letters, you will then need to reorder them to make the words. Only then can you decipher…

La Sagrada Família is a huge Catholic church in the centre of Barcelona, Spain. Work began on the church in 1882 after Josep Maria Bocabella, a bookseller, had paid a visit to Rome. He decided that Barcelona should have a fine church, and architect Francisco de Paula del Villar was given the job of designing the building. However, del Villar was replaced in 1883 by local architect Antoni Gaudí. He scrapped the original plans and began building a wonderful modern church. He worked on the project until his death in 1926. By then only a quarter of the building was completed. Today about half the building is finished, but with modern machinery and technology, it is hoped that the church will be finished by 2026. Gaudí believed that La Sagrada…

DID YOU KNOW? Museums rely on ticket sales, government grants and philanthropy to keep going. 1. The Louvre Location: Paris, FranceAnnual Visitors: About 9 millionMain Attraction: Mona Lisa The Louvre is the world’s biggest art museum. The Louvre’s most famous masterpiece, Mona Lisa, has its own bodyguards. 2. Smithsonian Institution Location: Washington DC, USAAnnual Visitors: About 30 millionMain Attraction: Hope Diamond The Smithsonian Institution is home to 19 museums, nine research centres and a zoo! 3. The British Museum Location: London, EnglandAnnual Visitors: About 5.8 millionMain Attraction: The Rosetta Stone The British Museum was the first national public museum in the world. According to The Economist, it has been accused of dealing in stolen goods, exhibiting “pilfered” objects. 4. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Location: New York, USAAnnual Visitors: About…

Artist: Edgar Degas (1834–1917)Nationality: FrenchDate: about 1882Dimensions: 48.26 cm x 60.69 cmStyle: ImpressionismMedium: Pastel on paperOn display at: Norton Simon Museum and J. Paul Getty Museum (owned jointly by both) Edgar Degas was fascinated by ballerinas – so much so that 200 of his works show them! Only a few show them dancing on stage – instead, he painted them training, at rehearsals or in private moments – the reality behind the glamorous fantasy. Here, it’s as if we’re spying on these two women when they think no one is watching. The ballerina sits awkwardly with none of her usual grace. We’re spying but we can’t be sure of what they’re feeling. They’re waiting; the title tells us. But waiting for what? For an audition? To make an entry on…

Official Name: Federal Republic of NigeriaPopulation: ≈ 228 millionCapital: AbujaArea: 923,800 km2Landforms: Cameroon Highlands, Jos Plateau, Mandara MountainsMajor Rivers: Niger River, Benue RiverOfficial Language: EnglishMoney: Naira Where is Nigeria? Nigeria is in western Africa. It has an 853 km-long coastline on the Gulf of Guinea (part of the Atlantic Ocean). It is bordered by Benin to the west, Niger to the north, and Chad and Cameroon to the east. The Rivers Nigeria gets its name from the Niger River. The river enters the country in the northwest and flows southward through tropical rainforests and swamps. It joins with the Benue River to form the Niger Delta before it meets the Gulf of Guinea and flows into the Atlantic Ocean. A delta is a triangular piece of land formed when a slow-moving…

The International Space Station (commonly known as the ISS) is the largest artificial satellite in orbit around Earth. Several countries worked together to build the ISS . After it was made, it was carried up in pieces and assembled in the space. The ISS is the largest structure ever built in the space. It weighs around 420 tonnes and is about 110 metres end-to-end. The first piece was launched in November 1998. More pieces were added over the next two years to make the station ready for people to live and work there. The first crew arrived in November, 2000. People have lived on the space station ever since. There are six sleeping quarters, two bathrooms, a gym and a large bay window called the Cupola. The combined space of…

Some of my friends have already started talking about playing games and they want me to join them. I know if I don’t, they’ll all think I’m odd. Lina, aged 12 Hi Lina, As you get older, this kind of thing is going to happen more and more, so it’s great that you’re actually stopping to think about it now. Games are very popular and this is how lots of people in schools socialise. And the fact that you don’t want to do something you’re not comfortable with is a sign of maturity. Peer pressure, on the other hand, can influence you. It can be really hard to be different. If something doesn’t feel right for you, then don’t do it – your conscience is really your best guide here.…

$6 Million Comic Comics and magazines have always been popular forms of reading material. With shorter articles and features full of interesting information (just like the magazine you are reading right now!), magazines and comics are often a little more affordable than books, usually costing only a few euros. However, can you imagine a magazine selling for $6 million (€5.6 million)? Superman has leapt a world record in a single bound. An issue of Superman’s Action Comics No. 1, which introduced the world to the Kryptonian hero, sold at auction for a record $6 million, making it the most valuable comic book in the world. It tops an issue of 1939’s Superman No. 1, which sold for $5.3 million in 2022. Before that, the most valuable comic in the world…

Country Played: England Equipment: An egg, and a good catcher! Now, normally you would get in trouble for throwing eggs. Not in this wacky sport, though! Yes, it’s the World Egg Throwing Championships. There are five different contests – and all of them involve catching and throwing eggs. Throwing eggs is a two-person sport that requires excellent skills in throwing, catching and judging distance. The team members start by standing 10 metres apart and throwing the egg back and forth. After each successful catch, the distance between the team members gets wider and wider. The winners are whichever team can go the longest without breaking their egg. Any team that drops or breaks their egg is disqualified. Egg throwing is open to anyone – but there are some people who…

All plants move during the day. Usually, they will move their leaves a little bit to make the most of the sunlight. Many species of plants close their leaves at night and open them again during the day. The movement is very slow and small, and we do not notice it too much. However, the Sensitive Plant full-on faints when you touch it. A tropical wonder The Sensitive Plant is also known as the Sleepy Plant, the Shy Plant, the Shame Plant or (our favourite) the Touch-me not. It comes from the Caribbean and South and Central America. Why does it faint? Why does the plant collapse when it is touched? Well, this is how the plant defends itself from being eaten by herbivores. In nature, herbivores want to eat…

Deoxyribonucleic acid – commonly abbreviated as DNA – is a fundamental part of our biology, as it contains the instructions necessary for the development and functioning of all living cells. DNA is structured as a long spiral chain made up of units called nucleotides. These nucleotides form two long strands that coil around each other, creating a shape known as a double helix. This structure resembles a twisted ladder, and the ability to wind and unwind allows the DNA to replicate itself. This replication process occurs each time a cell divides. Under normal conditions, when DNA is not replicating, it appears as a mass of white strands. Scientists refer to this form of DNA as chromatin. The physical structure of chromatin alters at different stages of a cell’s life cycle,…

Brown bears eat mostly vegetation. They also eat small mammals. At birth, bear cubs are blind. In the wild, they spend most of the day looking for food. They have a particularly good nose: they can sniff food at a distance of several kilometres. Data about brown bears ● There are about 200,000 brown bears worldwide, with the largest population in Russia.● The brown bears can reach a weight of between 150 and 370 kilograms.● In the wild, brown bears may live between 20 and 30 years of age.● Brown bears give birth to between one and four cubs at a time.● A brown bear may chow down about 40 kilograms of food each day. Threats Brown bears live in wooded, mountainous regions. With deforestation, it is becoming difficult for…