Just as America is recovering from Hurricane Katrina it seems another one is on its way. This one is called Hurricane Rita and it’s heading for Texas.  Texas is home to the Johnson Space Centre in Houston.  Houston is the fourth largest city in the USA and the centre of the US oil industry.   There are many oil refineries in Texas and these produce petrol for cars and lorries and fuel oils for aeroplanes.   If the oil refineries are damaged this will cause a big problem. One thing we will notice is that the price of petrol will go up.

Did you know that there is such a thing as a Hurricane Season? Don’t worry, it rarely happens here but it often happens in America. Usually between June and November.  During this time tropical storms can build up over the sea.  Winds form and because the Earth is turning on its axis, the winds start to spin round. They spin clockwise in the Southern part of the world and anticlockwise in the North.  If the winds get strong enough (more than 39 mph) they are given a name.  For example Tropical Storm Katrina.  But if the winds increase in speed and reach 74 mph or more then they are called a hurricane.  A few weeks ago we had Hurricane Katrina which caused lots of damage in New Orleans and Louisiana.  Hurricane Rita is on its way.  But who gives the names?

Five facts about hurricanes

1. Hurricane means ‘Big Wind’
2. A typical hurricane is 300 miles wide
3. It has an eye, or calm centre, of 20 - 40 miles across.
4. A storm surge, a huge dome of water up to 100 miles wide and 20 feet high can follow. This flooded New Orleans.
5. Tropical storms are given a name if the wind speed is 39 mph or more. Once it reaches 74 mph or more it becomes a hurricane.

If you want to know more then look at the NASA SciFiles site.

Burger and large fries please! What?  You’re waiting for more burgers?  Oh OK – I’ll just be over here doing an experiment…AND HOLD THE PICKLE!!!!

You will need:

• drinking straw wrapped in a paper wrapper (like the sort in MacDonald’s)
• water or fizzy drink

What to do:

1. Tear the ends off the straw wrapper and bunch it up together in the middle of the straw.
2. Slide the bunched up wrapper off the straw so that it is lying on the table.
3. Dip your straw in the drink and then put your fingertip over the end of the straw so that some liquid is trapped in the straw.
4. With your finger over the end of the straw, take it out of the drink and position it over the middle of your bunched-up wrapper.
5. Release your finger and allow a few drops of drink to drip onto the wrapper.
6. Hey! Look at that!  It’s wriggling and growing.

What’s going on?

Did you see the wrapper wiggle and grow? Did you also notice that as the water soaked into the paper, it slowly absorbed and worked its way along the length of wrapper? But why does water do this? When the small drop of water touched the crumpled wrapper, the water crept from dry paper fibre to dry paper fibre. This particular ability of water to creep along is called capillary action. As each fibre absorbs water, it swells and straightens out, this makes the wrapper get longer and grow. Looks a bit like a wiggly worm doesn’t it? 

Conservationists are looking for your help to count the number of tawny owls in Britain this autumn.

Although the brown and grey birds are the most common type of owl found in the UK, experts are worried their numbers might be decreasing.

But the creatures only really come out at night, so are very hard to count.

The birds are usually found living in old trees in woodland or parks, are about 35-45cm tall and have a wingspan of 80-90 cm.

The best time to listen out for the birds is one or two hours after the sun has gone down. You can even do it from your bed with the window open!

If you'd like to take part in the survey, click here and send off for a form.

The count will start at the beginning of October.

And if you are interested in birds then try the birds of prey quiz on the CBBC Newsround site

We couldn’t resist these owl jokes to finish off.

What happened when the owl lost his voice?  He didn’t give a hoot!

Two owls were watching cricket.  One said “Two hits?”  The other said “Two hits to who?”

Know any more?  Then send them in!  What are you waiting for?  Email Hay-Wire.Clubhouse@nesta.org.uk with ‘JOKES’ in the subject line and we’ll print the best.  Don’t forget to put your name and age!