You may have heard the phrase ‘bird ‘flu’ quite a lot in the news lately. What is it all about? The bird flu that is spreading through parts of Asia is a disease caused by the avian influenza virus.

It mainly affects birds. So far several million chickens have either died or had to be killed because of the disease. The virus has also been passed to humans and a small number of people have died after catching it.

Greece is the latest country to confirm it has the bird flu virus, although scientists do not know whether it is the deadly type of the disease.

It's hard to control the spread of the virus because many birds fly long distances to find warm weather.

If you want to know more then click here

Would you like to be on TV?  Would your school give permission for you to miss a morning or even a whole day in the name of science? Have you a willing parent or guardian to accompany you?  If the answer is ‘yes’ to all three then read on: 

Xchange is The CBBC Channel's live, weekday magazine programme for 8 to 12 year olds. If you are 8-12 years old and interested in fashion and/or technology then here’s a fabulous opportunity!  Xchange have borrowed some of the latest clothes to hit the high street which have MP3 players, Bluetooth connectivity and mobile phones built into the fabric of the clothes. How cool is that? And they are looking for 2 children who are to come to the studio and model some clothes for a show about the future of fashion. You would need to be available (school permitting) to come to the studio between 8.30am and 11.30 on Thursday November 24th. The studio is in White City, West London.  All expenses will be reimbursed. So, not only will it be lots of fun; you'll meet all the presenters and you get to be on TV. What more could you want?

Ask your parent/guardian to email their name and address together with the name and age of the child to Hay-Wire.Clubhouse@nesta.org.uk with ‘Xchange’ as the subject.  We will forward the details on to Xchange and if you are picked they will contact you directly.

Remember – you MUST have your school’s permission and you MUST be accompanied by your parent or guardian.

Shrunken apple heads. These are really gruesome and easy to make. They need one to two weeks to dry out so if you hurry you have just got enough time to make them in time for Halloween. What a lovely table decoration.  Take it away, Ern!

You will need:

• An adult to supervise
• Apples
• Cloves
• A few grains of rice
• A cup of lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons salt

What to do:

1. Peel the apples and cover with lemon juice and salt to stop them from going brown.
2. Then with a peeler or spoon carve the face.
3. Place two cloves for eyes and use the rice as teeth.
4. Usually you would put the apples away somewhere dry and warm for about 1 to 2 weeks and watch them shrink but if you’re in a hurry you can put them in an oven set at a very low temperature - and keep an eye on them!

What’s going on?

The apple heads are shrinking as the apples lose water in the drying process. However, the process of shrinking human heads is much more gruesome!

Although there were many headhunting tribes in the world, only one group was known for shrinking human heads (tsantsa). They were called the Jivaro clan who lived deep in darkest Ecuador. The shrunken heads were used as trophies since it was thought the wearers harnessed the power of their unfortunate victims. They used to wear them clipped to their belts – a bit like Scoubidous.  Mind you, at least Scoubidous look pretty which is more than can be said for shrunken heads!

We have five copies of Flipside magazine to give away!!

Flipside is a magazine aimed at young people with an interest in science and technology, music and films, and sport and adventure. Does that sound like you? There are plenty of great features, photos and stories.  Enough to keep you going for the whole half-term holiday.

You can’t buy Flipside in the shops but you can find out more about the magazine on the website here: http://www.flipside.org.uk/

To win one of the five copies, all you have to do is send an email with your name, age and address to: Hay-Wire.Clubhouse@nesta.org.uk with ‘FLIP IT’ as the subject.

The winner will be chosen at random on Thursday 3rd November at 5pm.

Good luck!

Remember issue no. 28?  We offered one lucky reader the chance to win an insect-spotting kit in a nifty little backpack.  The winner is Jak Madgwick age 11 of Cornwall.  Well done Jak! Enjoy studying the little critters!

And if you weren’t so lucky this time then don’t lose heart, keep entering – you never know! Next time - it could be YOU…