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I’m not sure this quite fits into the category of ‘science demonstration,’ but it sure looks like fun. And it might just spark clever ideas in some of you, so: how to make a bubble tube foam-erator.

(via Make)

Here’s another competition for you: Capture It!, from our friends at Films for Learning. Entry is open to schools affiliated with the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, and there are excellent prizes on offer.

Be very very quick, though, as the deadline for this one is June 13^th.

“What camera should I buy?” is just about the most common question I get asked by prospective SciCast film-makers. My usual reply is “What have you got already?” — most people, it seems, have a mobile phone that can record video, or a stills camera that has a video mode, or a mate who has a video camera, or there’s something stashed away in the back of the cupboard in school, or…

When people actually want an answer, however, things get trickier. Broadly, you get what you pay for. We’ve some basic notes on the main SciCast site to get you started, but it’s hard to know what you’re actually getting for your money.

Enter the BBC. Springwatch last week featured an excellent story with a pair of teenage brothers who are keen wildlife cameramen. It’s a lovely piece, but it’s also interesting (and useful) since it sets footage from their cameras alongside professional equipment. The brothers are using cheap-and-cheerful Sony miniDV cameras, and the footage from them looks rather flat and blurry, and somewhat purple-edged, next to the shots from the ‘proper’ camera.

But you know what? Once the clips are compressed down to web video quality, it doesn’t make anything like as much difference as you might expect. Having a good eye is more important than having the ‘best’ camera gear.

Don’t believe me? You’ve three more days to catch the film on iPlayer. It starts about 24 minutes in.

Here’s an experiment you probably shouldn’t repeat at home. Not because it’s particularly dangerous, mind — more that it’s going to really really hurt. Lots.

Tom Scott tests out the often-repeated notion that you can remove your fingerprints by soaking your hands in pineapple. His film is brilliant, even if the experiment… umm… isn’t the most sensible I’ve ever seen.

Credit for dedication, though.

Nice post at leading UK environment blog Environmental Graffiti about our Vacuum Bazooka film, complete with amusingly tenuous link to low pressure weather systems. Come on, folks, you’re just having fun knocking over plant pots, right?

Meanwhile: you may have noticed the total lack of films about environmental issues. Why? Simple — nobody made any. Seems like a hole that needs filling, no?

The National Physical Laboratory are taking entries for their annual Water Rocket Challenge event, to be held on 25th June. Head on over to their website to sign up, and for a terrific guidebook on all things water rocket.

Also head to the main SciCast site for a film of last year’s competition, for an idea of what you’re letting yourself in for.