Table of contents for Issue 305 - January 2021 in MiniMag

Providing evidence used to convict criminals DNA can last for a long time, especially when it is protected inside bones and teeth. Scientists have developed ways to extract DNA and to do DNA fingerprinting tests from very small amounts of material, like a dried blood spot or even from cells in saliva left over from a person licking a stamp. DNA fingerprinting has provided evidence used to convict thousands of criminals. It also enables scientists to look at old cases using stored samples and evidence. This has allowed many prisoners who were found “guilty” to be set free when DNA tests showed that they did not commit the crime. DNA fingerprinting was also indispensable in identifying victims of the September 11, 2001 bombing of the World Trade Centre in the…

Spiders can be found almost everywhere on Earth. You will find them on cold, Arctic islands and in hot deserts, such as the Namib Desert in Namibia. Spiders live in extreme habitats such as high up on mountains, on dunes, in caves, along the beach between the high and low water marks, and even underwater. You will, however, find more spiders in temperate regions (where it is not too hot or cold) because of the rich plant life in these regions. Most spiders spend their entire life in one particular habitat, which is influenced by several abiotic (not biological) factors such as temperature, humidity, wind and light intensity. Biotic factors that have an influence on them are vegetation, availability of food and whether or not there are many natural enemies.…

In England, overseas mail was left at the London Coffee Houses from where it found its way to the ships. After 1815, a shipping letter office was opened in London and sea captains were then obliged to transport this mail. The first mail boat, the Eclipse, reached Table Bay on 13 April 1816, after a journey of 114 days. Unfortunately, this new mail boat service was soon suspended and the Cape was once again dependent on the favours of commercial ships which called there. It was only in 1850 that a monthly steamboat service between England and Cape Town was introduced to transport Her Majesty's mail. The contract stipulated that the shipping company had to complete the journey within 35 days at £ 30 750 a year. For more information…

A New Year's resolution is a tradition, in which a person decides to continue good practices or changes an undesired trait or behaviour, to accomplish a personal goal, or otherwise improve their life. The ancient Babylonians are said to have been the first people to make New Year’s resolutions, some 4,000 years ago. They made promises to their gods at the start of each year that they would return borrowed objects and pay their debts. This year I will do DID YOU KNOW? Only about 8% of people keep to their new year’s resolutions!…

The amazing giraffe Not only is the giraffe the tallest mammal, but its tongue is also surprisingly long. Both its long neck and tongue stand it in good stead when munching away on the foliage of acacia trees. These trees often have the shape of an hour-glass, because the giraffes move around the trees and pluck the leaves at one level. Amazingly giraffes have exactly the same number of vertebrae in their long necks as humans have – seven. Dinosaur hatching problems There is a theory explaining why dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago. It is suggested that an increase in cosmic rays caused their eggs to have thicker and thicker shells. As a result their young could no longer hatch. Charmed snakes In the Far East a snake…

Linus Pauling (1901-94) in the USA and a team in King’s College, London were close to a solution, when two outsiders, Francis Crick and James Watson, joined the field. They gathered information and built large models of the molecules (tiny chemical units) that make up DNA, until they pinpointed its exact shape. On 4 March 1953, they started assembling a spiral structure (a double helix); by 7 March it was finished; and by 25 April it was in print. They had discovered “the secret of life”. Monastery gardening Austrian monk Gregor Mendel (1822-84) carried out painstaking work on thousands of pea plants to discover how they inherit characteristics, such as colour, from their parents. He found that living things carry pairs of “factors” that determine the form of their offspring…

Start the new year by checking your plastics knowledge! Use the clean-up team’s numbers and clever recycling advice to complete the crossword puzzle below. Make 2021 the best recycling year in your home! www.cleanupandrecycle.co.za REDUCE. REUSE. RECYCLE.…

GOAL 1: NO POVERTY January 1 New Year’s Day 4 World Braille Day World Braille Day is a reminder of the importance of accessibility and independence for those who are blind or visually-impaired. 11 International “Thank-You” Day 17 World Religion Day 24 International Day of Education 27 BACK TO SCHOOL 31 Inspire Your Heart with Art Day GOAL 2: ZERO HUNGER February Environmental Health Awareness Month BASF wants to contribute to a world that provides a viable future with enhanced quality of life for everyone. “We create chemistry for a sustainable future” 2 World Wetlands Day “Wetlands and Water” is the theme for World Wetlands Day in 2021. 4 World Cancer Day 10 World Pulses Day 11 International Day of Girls and Women in Science 12 Darwin Day 13 World…

MUST WATCH! BRAND-NEW ORIGINAL SERIES CN TO THE RESCUE MEET CARTOON NETWORK’S NEW UPROARIOUS FAMILY! Meet Tapiwe Lembwa (Taps), Cartoon Network’s greatest fan in all of Africa! With the help of his cartoon chommies, and visits to his ‘Imagination Room’ filled with archives of his favourite Cartoon Network episodes, he solves daily household mshikashika in a surprising and imaginative way. However, with a no-nonsense slay queen of a mother, intensely focused bra, Garcia, who always gets drawn into Taps’s schemes, and a quiet, but wakker Gogo, no day – or episode – is without its twists and hilarious fun!! Catch all seven episodes from Monday, 18 January, to Sunday, 24 January, @ 18:35. DStv channel 301 CARTOON NETWORK AFRICA MUST WATCH! BRAND NEW EPISODES MASHA AND THE BEAR MASHA’S NEW…