There has been a lot of important scientific research done this year.  Here are a few new and exciting things that we can be thankful for.

In February, the James Webb telescope discovered a new moon orbiting Uranus.  This is the 29th object observed to be orbiting Uranus.  The new moon is estimated to be only six miles in diameter.  It is provisionally named S/2025 U 1, but will eventually receive a new permanent name bestowed by the International Astronomical Union.  All of Uranus's moons have names that come from Shakespeare plays, and the new moon will follow the pattern.

In August, we learned that scientists at the University of California, Davis have developed wheat plants that produce their own fertilizer.  The team used the gene-editing tool CRISPR to get the wheat plants to produce more of one of their naturally occurring chemicals.  This chemical helps bacteria in the soil to convert nitrogen from the air into a form that plants use to grow.  This technology could be used to reduce pollution and lower costs for farmers around the world.

In September, the Perseverance rover discovered a rock on Mars that originated somewhere else.  The rock is nicknamed “Phippsaksla," and has a high iron and nickel content.  This metal combination is typical of iron-nickel meteorites that form in the core of large asteroids.  This all suggests that the rock was formed somewhere other than Mars.  This is not the first time a rover has found a non-Mars rock on Mars, but it is the first time for Perseverance!

These are just a few of the amazing things that happened in science this year.  Did we miss something important?  Tell us about it in the comments!

As we all get ready to feast on Thanksgiving, we thought it would be fun to share some other, exciting and science-y things you can do with food.  Here are some ways to turn your Thanksgiving into exploration and investigation.

Bending Turkey Bones
Materials:
turkey bones
two jars
vinegar

Directions:
1. Wash and dry your leftover turkey bones.
2. Fill one jar with vinegar and one jar with water.  Label the jars.
3. Put a bone in each jar.  Let them sit for one week.
4. Rinse off the bones and see which bones will now bend!

**The bones that were in vinegar bend because the calcium carbonate in the bones reacted with the vinegar. This experiment shows how bones need calcium to stay strong so they don’t break or bend easily.

Make Your Own Butter
Materials:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
container with a lid
salt (optional)

Directions: 
1. Pour the heavy whipping cream into the container with the lid.  The container should be no more than half full of whipping cream.  (Half liquid, half gas)
2.  Shake, shake, shake, shake, shake!  As you shake, you can periodically remove the lid and observe the changing states of matter as your liquid and and gas create a whipped solid: butter!
3.  When your butter is ready, you can refrigerate it.  It will become a bit more solid.
4. Add salt for a bit more flavor.

**Shaking cream makes butter by breaking down the fat globules, causing them to clump together and separate from the liquid.  When all the fat globules have separated, the remaining liquid is called buttermilk.

...Or Maybe Make Whipped Cream
Materials:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
bowl
hand mixer
sugar (optional)

Directions:
1. Pour the cream into the bowl.
2. Using the hand mixer, the cream until it forms stiff peaks.  (Stiff peaks are when you lift the mixer and the whipped cream peaks stay straight up and don't curl or flop over.)
3. Add a little sugar if you want sweet cream.

**Whipped cream is a colloid, which is a mixture where one substance is evenly distributed in another.  In this case, gas bubbles (air) have been mixed into liquid cream, creating a semi-solid foam. The whipping incorporates air into the cream, creating countless air bubbles.  The fat molecules in the cream form a network around the air bubbles, stabilizing them and preventing them from popping.  If you keep whipping cream past the whipped stage, the fat will separate and you get butter!

Nicole Aunapa Mann is a Navy test pilot and NASA astronaut.  In October 2022, she made history by becoming the first Native American Woman to fly in space.

Of Wailaki heritage, and born and raised in northern California, Mann is an enrolled member of the Round Valley Indian Tribes.  Growing up, Mann was always interested in math and science.  After learning how to pilot fighter jets in the U.S. Marine Corps, she realized that she could combine her flight skills and her scientific interests, and she applied to be an astronaut.  She struggled with her confidence and self-doubt, but persevered.

In 2022, she travelled to the International Space Station as the commander of Space-X Crew 5.  During the 157 day mission, she performed two spacewalks installing upgrades to the solar arrays that power the station.  Inside the station, she worked on many experiments, including testing ways to grow better tomatoes in space and 3-D printing human tissue as a way to see if organs can be grown in space for medical needs.

She is currently in training for the upcoming Artemis missions and is a contender to be the first woman on the moon.

John Bennett Herrington is a retired United States Naval Aviator, engineer, and former NASA astronaut.  He made history in 2002 by becoming the first Native American to fly in space.  He is a member of the Chickasaw Nation.

Born in 1958 in Watumka, Oklahoma, Herrington grew up during America's space race with the Soviet Union.  His childhood heroes were astronauts.  Herrington's father was a flight instructor, which spurred his interest in aviation.

When he graduated from college in 1983, Herrington enrolled at the Navy's aviation Officer Candidate School.  In 1985, he was commissioned as a naval aviator.  He went on to spend the next ten years logging more than 3,800 flight hours on various assignments for the navy.

In 1996, NASA selected him from 2,500 applicants to be a part of the new class of astronaut candidates.  Herrington flew on the space shuttle Endeavour as a mission specialist as it delivered new crew to the International Space Station.  During the mission, he performed three spacewalks.  The total mission duration was 13 days, 18 hours, and 47 minutes.

Herrington took pieces of his Native American heritage with him into space.  He brought a flag from the Chickasaw Nation, a flute (made by a Cherokee friend who was an engineer at the Kennedy Space Center), and a feather.

In July 2004, Herrington spent ten days as the commander of the NEEMO 6 mission living in NASA's Underwater Aquarius lab studying survival techniques for space exploration.  He retired from the Navy and from NASA in 2005.

Science is kind of gross sometimes, and that can be part of the process and part of the fun!  To celebrate the last week of spooky season, here's a roundup of some icky Halloween science that you can do at home.

Puking Pumpkin
Materials:
Carved Jack-o-Lantern
Baking Soda
Vinegar
Food Coloring
Large plastic jug or bucket
An outdoor space that can get messy

Directions:
1. Take your pumpkin outside and put it somewhere that's easy to hose off.
2. Take the top off of your pumpkin and add 1/2 cup of baking soda.  Pour slowly so the baking soda doesn't all fall out of the Jack-o-Lantern's mouth.
3. In the jug, mix 2 cups of vinegar with a few drops of food coloring.  
4. Slowly pour the vinegar over the baking soda and watch the chemical reaction erupt right out of the pumpkin's mouth!

The chemical reaction happening inside the pumpkin's mouth is
CH3COOH (l) + NaHCO3 (s) = CH3COONa (l) + CO2 (g) +H20 (l)
Vinegar has the chemical formula CH3COOH. Baking soda is a base also known as Sodium Bicarbonate and has the chemical formula NaHCO3. During this reaction the products are sodium acetate (NaC2H3O2), water (H2O), and carbon dioxide (CO2). Carbon dioxide is the gas that causes the bubbling during the reaction.


Mummified Apples
Materials:
Apples
Recycled containers that can hold an apple and some salt
Large container of table salt, sea salt, Kosher salt, or rock salt
Baking soda
Epsom salts (optional)
Pumpkin carving tool (optional)
Kitchen scale (optional)

Directions:
1. Carve faces into your apples.
2. Create holes all over the apple so moisture can escape.  Core the apple to speed drying (optional).
3. If you have a kitchen scale, weigh the apples and record their weights to keep track of how much water they lose.
4. Fill a container with enough salt to cover the apple.  Label it with the date, the apple’s starting weight and write “salt” or “NaCl” on the container. Put one of the apples in the container and cover it completely, packing salt into all of the holes. Close the container.
5. Fill another container with equal parts table salt and baking soda (and Epsom salt, if you have it).  Mix well, label the container, and cover the other apple with the mixture.  Close the container.
6. After a few days, remove the apples, scrape out the salt and weigh them. Record their weight and return them to the salt. Check them every few days and continue to dry them in salt until they are shriveled up. Replace the salt with dry salt if needed.

In Ancient Egypt, natron was used to preserve mummies.  Natron is a natural salt mixture containing the chemicals sodium carbonate, decahydrate (soda ash), sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), sodium chloride (table salt), and another salt called sodium sulfate.  These salts act as desiccants, which are chemicals that remove water from things.

Fake Blood (but make it science)
Materials:
Three small cups or glasses
Flour
Water
Corn syrup
Chocolate syrup
Red and blue liquid food coloring
Cutting board or plate, preferably white or light in color
Three small spoons
Sink or bowl with water to rinse cups and cutting board
​Towel

Directions:
1. Mix one tablespoon of flour in two tablespoons of water in one cup.
2. Measure three tablespoons of corn syrup into a second cup.
3. Measure three tablespoons of water into a third cup.
4. Add two drops of red food coloring to each cup, and watch how the food coloring disperses over the fluids.
5. Use small spoons to mix the red food coloring with the other ingredients in all three cups.
6. Use the small spoons to take approximately one-quarter teaspoon of red liquid from each cup and place the liquids as separate blobs in a row near the edge of a cutting board or plate. Lift the side with the blobs so the board is tilted and watch how the liquids run down.
7. Water runs way too fast to mimic blood well. Discard the contents of this cup. Rinse off the cutting board and wipe it dry.
8. Pour half of the contents from each of your other two cups into the now empty third cup.
9. Perform your test again, placing small amounts of the three liquids on top of the cutting board or plate, tilting the board and watching how the liquids run down.
10. Continue with the recipe that mimics blood the best, OR, if you did not find a reasonable match yet, proceed with using the third cup with the flour, corn syrup, water and food coloring. 
11. Human blood is always red. To get a realistic look, add a tiny bit of blue food coloring and/or a little chocolate syrup. (Blue food coloring is very strong. It is best to make a drop of blue food coloring on your cutting board or plate, dip the tip of your mixing spoon in it, and use this spoon to stir the tiny amount of liquid in your cup.) Add gradually.  A tiny bit of blue or brown will mimic the bright, oxygen-rich blood. Add a little more for the darker blood that is low in oxygen.
12. Place a blob on the top of your cutting board or plate, tilt the board, and watch it flow.  Add corn syrup, flour, water, food coloring (red or blue) or chocolate syrup, one at a time, to improve your fake blood. Check the results after each addition, and do not forget to keep track of what you added. You will need your final recipe to recreate your fake blood at any time.
13. As a last test, try your blood on your skin, teeth, a surface, or wherever you'd like to use it.

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station like to get in the Halloween spirit.  Individually or as a group, they'll wear costumes (sometimes constructed from materials found aboard the space station).  Here are some photos of astronauts on Halloween for you to enjoy!  All images are from NASA.

Mental health is crucial for wellbeing and quality of life.  Good mental health is linked to better physical health, healthier relationships, better cognitive function, and supports overall growth and potential.  It also promotes resilience and helps us to cope with life's challenges, manage stress, maintain positive emotions.

Today, we are pleased to share an interview that we had with Ashly Leavitt.  Ashly has been our guest speaker at our Academy Camp mental health workshop for the last three years.  She is a great friend to STAR Camp, and we are delighted to have had this chance to tap into her expertise.

Q: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
A: My name and credentials in the non STAR world are Ashly Leavitt, ACMHC (associate clinical mental health counselor), but at STAR Camp my call sign is "Shakespeare". It was given to me by a student my second year presenting on mental health at Academy Camp.  I am a therapist in Davis County and long-time supporter of STAR Camp and it's missions.

Q: What is mental health and why is it important?
A: "Mental health" encompasses a variety of areas but what I have focused on at Academy Camp is knowing and connecting with who you are or want to be, and then increasing in strength, resilience, compassion, and congruence with that person. Feeling good about yourself, even on hard days. That's mental health. And it's important because we sometimes prioritize perfection over authenticity, which only leads to empty, unattainable expectations and feeling like we're alone. Fighting those falsehoods will always be important.

Q: What inspired you to pursue a career as a mental health professional?
A: I experienced some great pain and trauma and as I came out of it I couldn't shake the thought, "I need to help the people who are still there." So I left my teaching career, jumped into grad school, and changed my life. 

Q: What do you specialize in and what sort of issues do you help people with?
A: I primarily specialize in helping women who have experienced trauma as a result of their partner's addiction. This is often called, "betrayal trauma." I am also a public speaker, divorce mediator, and divorce coach. 

Q: What normally happens in a counseling session with you?
A: Laughing, crying, welcoming of all the emotions, and some rekindling of a connection with your authentic self. 

Q: How can someone tell if they might benefit from seeing a counselor, and what are some signs that it's time to seek help?
A: If you are a flawed human or you grew up with flawed humans or you have to interact with flawed humans now, you might benefit from seeing a counselor. In other words-EVERYONE. I think we should have planned 6 month mental health check ups like we do for the dentist.  But, signs that you should seek help even more than just a check up: feeling alone, feeling like no one knows you, likes you, or wants you, regularly being attacked with thought gremlins that tell you you aren't enough, you aren't capable, or you should be _________ (skinnier, prettier, a better parent, more like them, etc.) then PLEASE talk to someone. 

Q: What is a myth or misunderstanding about mental health or mental health counseling that you would like to correct?
A: Thankfully, we're coming out of the stigma that people who see counselors are crazy or that we in the profession are quacks, but there is still an element of, "This isn't bad ENOUGH to need counseling," or "I'm strong enough I don't need it." Counseling isn't about being weak or strong, good or bad, it's simply about reconnecting and getting a second pair of eyes/ears on the things you're seeing/hearing.

Q: What sort of lessons have you learned in your career or personal journey that could help others?
A: Not all therapists/counselors are a good fit. Therapists are like t-shirts, just because we looked good online doesn't mean we'll fit. Try a few on and don't give up if the first one doesn't fit. 

Q: This time of year can be stressful, especially for people coping with family trauma.  What are some ways that people can deal with the stress that comes with the holidays?
A: Check out my video!

​(Please note: this video contains discussion of the creator's personal beliefs and faith.)

Happy spooky season!  You know how we like to celebrate here at Douglas Space and Science Foundation--with messy, mysterious, and ghostly science projects.  Here are three fun projects you can do at home to get in the spirit of things.

Oozing Monster Heads
Materials:
8 oz water bottles
Glue
Borax detergent
Baking soda
Vinegar

Directions:
1. Decorate your water bottles to look like monsters.
2. Take the lid off a bottle and add about 2 oz of water.
3. Add 1 tsp Borax and 5 tsp baking soda to the water. Put lid back on and shake well.
4. In a separate bowl, mix together 2 Tbsp vinegar, 2 (generous) Tbsp glue and a few drops of food coloring.  Mix well.
5. Shake the bottle of Borax/baking soda again.  Set the bottle inside a large bowl.  Remove the lid from the bottle.
6. Pour the glue/vinegar solution into the bottle quickly and all at once.
7. When your monster's brain as stopped exploding, you can squeeze the rest of the slime out of the bottle and play with it in the bowl!

Vanishing ghosts
Materials:
Biodegradable packing peanuts
Black permanent marker
Small bowl
Water

Directions:
1. Use your marker to draw a ghost face on each packing peanut.
2. Fill the small bowl with room temperature water.
3. Place a ghost on top of the water.  Bubbles will start to appear, and the ghost will vanish before your eyes!
4. Try again with cold and warm water and see which method causes your ghosts to vanish the fastest.

Spooky Ghost Sounds
Materials:
Balloons
Hex nut
Marbles

Directions:
1. Squeeze the hex nut through the mouth of a balloon.  Make sure it falls all the way into the balloon.
2. Blow up your balloon.  Be sure not too blow it up too big or it may pop.
3. Tie off the balloon and draw a spooky ghost face on the side.
4. Hold the balloon in your palm with your fingers and thumb going down the sides.
5. Swirl the balloon in a circular motion until the hex nut begins to spin around the sides.
6. Once you get the hex nut spinning, use your other hand to hold the balloon still.  The hex nut should continue to spin for a few seconds, creating an eerie sound!
7. Repeat your experiment with a marble and see if it creates the same effect.

The Perseverance rover has been on Mars for 5 years now.  This month, NASA told us that a rock sample taken from an ancient dry riverbed on Mars shows potential biosignatures--possible signs of former life!

A potential biosignature is a substance or structure that might have a biological origin, but more analysis is required to determine the presence or absence of life.  According to NASA, the rover came across the sample when it was "exploring the "Bright Angel" formation, a set of rocky outcrops on the northern and southern edges of Neretva Vallis, an ancient river valley measuring a quarter-mile (400 meters) wide that was carved by water rushing into Jezero Crater long ago."

Perseverance analyzed the sample and found that the formation is made of clay and silt, which, on Earth, are excellent preservers of ancient microbial life.  It is also rich in chemical compounds that could have provided energy to ancient microbes.

This is the closest we have ever come to finding life on Mars!

Happy first day of fall!  We love to celebrate all of the seasons with science.  In this blog, you'll find instructions for how to write a letter in invisible ink, make art (using science), and make some delicious fall treats!

Secret Messages With Invisible Ink
Materials:
Cardstock
Measuring spoons
3 cups or small bowls
Spoon
Q-tips or a brush
Old newspaper or cardboard
Paper towels
For method 1: Water, lemon, and an iron
For method 2: Baking soda, water, turmeric and rubbing alcohol

Method 1:
1. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon into a bowl.
2. Add half a teaspoon of water to the lemon juice and mix it.
3. Dip a Q-tip into the lemon juice solution.
4. Use the wet Q-tip to write your message on cardstock.  Rewet the Q-tip if necessary.  Be careful not to soak the paper.
5. Let the paper dry completely.
6. Set the iron to high.  Run the iron over the paper and watch your message appear!

Method 2:
1. Mix 1 tablespoon of baking soda with 1 tablespoon of water in a bowl.
2. In a different bowl, mix 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric with 3 tablespoons of rubbing alcohol.
3. Dip a Q-tip into the baking soda solution.
4. Use the wet Q-tip to write your message on cardstock.  Rewet the Q-tip if necessary.  Be careful not to soak the paper.
5. Let the paper dry completely.  If there is baking soda residue on the paper, remove it with a paper towel.
6. Dip a Q-tip or brush into the turmeric solution.  Paint the whole paper with the turmeric solution and watch your message appear!

Marbled Cards
Materials:
Two large plates
Shaving cream
Liquid food coloring (at least two different colors)
White printer paper or cardstock
Scissors
Spoon
Toothpick
Jumbo craft stick
Paper towels
Spray bottle
Water

Method:
1. Place the two plates next to each other.
2. Cut two letter-sized pieces of paper in half crosswise.  Then fold each in half, creating four cards.
3. Put shaving cream on the two plates and spread it around with your hands.  Create a layer with an area at least as large as your paper card and about half an inch thick.
4. Drop several drops of the first color of food coloring onto the shaving cream on both plates.  Repeat with any other colors you are using.
5. With the toothpick, gently swirl the colors in the shaving cream until you have created a design that you like.  Try not to overmix.
6. Use the spray bottle to spray water on top of the color pattern on one of the plates.  Use 5-10 pumps of water.  Allow the foam to sit for one minute.
7. Place your first card with the front facing down on top of the shaving cream design and press it gently so that the whole card is covered in shaving cream.
8. Repeat the process with the other card and plate.
9. Remove the cards from the shaving cream.  Scrape any remaining shaving cream from the cards using the craft stick or a paper towel.
10.  Let the cards dry.

Toffee Apples
(Caution: Boiling sugar is HOT!!!)
Ingredients:
8 large Granny Smith apples
3 cups of caster sugar (superfine sugar)
1/3 cup of water
1/4 cup of liquid glucose (or light corn syrup)
1 teaspoon of white vinegar
red food coloring

Directions:
1. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Wash the apples, remove the stems, and dry well.  Push in a thick skewer or popsicle stick.
3. Add the sugar, water, glucose, and vinegar to a large, heavy-based saucepan.  Cook over very low heat stirring constantly until the sugar completely dissolves.
4. Bring the syrup to a boil and put a candy thermometer on the side of the pan.  Boil until the mixture is at the hard crack stage (302 degrees F).  Use a pastry brush with a little water on it to brush down any sugar crystals that form on the sides.
5. Remove the pan from the heat and mix the food coloring in.  Let the bubbles subside.
6.  Carefully tip the saucepan on an angle and dip the apples, turning them a few times to coat them well.
7.  Cool the apples on the prepared baking sheet.
​
Spiced Apple Cider
Materials:
10 Apples
Spices-cinnamon sticks, cloves, nutmeg, and cardamon
Stove
Muslin cloth
Potato masher
Bowl

Directions:
1. Core the apples and cut into large chunks.
2. Place apple chunks in a large pot.  Cover with water and add a selection of spices.
3. Heat until the water starts to boil.  Simmer for about 10 minutes.
4. Use the potato masher to thoroughly squish the apples.
5. Place the muslin cloth over the bowl and carefully pour the apple mixture over the top.  The apple juice will drip through the muslin, leaving the pulp behind.
6. Gather up the ends of the muslin and squeeze the pulp over the bowl to extract all of the juice.
7. Discard the pulp and enjoy your cider!