Like microscopic armies
battling germy foes
a microbe war is raging
inside our snotty nose.
Staphylococcus aureus
can make us very ill.
Resistant to most medicines
it’s difficult to kill.
But scientists who study snot
have seen these bad germs die
when a different bacteria
is plentiful nearby.
They plan to use this winning germ
to make antibiotics.
Such science research might be called
exotic snot biotics!
Let’s hope this won’t come as a shock
but Earth’s not made of solid rock.
Instead it’s like those fancy chocs
you sometimes get inside a box.
The centre’s dense and very hot.
And hard just like a hazelnut.
It’s mostly made from iron ore.
We label it the Inner Core.
The Outer Core’s a liquid goo
like runny toffee soft to chew.
The iron’s melted here as well
but wouldn’t taste of caramel.
The Mantle is a bit bizarre.
A kind of squishy-tough nougat.
It’s sometimes liquid sometimes not.
We call it semi-solid rock.
And finally the chocolate coating.
Thin and crisp and kind of floating.
Made from rocky plates that thrust
some bumps upon our choccy’s Crust.
Although our World’s too big to eat
and wouldn’t taste much like a sweet
a nutty chocolate compares
with eating through Earth’s many layers.
When Nobody is Watching
There’s lots of things that you can do
when nobody is watching you.
Play with your food then wipe your hands
all down your front and on your pants.
Or pick your nose, or sniff with glee.
There’s no-one there to see you – see?
Scratch your penknife on the chair
and carve your own initials there.
Pull a thread-long from your clothes
then tie it round your tongue and nose.
Doodle where you shouldn’t scrawl
or stick your gum against the wall.
Bite your nails or suck your thumb …
but look-out for a Peeping Tom!
(Nikola Tesla 1856 – 1943)
Nikola loved his childhood cat
the sleek, majestic black-Macak.
A cat whose fur would click and spark
when days were chilly, dry and dark
as stroking black-Macak’s fur coat
could cause a tiny lightning bolt.
Nikola Tesla loved his cat
the sparkling, zappy black-Macak.
That static electricity
inspired young Tesla, cleverly
inventing things quite technical.
Especially electrical.
From neon lights and radios
to radar and remote controls.
Transistors, robots, X-ray zones
and AC power to our homes.
Tesla had a genius knack
that started through his cat Macak!
There’s plenty of ways
to tell if the day is
too hot or cold
without being told.
You could try and catch
a fluffy pet cat
then watch and observe
to see how it’s curved.
When days are too hot
it’s likely as not
that cat’s all sprawled-out
in some shaded spot.
When researchers test
what temperature’s best
for comfort of cats
they find out these facts.
Those felines agree
that eighteen degrees
is purr-fectly warm
for cat’s furry form.
Then when it’s too cold
those pussycats fold
up cosy and still
to keep out the chill.
The animals have hairy fur.
The birds have got their feathers.
These keep their bodies warm enough
throughout the chilly weather.
The fibres in those fluffy coats
criss-cross to form some air-holes
that can’t escape or waft away
because of all the hair-folds.
Their skin gives off some body-warmth.
Just like a radiator.
Their fluffy coats help keep that heat
as thermal insulators.
The warm air’s trapped inside the fur
to shield them from the outside.
The way that blankets on a bed
are cosy on the inside.
But if that fluffy coat gets wet
those air-holes fill with water.
Their body’s warmth escapes as that
wet coat’s a heat conductor.
The soggy fur clings to their skin.
No longer insulated.
And water makes their body cold
as it’s evaporated.
Any fluffy animal will
shake that water well away.
So if your puppy’s had a swim …
Watch-out for all that water spray!
Compared to fur or human hair
feathers are a smart affair.
As down, their fluffy unzipped form
of under-feathers, keeps birds warm.
But barbs and barbules, shaft and quill
hide clues to how birds fly with skill.
Their contour feathers, zipped and long
make wafting wings so light yet strong.
From dowdy mums to vivid males
with crazy crests and splendid tails;
for camouflage or bright display
feathers have lots of roles to play.
First published in Double Helix (September 2015)
Reproduced with permission of CSIRO
www.doublehelix.csiro.au
The project’s elementary:
find rock-types sedimentary
then look for marks of mystery
that tell Earth’s ancient history.
Some skeletons of bone turned stone
and eggshells left by creatures grown
much bigger than an elephant.
Were dinosaurs intelligent?
A lot of effort is exerted
digging rocks and getting dirtied
when you are a scientist
and proud Pal-e-ontologist.
You have to love those scrub-fowl chooks
seen scratching in the forest’s nooks.
Like Robin and his Merry Men
they roam the jungle, cock and hen.
They’re dressed in dowdy blue and brown
while orange legs are bright low down.
And if you spot one, notice that
it wears a quiff-like Sherwood hat!
They build big nests of forest leaves;
communal giant compost heaps
to bury eggs and keep them warm
and hide them from the jungle’s harm.
And in the process, make a mess
of scattered leaves, continuous
that cover paths and walking trails
initiating human wails.
But most of all I love their calls
that echo through the wooded halls.
To some, it sounds like strangled kids
that shriek for help before they’re missed.
But night and day, their yodelling
is interspersed with chuckling
that signifies they’re happy chooks
despite their rather funny looks.
Australian Children’s Poetry 