In July I drew up a few goodies for Kids Discover Matter. This one dealt with with a new type of liquid that is being used as body armor. It supposedly stays in a liquid form until something strikes it, then instantly hardens, then just as quickly turns back into a liquid.

In that same issue we talk about how your weight can change due to gravity (say, Earth vs. Moon) but your mass will still be the same.

Spend a few minutes with the prince formerly known as artist…

The pervasive holiday mug—purchased by us in a spirit of unbridled holiday procurement—does its annual job, but sits empty and forlorn the rest of the year. Owing to its themed appearance, this perfectly useful object is shelved for all but 2 or 3 weeks a year. We may not always see it, but it’s there! So, what do we call it (and other objects like it)? Pour thing…

1st place: Cupbored (pl8speaker)
2nd place: Christmugs (Ivan88, Cleveland, OH)
3rd place: Whine stein (pl8speaker)
Honorable mention: Mug-grrrr (2801aAudrey)
word-play

Isn’t it nice to receive presents? Especially when those “thoughts of giving” are encased in 9 miles of decorated paper, 42 square feet of cardboard and bubble wrap, and 18 pounds of tissue. The actual gift (we’ll tackle this subject later) itself comprises about 2% of the actual mass, but we are left to deal with the holiday flotsam. So what name do we give to these severely over-wrapped objects of affection? No peeking….

1st place: Gift-trapped (waverider, Auckland, NZ)
2nd place: Wraptilian Attack (Bonnie K.)
word-play

Most scientists will tell you that no two snowflakes are identical. We say HOGWASH! The only reason for their skepticism is that no one has ever come up with a name for these rare but delightful hexagonal twins. So (knowing full well the editorial wrath of Nature magazine is about to strike us), what do we call these freaks of winter? Come on you snow-it-alls!

1st place: Identicolds (pl8speaker)
2nd place: Sixual deviants (Dunn M., Oakland, CA)
3rd place: Fro-zen (verbal herb)
Honorable mentions: Snow big deal (blitzen)
word-play

Oh no! This can’t be happening! You testosterone-filled “keepers of the clicker” know exactly what we’re talking about here. Every now and then you’ll begin your fevered search for something better, only to be bested by 185+ channels… of COMMERCIALS!! Despite having a lightning thumb, there is no content in Mudville this day.

So what do we call this media limbo, this brief but painful lack of programming? [Batteries not included.]

1st place: Chanulling (anonymous)
2nd place: Advertsity (Lea R., San Francisco, CA)
3rd place: Tiv-no (verbal herb)
Honorable mentions: Faux-gramming (blitzen)
word-play