Issue 22 - Innovation

Scoop

Inspiring curious young minds through the magical world of story-telling

Scoop2 min readTechnology & Engineering
Fun Facts
The internet is 10,100+ days old. How old were you when the internet was launched? Ada Lovelace was the daughter of the world’s most famous poet, Lord Byron, and a mathematician. She was a visionary who predicted that computers could do more than
Scoop8 min read
The Dullard
The villagers of Yockenthwaite knew him as ‘Jack Dull’, ‘Jack Dolt,’ or sometimes just ‘The Dullard’. His real name was John Dullard, last in a long, illustrious line of Dullards, and a man – so they said – of quite miraculous stupidity. The kind of
Scoop2 min read
What Is Innovation?
Human beings have been inventing things since we first stood up – arrows to catch prey, axes to chop it up. The wheel. The printing press. Steam power. The internet. The list goes on and on (and on). But humans don’t stop at inventing. We also innova
Scoop2 min read
John Keely’s Marvellous Machines
Some inventions – such as the printing press, the television set and the smart phone – have literally changed the world we live in. But what about the independent flywheel, the Globe Motor, the dissipating engine, the multiplicator, the automatic wat
Scoop3 min read
The Great Inventor: Back To The Future
Einstein really did have a daughter out of marriage in 1912, and she really did go missing and was never found. Hands up whose father is Einstein. Just me. It seems normal now, but I was teased at school for it. My father was secretly building a time
Scoop4 min readFashion
A Condensed History Of The Light Switch
If you have ever woken up from a lovely dream about lying on a bed of lettuce only to find a light switch where before there wasn’t one, or perhaps there was one in the middle of your kitchen floor, in the cat’s bed or at the bottom of your bath, the
Scoop2 min read
The Duck’s Favourite Ball
Once upon a time Duck and Frog were playing catch with Duck’s favourite ball. When Frog caught the ball he threw it really far away over the hills. Duck said, ‘Do you know where I could get another ball?’ Frog said, ‘Why don’t you ask Fish who lives
Scoop3 min readIntelligence (AI) & Semantics
Robots Rebel
Tetris is one of the earliest computer games. When you play it, different-shaped blocks slowly drop from the sky, and you have to move them and rotate them so that they fit together. If you do it well, they disappear. If you do it badly they fill the
Scoop2 min read
Kids’ Inventions
An eleven-year-old boy invented the Water Talkie – a way to talk underwater. On a family holiday to Hawaii, Richie Stachowski was surfing with his dad and was struck by how many beautiful things there were to see under the sea. But it wasn’t possible
Scoop2 min read
How to be AN INNOVATOR Anna Bullus of Gumdrop Ltd
What did you dream of being when you were a child? I always wanted to be a designer. I was constantly taking things apart and putting them back together from a young age. What is your favourite children’s book with an inventor in it? My mum used
Scoop3 min read
How To Stretch Spaghetti
A gadget, or gismo as it is often called today, is a mechanical, electronic or technological invention, usually quite small and, above all, cutting-edge. To be successful, it also has to be extremely desirable. People love gadgets and many rush to bu
Scoop3 min read
Lucky Accidents
Not all accidents are unlucky. Some unlikely mishaps have led to incredible inventions. Find out how the serendipitous slip ups of a giggling Georgian, a sloppy cook and a lazy scientist have made the world a safer place. Suppose you’re unlucky eno
Scoop3 min read
Mindfulness Screen Detox
‘We didn’t have any of these gadgets in my day,’ might be a familiar comment you’ve heard from your parents when you are glued to your iPad and mum wants you to play outside instead. The digital revolution has hit your generation hard and fast and th
Scoop2 min read
Making A Clone
I think what I need to make life more funIs a twin! (Of course, an identical one.)I’d pretend to be her; she’d pretend to be me.But there’s no way I can get one, unfortunately.‘‘How about a clone?’ my best friend suggested.‘We’ll get one of those, la
Scoop3 min read
What Would Nature Do ?
There is probably some Velcro in your house right now: on your shoes maybe, or your bag or coat. You’ve got Swiss engineer George de Mestral (and his dog) to thank for this handy invention. In 1941 George returned from a mountain trip to find seed p
Scoop2 min read
What’s On
Although collage is often described as a twentieth-century invention, this show of more than 250 collage artworks spans a period of more than 400 years. The show includes work by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and Juan Gris. Highlights include a three-
Scoop3 min read
Kortrijk Belgium
Tell us a little about yourself. Hello, we are Baptiste and Julien. I’m Baptiste and I’m twelve next week. My brother Julien is nine years old. We live in Zwevegem next to Kortrijk, and we live in a nice house with a lovely garden. The house was my
Scoop3 min read
Athens Greece
Tell us a little about yourself. My name is Michael and I’m eleven years old. Where do you live? I live in Nea Smyrni, a neighbourhood close to the centre of Athens. We live in a flat that we rent. One of my two grandmas lives in the same block of
Scoop2 min read
Joseph Oduyemi
HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH AN IDEA FOR YOUR COMPETITION POEM? I just thought about writing something not overly complex or intricate because poetry generally doesn’t have a plot. I also believed that writing something humorous would add to the competi
Scoop3 min read
Failed Inventions
Have you ever thought of a brilliant invention that might just change the world? Our interconnected, digital society means it’s never been easier to brainstorm ideas and learn about ways to solve the world’s problems – but life as an inventor hasn’t
Scoop3 min readPsychology
Word: The Invention Of Language
I was wondering how to begin writing this. I stared at the blank page and it stared back at me. I had so much to say, but the words didn’t seem to be to hand: perhaps the subject was just too complex. It must have been like this when my grandma first
Scoop2 min readIntelligence (AI) & Semantics
Solar Powered Pollution Sucking Robot Pigeon wins competition
Nearly 1,200 children from across the UK shared their ideas on how to make the world a better place as part of The Young Imagineers competition which aims to inspire children to bring fun and creativity to Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (
Scoop4 min read
Dear Doctor
DEAR READING DOCTOR, At my school, we have a huge box of recycling and I love to build cool stuff from it. Last week, I built a tiny car from a yoghurt pot and some bottle caps to carry pencils around the classroom. Another time, I made a rocket wi
Scoop6 min read
Reader Reviews
BY ANNE BOOTH Catnip h £6.99 REVIEW by Michelle, age ten This book is a book like no other! This book has links to history but is also very interesting. It takes us on an adventure to the remote island of Lindisfarne. Anyone who reads it can

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