08/02/2016 The One Show

At the centre of our galaxy is a super massive black hole.

I know! I know! That expression is what I was aiming

for. There is an app which can turn you into a mutant ape! There has to

be an app for that! It is real. Or I can be the joker! Yeah!

Or I can be, if I put my nostril that way... Minimouse or my heart

will go on... I mean that! Look that! Isn't it amazing! You can

play with that in the film. We are about to meet the 11-year-old

twin wlos are rebelling against their mum -- twins who are rebelling

against their mum's wishes. What are they rebelling against? Well they

want to go to school! Harmony and Bluebell are sisters and

best friends. They have never been to school. Their mum Poppy opted to

teach them at home. I meet so many children struggling with the school

system and so many parents. Overall, I have much more confidence in the

way we are doing it. Now they are 11, the sisters are old enough to

have a say and both are convinced they want to go to secondary school.

We are glad we have been home educated but we want to try

something new. It's a fantastic learning opportunity and we enjoy

trying new things. As they have never set foot in a classroom,

school's a bit of a mystery. To help them see what it's all about and to

give us an insight into them see what it's all about and to

schooling, we have arranged a taster of things to come. Bluebell will

spend the day at school while Harmony will spend the day at home.

I'm nervous. It will be a lovely opportunity for her and I hope that

she makes some friends. Mum Poppy thinks most of us have got it all

wrong when it comes to home education. Home schooling, we are

mostly not at home at all. We meet in different situations with

different people. We have something we do every day of the week. We have

large social groups where there's up to 40 children. It creates a

confident, self-motivated individual which is what we are aiming for. The

girls express interest in going to school. Is that a rejection of

everything you have worked towards? Not at all. That shows they love

learning and that they are eager to try different experiences so that's

what I was hoping for. It's D-Day for Bluesbell, her first ever school

day. Basically, this week year-7s go in at 12.55. She's met been an

enthusiastic welcome party who give her a run-down of the rules. We

could be the first in... So many rules. It's very, very strict. It's

worth the rules being there because it creates a focussed mindset.

Excited but... Nervous? Yeah, a bit. Bluebell is one of 587 pupils here,

at this free Bluebell is one of 587 pupils here,

Let's see what you can remember. Five things you

Let's see what you can remember. tornadoes. It's all very different

to life at home with mum and Harmony. How's your morning been so

far? Really nice actually. A bit rushed but I don't really have a

problem with it. How do you think Bluebell is getting on? Really well.

I agree, she's definitely understood what to do. It's nice because we

have been able to make some good friends.

So, how is life without Bluebell for Harmony. She's not on her lonesome.

Is it strange being without her? Very strange. Normally I'm with her

all the time. In schools, ultimately, the clock is King. So is

it any different forkm harmony? Today there is a focus on Vikings,

lots of axes and shields flying around. We have got lots of things

going on, we have Viking suits in the kitchen. Here we are doing

making of wounds for the battle scenes. So we are looking at anatomy

and we tie everything into an educational topic because that's for

us twouven main things, anything condition educational.

-- to us that's one of the main things. In the past six years,

figures have risen 65% to around 37,000 of home schooled children.

Those numbers don't include children who never start school, meaning many

don't get counted, raising fears some could be being neglected. It's

tend of the school day meaning the sisters get to compare notes. It was

really nice. I really liked it. How was your day? It was great. Really,

really great. Busy? Yes, and loud. Very loud. If you think that was

loud, you should have seen the school! Do you think you could get

used to that? Yes. Harmony, do you think you would get used to it? Yes.

Could cope with the busyness. Are they still keen to start secondary

school come September? We have really enjoyed being home educated

but we want to try something new. I would be fun to get to know the

school students and see how that goes. Hopefully we'll make some new

friends. So

friends. September, yes. What

friends. who've watched that and they are

thinking, actually I would love to home school the children. Do they

have to inform the Government home school the children. Do they

school? If your child has been offered a place, you have to inform

the head teacher that you are turning down that place and taking

them out of school, otherwise that's kind of it, you don't have to tell

anyone. They can't refuse? No, no, if you wanted to say, can my child

come to school one month and not the if you wanted to say, can my child

other month, absolutely not, part-time you can't do, but if you

are taking them out and home schooling them, nobody can stop

them. Can you make your own curriculum up? The definition is

that the child has to have a suitable education and the

definition of suitable is vague. It has to equip the child for life

within their community so you don't have to take exams, get

qualifications or do anything in particular, they just have to be

educated. Are there any checks or monitors? Ofsted inspect schools but

it's a public body that inspects institutions that are publicly

funded. You are not that if you are home schooling so effective think

there is no check. There is an exception. If someone fears a child

isn't receiving a suitable education, they can complain to the

local authority who could then take a look at the situation. In the

worst case, they could serve an attendance order for a school so

basically make it a legal obligation that child has to go to school. But

if you think back that most local authorities don't really have a

complete picture of how many children are being home schooled in

their area as a loophole in that, that's rare, it would only come up

as a specific complaint. What do you make of it then, Ben? I can't

believe it exists. I'm amazed by the whole thing. I thought you had to go

to school! I had no idea! I had no idea there was an option to say, mum

and dad are teaching me, it's fine. You have found this out now, is it

something you would think about? Absolutely not. I can see that

parents might worry that schools are brainwashing their children, but as

far as I'm concerned, brainwash my kids, please, they need bran

washing. Also, I find it hard enough to do my kids' homework, let alone

help them with their theoretical chemistry or whatever it is. Maybe

primary school is different to secondary. Out of your depth isn't

it really? The main thing here is complete freedom. For some, that is

an awesome responsibility and might scare you, for others that's a

brilliant opportunity to Taylor an appropriate education. How does the

mum manage to do it? Poppy runs her own business and manages to educate

her children in her spare time. If you want to get a tutor in for

something, you have to pay for that. Expensive if you want to do it like

that. We have been discussing this online and you can join in on that.

Now, Ben is kind of setting himself up as the nation's science teacher

for his new series. How much does the person on the street already

know about science? When lightning hits the sea, what

happens? It's earth at sea. How can the sea be earthed? I presume the

current runs through. I don't know. Have you avoided thinking about

this? Yes, because it's not bothered me. Because you are not a fish?

That's correct. As soon as the electrical current hits the surface

of the sea, it spreads in all directions, be very little

penetrates below the surface. How about when an apple gets cut, why

does it go brown? I wouldn't know, I don't know. Cyanide. Cyanide? Yes.

That's got me worried. Rust. Surely not. Are you saying that the knife

has condam negotiated the apple? -- contaminated the apple? Why is the

sky blue? Because of the sea. That is our perception of it because our

brains interpret that in that way. The sun's light goes through the

atmosphere, strips out the other colours and makes it blue. Correct.

The wave lengths are bent in different directions and the short

blue light waves scatter the most. When birds sit on electricity wires,

why do they not you know go like that... Because there is no current

unless they are sitting on two wires. They are not earthed. Every

electrical current is trying to find a path to earth. Any idea why flies

stick to the ceiling? No. No. Useless ain't I? ! They are like

little Ninja climbers. They are. They are doing that? Yes.

Citiy pads on their feet -- sticky pads. They have microscopic hairs

that grip. A combination of hairs with a sugary oily solution that

helps them stick. You have got all the answers, Kevin. I know, I'm a

good scientist. With your scarf you could be a Time Lord. I wish I was.

Wow. Before you write in, we have had to simplify some of the answer

because of timing more than anything else. But let us know how you got on

with that test, especially if you were home schooled. Now, let's talk

about It's not Rocket Science. You were a scientist studying solid

state physics? Yes, I was working on the next generation of electronics,

which is going to be hopefully based on quantum mechanics which is the

science of very small things. Rather than science of medium things. I'm

simplifying some of these thing answers for the home schooled! It

was the next generation of electronics, yes. However, that went

bay the wayside, if you like. The Yelly took over. Yes. And I got

really interested in it again a few years ago and I felt like I really

wanted to do some exercise. You were so excited about it and revved up.

Our cameraman Phil described it as a cool version of tomorrow's World.

That's nice. An entertainment show. You don't have to know anything

about science to watch it. We did some amazing stuff. We kind of did

fantastic stuff with professional footballers looking into the science

of how we could make them score more penalties, we raced, look, we raced

a red arrow against the fastest man in the UK. As we can see here, this

is big scale stuff. Yes. Big stunts as well? Yes. Huge stunts. Must have

been wonderful to do. This is me with Joey Essex, I'm using his brain

to control a car. Was this a car that was kind of your concept or

design? That's right, yes. Your brain produces a sort of spectrum of

different frequencies and when you're not thinking of anything, it

produces alpha waves and when you are thinking of something it

produces beta waves so I thought we could use Joey's brain to control a

car. If the car could pick up his waves, it would accelerate and he'd

have to immediately think of nothing so we could slow down. It turned out

to be really easy to get him to think of nothing. Have you got a day

tent on this, or is it only Joey that can drive this? Not even Joey

could drive it. Apparently there is no better way to demonstrate gravity

than having flaming arrows fired at your head. It's obviously really

isn't it, Matt! Let's have a look. Wow! Ben! That is so funny, I just

made exactly the same noise again as I did in the video... Did father

ever outweigh your trust in -- did fear ever outweigh your trust in

science? It was a close-run thing. No matter how much trust you put in

the science n that case it was about the fact that every object falls at

the same weight in the gravitational field. You would think paper and a

lead rate would fall a different rates. They don't. If the arrow is

released at the same time as the apples, I won't get hit by the

arrow. It is another thing to have three cross bow arts at your head.

Did they give you a form beforehand and say you have to sign all this?

It was not just forms, it was medicals and signing your life away.

I had a medical where they did not tell you what it was for. He was

asking, how would you be if somebody picked you up by your ankles and

shock you really hard? I do comedy and presenting, I don't want to do

anything other. We will find out when the series starts. It's Not

Rocket Science starts next Tuesday, 8pm on ITV. Shetland's new gas plant

opened today. It is the biggest project in the UK since the

Olympics. It will supply two homes with energy. As southern Wales p and

Britain are battered by Storm Imogen Lucy met some scientists. The energy

we produce underpins pretty much everything we do, from light to

communication, to transportation and manufacturing. But the way that we

create power has radically changed over the past few decades, as we

attempt to wean ourselves off fossil fuels. So, inevitably the future of

how we produce electricity is leading to more and more creative

ideas to harness the power of the elements. It is here at Bradwell,

Essex, in the shadow one of one a Britain's new nuclear powers that

using wind power to generate electricity is being tested, by

flying kites. A company based here in Essex is

pioneering new technology to try and increase the production of energy

using wind. Bill Hamilton is leading the project.

So, how do you generate electricity from a kite? Well, when they start

to fly forwards they produce a huge amount of tension on the tether.

That produces electricity. We is a two kites. One is generating air by

flying fast forward. Another above your head, being pulled in very

gently. Once the generating one is finished it goes above you and the

other starts to fly out and generate electricity. Two engines. One from

the other. The stuff for generating electricity is not in the kite it is

on the ground? It is all down there, so it is easy to access. There are

sensors attached to the kites to keep them away from each other to

prevent tackling. There is the environment impact to C What about

birds is? There is an issue with them colliding with these things?

There was an early study done which suggest they will have a lot less

impact than the horizontal wind turbine. We'll have a

impact than the horizontal wind looking at how birds react around

them. OK, so here is one of the prototype

kites. This is about 12 metres squared. Today the guys will fly it

at around 300 metres to comply with air traffic control regulation. If

they were flying it offshore they would fly it at about double that

height. Once they are in the air data is corrected to show how much

electricity is being generated. Obviously you are constantly

analysing the data from your two kites out there. That is one kite

and the other, the blue and the red. So basically above the line is where

the generating, below is where they come back. In the other thing is we

look at how they perform at different altitudes so we can change

where they are flying depending on what the wind conditions are. Can it

get too windy? If it does in an extreme storm the kites can stay up

there. On their normal day-to-day business they are flying 200 miles

per hour. How much energy can they generate? Up to 40 kill watts, which

equates to 15 houses. With larger ones flying higher they pr edict 30

kites could produce enough electricity for 75,000 homes. Will

this sort of technology ever get off the ground? Andrew Smith is a

researcher at UCL energy institute. Does this have what it takes to

become a real power solution? Well, Britain has the North Sea with lots

of wind and a massive resource there. That is shallow, which means

we can build up from the sea bed with turbines. Others have deeper

water off the coast, for example, Japan. They are something which

being mounted on a platform could have a lot of market and not much

competition. What are the challenges of this system, as you see it? We

have seen the small version working. The big challenge is in scaling up.

You only find out what the problems are when you double and double

again. As they do that they will find new ways to break things and

hopefully new ways to fix things. So a lot of trial and error. It is the

only way. If all goes to plan, Bill and his company hope their kite

farms will be offshore producing electricity by 2025. When it comes

to renewable energy it is possible that the sky is really the limit.

Thank you, Lucy. So, your time has been taken up by science at the

moment. You have this book out called the ailliens are coming. I

have. This is about the real life of alien life. We have heard the

stories about aliens coming here in space ships, it looks like the real

science of that turns out not that likely, to discover they would come

here in space ships. There is a possibility we could pick up a

signal or telescopes could pick up. If you were in a telescope looking

at the earth you would see from our atmosphere there is life here. Do

you have a thought of where it could be within your theory? It could be,

I have not given up hope there would be some form of life on Mars, maybe

bacterial life and elsewhere in our solar system bacterial life. The

nearest intelligent life that could be hundreds thousands of light years

away. How soon do you think they will detect any form of life Any

form within the next decade. We have pretty good telescopes now which can

pick up. Every gas in the atmosphere has a sort of bar code, you can read

off that with an infra-red telescope. Pretty soon we will know

whether the nearest earth-like planet, in other words planets going

around a star like the sun, whether they have atmospheres like we have,

if you can find gases out of chemical balance we know there might

be life there. I will finish this conversation off air. I got a

telescope for my birthday. You could find it. Is out now this book. It

is. Out It has been a windy and rainy winter but quite warm which

means one of the best loved Beatles is out sooner. Where there are

Beatles there is George McGavin. It is a commonly held myth you can

tell a ladybird's age from the spots on its back. While it is not true

the number are variable. There are 47 different species in the UK. You

may find one with zero to 26 spots.ly prove this today in The One

Show insect hunt I like to call Ladybird Bingo. We have created this

bingo cards and the numbers on the card core east don't to the number

-- correspond to the numbers on the back of the card. With two teams

ready to go, how many species of ladybird would we find today?

Ladybirds are a family of small Beatles -- beetles. They have a

circular outline and a domed profile. The most common of the

native species is the if mill red and black seven-spot. A recent

ladybird survey suggests it may not be lucky number seven. The UK

ladybird survey has discovered native species are under threat. For

the eight species we looked at for native we saw declines in seven

species. This is all due to one species. The harlequin was

introduced in 2004, it is a strong flyer. It got here by itself and

then it just exploded very quickly. The whole of England was covered. So

will the results of the ladybird survey be reflected in our findings

today? We will serve an area of Brentmoor Heath in Surrey. Dr Roy

Roy and I will head volunteers from the Surrey Wildlife Trust and the

winner will be the first to get a line of four different species. Dr

Brown has studied the ecology of the area. What makes this place so

great? It is the mix of habitats that we have got here, in the trees

you get cream spot ladybirds and pine ladybirds, heather ladybirds in

the heather. There are seven-spot ladybirds and 14-spots which could

be anywhere on the site. We are off. Peter reckons if we are lucky we may

find a dozen different species. My team have gone to the long grass. A

very good way of collecting is to use a strong canvass bag a sweet net

and you can really cover a lot of ground.

And using this technique both teams are soon in lady bag heaven. We both

found lucky number seven. One crossed off. Then we find a

harlequin. Ladybirds are hunters and they eat vast amount of aphids. So

if you have they eat vast amount of aphids. So

should not have to use any pesticides because these guys will

do the job for you for free. It is Valentine's Day for both teams

- it's the 14-spot. Cream of the crop, Helen has found a

cream spot. And I found a pine, number nine.

Two little ducks, both teams find the 22-spot.

Tension! But then it is cold! We have got it. Bingo! Helen's team

have found the joker of the pack, the harlequin. Together the teams

have found the joker of the pack, have found an amazing range of

ladybirds. We recorded 40 species, that is over a quarter

ladybirds. We recorded 40 species, UK fauna. So I have had a great day

playing Ladybird Bingo. The jeopardy in that film! I thought

he would do it in the end. You can play Ladybird Bingo at home. Here is

the proof. Go to our website to download this card. It is handy to

laminate it if it is raining. You get plenty of play value out of

that. It is not rocket science starts next Tuesday, 8pm on ITV. We

are looking forward it to. We will be back here tomorrow at 7pm. Until