The Children‘s Magazine by TÜV Rheinland 2014 | Edition 3

Posters Silent Hunters and Falling

Leaves

Rag ing Storms

Astronauts:

Weightless in Space

Tess and Roby Help a

Baby Hedgehog

Fast Facts 4Storms 6Elements 10Astronauts 12Think Twice 14Guess 15Tess and Roby 16Behind the Scenes 20Try it Out 22Fan Page 23

In this issue, you’ll find ...

Contents

6Monster Storms and Giant Gales Time and time again, wild storms

have destroyed vast areas of land.

Where do they come from? Can they

be predicted? And do they also rage

on far-off planets?

YourChemistry

Chemical elements are everywhere. They are the fundamental building blocks of our universe. TÜVtel reveals just how much chemistry you have inside you.

10

Deep insights:

Using a special

microscope,

Doris Schucht can

take a very close

look at steel and

metal.

20 What are you

testing there?

Try it out

How you can build a

stable bridge out of

a thin sheet of paper.

22

Engineering

2TÜVtel

Po

sters

Tess and RobyWhere does a hedgehog prefer to live: in a simple pile of leaves, or in the latest super-hedgehog-house with plenty of technical gadgets? Tess and Roby find out.

Alexander Gerst trained long andhard for thechance to goon a spacemission.

16

3TÜVtel

12

Make sure you dress warmly - there‘s a storm brewing! At no other time of the year does the wind bluster as fiercely in our part of the world as in the fall and winter. With enormous strength, it tears the withered leaves from the trees, merrily blows umbrellas inside out and steals the hats off people‘s heads. On the coast, it creates raging storm tides.

When the wind blows faster than 74 kilometers per hour, it is considered a storm. And there are quite a few of those around the globe. They are called hurricanes, tornadoes and winter gales. In our cover story, we explain what the difference is and how they develop.

Hey, TÜV kids!

Take care out there and enjoy reading TÜVtel!

Tess and Roby

Po

sters

Young Owls and a

Whole Lot of Leaves

In the fall, the trees lose

huge volumes of leaves.

This poster will help you

identify them. The fall is

an exciting time for young

owls, too: They start to

leave their nests and go

out hunting on their own.

Deciduous Trees

As a rule, leaves grow high on the trees. It is really only possible to examine

them closely when they sail down from the branches in the fall. So now is

the best time to go on a discovery tour. The sidewalks and parks are full of

colorful leaves. But with the sheer volume of them, things can get pretty

confusing.

Which leaf belongs to which tree? With a bit of practice, you can tell which

plant you are looking at by the shape of the leaf, the fruits that you fi nd

nearby, as well as the bark on the tree. Give it a try: Read the tree facts on

this poster and then go on a leaf hunt.

Photos: Le Do, photka, tilltibet, OLEKSANDR YEROMIN, Baloncici, lianem, Alexandr Pakhnyushchyy, Wu Ruiyun, Sergii Figurnyi, Eric Isselee, konzeptm, Maksym Bondarchuk, Ying Feng Johansson, Valentyn Volkov Volkov, Marilyn Barbone, Stefan

Balk/123RF; Schlierner, Dionisvera, eyetronic, doris oberfrank-list, spyder24, natureimmortal, Edler von Rabenstein, Fotoschlick, zagart, Elenarts/fotolia; Roby and Tess illustration by Franz Gerg/Comic-Agentur Roberto Freire

Tree expert

MapleThe serrated leaves of the maple turn glorious shades of red, orange or yellow in the fall. A good way to identify the tree is by its fruits. They have two wings that they use like a propeller to fl y to the

ground.

BirchThe birch is easily identifi ed by its

white and black trunk. There are more than 40 different varieties. Its wood is good for building

furniture and its branches are used to bind twig brooms.

oakYou can tell the oak by its deep green ridged leaves, its cracked bark, and of

course, its acorns. They look like nuts but sadly they are inedible for humans.Oaks can live to more than 1,000 years old. Hornbeam

The hornbeam with its serrated leaves and smooth bark doesn‘t only grow in the forest. You can also see it planted in rows in many gardens as a thick hedge. Its wood is considered the hardest in all of Europe.Copper beech

The copper beech grows up to 45 meters tall. Its green leaves turn bright red in the fall, and that is where it gets its name from. Its fruits are called beechnuts.

HazelHazel usually grows as a dense bush or a tree with many branches. In the late summer, the hazelnuts

ripen. They are extremely healthy - both for us and for squirrels.

ChestnutWith its large, palmate leaves and magnifi cent fl owers, the chestnut is a real eye-catcher. For that reason, you often also fi nd them in the city, lining country roads, and in parks.

Depending on the variety, the willow grows as a bush or a tree. The fl exible branches are good for weaving baskets with. In the spring, you can identify the willow by its silky yellow fl owers, or pussy willows. In the fall, you‘ll know it by its slender leaves that are turning yellow.

Willow

The jaybird loves to eat acorns and builds up a huge store of them for the winter.

Squirrels use their sharp teeth to gnaw through the shell and get to the nut.

As an early bloomer, the willow is a welcome source of food for busy honeybees.

The may beetle loves green leaves and regularly nibbles entire hedges bare.

Know What’s Growing

Become a

For several years now, killer bacteria have been attacking chestnut trees in Germany and making them rot.

Owls

When the sun goes down, owls wake up and go

hunting. Thanks to their soft plumage and the

indentations on their outer pinion feathers, they

generate barely any atmospheric turbulence during

fl ight. That enables the birds of prey to fl y silently

through the air and catch their victims by surprise.

Owls like eating mice best, but their menu also

includes worms, insects, frogs and small birds.

While the female protects the chicks and keeps

them warm, the male goes hunting for the whole

family. Around 25 mice per night are needed to

feed three growing owlets. Most young owls

already leave the nest long before they can fl y.

They hop around in trees and sit among the

branches, which is why they are also known as

branchlings. Their parents continue to feed them

there until they can fl y properly and have learned

to catch their prey themselves. In the fall,

it is time for them to go their separate

ways. The families disperse and the

young owls move away to fi nd

their own hunting grounds.

Photos: D.J. Cox (2), M. Varesvuo/ Juniors Bildarchiv GmbH/ WILDLIFE; Saddako/Thinkstock; Jim Vallee/fotolia;

IPGGutenbergUKLtd/iStockphoto; Roby and Tess illustration by Franz Gerg/Comic-Agentur Roberto Freire

Creatures of the Night

Lots of Space

Fast Facts

Sweets might taste great, but they can also affect your ability to concentrate properly at school. When you eat them, they only give you a very short burst of energy before quickly making you feel tired. That is why chocolate, gummi bears and sweet yoghurts have no place in your lunch box. TÜV Rheinland has a good tip: choose fresh wholewheat bread topped with low-fat cheese or sausage, chopped fruit and vegetables, nuts or dried fruit. They taste good, keep you full for longer and supply your brain with important nutrients.

Healthy snacks to keep you fit

how vegIes sound

Pumpkin drums, carrot flutes

and leek violins - it might

sound crazy, but the

Vegetable Orchestr

a from

Austria really does use f

resh

vegies to make music. And

the

musicians do it so well that t

hey

have been giving co

ncerts and

selling CDs for many years now.

They also build all their

own

instruments. Y0u can watch the

videos and listen to vegetabl

e

music yourself on th

e orchestra's

website. Simply enter

this link:

www.vegetableorchestra

.org

When the instruments are finished, all the leftovers are made into soup.

Sweets slow you down, so keep them out of your lunch box!

All gone: Eddy the dachshund loves his certified dog food.

4TÜVtel

October 15 is Global Han

dwashing Day.

The aim is to remind people t

hat washing

their hands is important f

or their health.

The area between the t

ips of your

fingers and your elb

ows is swarming

with millions of bacteria

, some of which

can make you sick. Almost all g

erms

can be removed by washing yo

ur hands

thoroughly.

Say "bye-bye bacte

ria" with this simple

trick: After washing your hands with

soap, dry them extra carefully be

cause

bacteria love damp skin and they live

longer there.

Good Clean Fun

TÜVtel Goes

global

This TÜVtel magazine comes

from Germany but it is known

and loved all over the world.

It used to only be published in

German but now you and your

friends can enjoy it

in English, too. Since

the last edition,

there has been an

English version

especially for you

and all the other

English-speaking

children worldwide.

Woof, That tastes grrreat!For many dog owners, it is important

that their four-legged friends have

great food in their bowls. But how can

they tell if dog food contains high-quality ingredients? For example, by looking for the TÜV Rheinland test mark when they go shopping. If the food has the mark, it means that it has been analyzed in a laboratory by experts and they can feed it to their dog with confidence.

Don't forget to

wash your hands

before meals and

after using the toilet!

The Children's Magazine by TÜV Rheinland 2014 | Edition 2

Posters Waterfalls

and Big Ears

Always on the Ball

Staying Cool:

The Thermo Trickste

rs

What are You Testing

There? Water Slides

Get a Check-Up

Very cool!Now you can read TÜVtel in English and German!

5TÜVtel

Storms

Hurricanes, tornadoes and cyclones - wild storms rage here on earth, but they are nothing compared to the giant superstorms on far-off planets.

6TÜVtel

Monste r Storms and Giant Gales

Dr. Dorle Nörenberg works at TÜV Rheinland. She

has studied meteorology, so she is a true expert on

storms, and she knows the answer: "It is genuinely possible for hurricanes

to veer off course over the North Atlantic after striking North America, and

to come to us in Europe as low-pressure systems. They become weaker on

their way over the ocean though, and the eye of the storm is lost. That is

because the water is not as warm anymore and the storm cannot gather

as much energy. Despite that, an ex-hurricane still has plenty of wind, rain

and waves on board. In the photo on the right, I am standing in an ex-

hurricane like that on the North Sea. Now that's pretty stormy!"

Are there hurricanes in Europe, too?

Read more on page 8 →

When we gaze into the starry sky at night, everything seems quiet and peaceful. Wrong! There's a whole lot going on in outer space. Especially on planet HD209458b, which is also known as Osiris. It is 150 light years away from us and is made of extremely hot gas. Using a special telescope, scientists have observed incredible storms raging there. They sweep over Osiris at speeds of 5,000 to 10,000 kilometers per hour. Here on earth, the storm record is only about 400 kilometers per hour.

The god of the windCompared with the superstorms on Osiris, the storms on our planet seem pretty pathetic. However, they still terrify people and animals time and time again. The hurricane is especially frightening, with its incredible capacity for destruction. It takes its name from a Native American Indian word that roughly means "god of the wind". Hurricanes are cyclones that form over the ocean. And that happens when there are two things in abundance: heat and moisture. That is why they mostly develop above the sea in the tropics in late summer. On their way over the water, the cyclones gain a great deal of strength and drive a huge flood wave in front of them. If they strike the coast, they destroy everything in their path.

7TÜVtel

How

a t

orna

do d

evel

ops

Tornadoes are the world's fastest

storms. They are especially common in

springtime in the Midwest of the USA.

There, the perfect conditions are present:

Warm, humid air flows north from the

bay known as the Gulf of Mexico. At

the same time, cold air blows east from

the mountain range called the Rocky

Mountains. Where the two meet,

the humid, HOT AIR starts to ascend

rapidly. Higher up, it cools down and

forms mighty THUNDERCLOUDS. Then

GUSTS OF WIND make the air move

in a circular motion. That creates the

FUNNEL CLOUD that extends down to

the ground.

When wind blows faster than 74 kilometers per hour, it is considered a storm.

Monste r Storms and Giant Gales

Hot air

Thunderclouds

Funnel cloud

Gusts of wind

Gustsof wind

Hot air

Thunderclouds

Funnel cloud

Gusts of wind

Gustsof wind

In the eye of the stormHurricanes are the biggest storms on earth. They are so huge that astronauts can watch them from space. From above, they look like adorable, fluffy spinning tops. But what might appear beautiful is actually a scene of pure chaos: palm trees snap like matches, houses are reduced to rubble, and cars are swept from the streets as if by an invisible hand. The eye of the hurricane is in the center. There is barely a breeze blowing there. The eye is many

kilometers wide and has often tricked people into thinking the storm is over. Instead, they are right in the middle of it and are surprised by it again later on.

Technology can save livesFor a long time, people didn't know very much about how giant cyclones develop. Thanks to modern technology, at least we can now predict a cyclone's approximate strength and the route it will take. Using satellite images and elaborate

Storms

8TÜVtel

Fert

ilize

r fr

om t

he d

eser

t

A sandstorm blows

across the Sahara

in Africa and a

short time later,

giant trees sprout

in the Amazon in

South America. That happens

because the dust that is dispersed is a perfect

fertilizer. It mainly consists of dead diatoms - a

type of algae - from the huge dried-up sections

of Lake Chad in Africa.

Winds carry the sand 5,000

kilometers westward across

the Atlantic. That is how vast

quantities of the tiny algae

end up in the rainforest, where

they provide the plants with the

natural fertilizers of phosphorous

and iron.

When the wind blows

the right way, the red

Sahara sand lands in

Europe, too.

Each year, around 40

million tons of dust

are carried across the

Atlantic by the wind.

Amazon

SaharaSahara

Amazon

programs, scientists can tell when a storm is brewing early on, and can issue a warning. Then the people in the affected areas can be brought to safety in time.

Despite this, the forecast still remains a gamble. Some rising winds quickly lose their strength, while others grow into dangerous monster storms. In addition, the places where a storm will hit cannot always be predicted accurately. And even when the early warning system works,

we might be able to protect people but we can do little to minimize the storm damage. Every year, vast areas of destruction remind us of how mighty and unpredictable the forces of nature can be.

The end

What typesof storm

are there?

Hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones: These are all tropical whirlwinds. They rotate in a clockwise direction in the Southern Hemisphere, and anticlockwise in the Northern Hemisphere.

Sandstorm:

This mainly

occur in deserts and

are also known as

dust storms. Very dry,

hot winds raise huge

clouds of dust and

carry them over long

distances.

Tornado: Nowhere else on earth do the winds reach such high speeds as in a tornado. Rates of around 400 kilometers per hour have already been measured. This tempo can only just be reached by the world's fastest sports cars.

Winter gales: These are

the fierce storms over

Central and Northern

Europe that move at

speeds of at least 117

kilometers an hour.

They are so strong

that they can easily

uproot trees.

Jupiter's storm: On the gas planet

Jupiter, the biggest known storm in our solar system has been raging for centuries: the Great Red Spot. Scientists believe that it keeps engulfing smaller storms, and that is how it stays in motion.

9TÜVtel

What typesof storm

are there?

All this Chemis try is inside you

Elements

10TÜVtel

oxygenis a gaseous element that is

essential for life, and especially for the brain.

65 Percent

Phosphorous is in our DNA. It is found in our cells and

resembles a twisted rope ladder. Our genetic information is stored in the DNA. That includes what you look

like: your hair color, eye color, height and so on.

2 Percent

Chemical elements are the

most basic building

blocks of our universe.

That means that if you

break any material down

to its fundamental parts,

only chemistry remains.

The earth, the sun,

animals, rocks, plants,

and even we humans

are all made out of

these elements.

1 Percent:

these elements combined Sulphur

builds hair, skin and fingernails.

Calcium and Magnesium

strengthen your bones.

Iron binds and

transports oxygen in the blood.

All this Chemis try is inside you

11TÜVtel

no life

without water

Together, hydrogen and

oxygen make water. Human

beings consist of more than

70 percent water. Without

it, they would not survive.

Most of the water is found

in the blood and in the

individual cells. It helps

keep all the processes in

the body working properly.

Chemical elements are found in everybody and everything.

Carbon is present in large quantities in all living things. You could make

10,000 pencil leads with all the carbon that is in one

person.

19 Percent

Hydrogen has been around the longest of all the elements -

that is, since the formation of our universe. The gas is the most common chemical element in the cosmos. For example, the sun and the stars are made of hydrogen - and so are you.

10 Percent

nitrogen helps your body create proteins, which are the building blocks of your cells and the materials used

to repair them.

3 Percent

Sodium And Chlorine

bind together salt, which you need for your cells.

Iodine is a component of many

important hormones.

Potassium is needed for the muscles

and nerves.

space and back again

Astronaut

Until mid-November, Alexander Gerst will be flying through space. He spent four years training for the mission.

In the water, Alexander Gerst prepares himself for zero gravity.

The centrifuge teaches you to withstand very high pressure.

A quick spin: The ISS takes 90 minutes to

orbit the globe.12

TÜVtel

3 – 2 – 1: Liftoff! Tess and Roby are sending their homemade rocket skywards.

space and back again

Climb on board a rocket, shoot through space at 20 times the speed of sound, have a few adventures on the way, and then return to earth as a hero. It all sounds pretty easy in your imagination. In reality, it mainly means hard work. Astronaut Alexander Gerst had to train for four years before his childhood dream of going on a space mission came true. Until mid-November, the 38-year-old is orbiting the earth on the International Space Station (ISS).

To prepare for his journey through the universe, Gerst studied Russian, which is the second important language for astronauts after English. He exercised every day to become fit for the tough conditions in space. Especially moving around in the 160-kilogram spacesuit took a lot of practice.

Gerst mentioned in a television interview that each hand movement in the suit takes as much strength as squeezing a tennis ball. Diving was also on the training program because it can be used to simulate weightlessness. Alexander Gerst completed a range of tasks underwater in his spacesuit, sometimes over the course of several hours. Afterwards, he had to be hoisted out of the water with a crane. By now at the latest, the training has all become worthwhile. In space, Gerst is responsible for repairs to the ISS. That means he sometimes has to leave the station and go on a space walk. He also has 162 experiments to complete in space. And he has already trained for the landing as well - in ice-cold water in Siberia, just in case the space capsule ends up somewhere unexpected on its return to earth.

The mouse in space

"The Mouse" is on board the space station, too.

The popular German television character completed

all the astronaut training and was even given its

own spacesuit before liftoff. You can see what The

Mouse and Alexander Gerst get up to in space by

visiting the German website www.wdrmaus.de.

The Mouse is accompanying the astronaut in space.

Protection for the blue dot Alexander Gerst is part of the "Blue Dot" mission, which got its name because the earth resembles a tiny blue dot from outer space - a dot that we humans should take good care of. The European Astronaut Centre in Cologne is committed to operating with particular care for the environment. TÜV Rheinland is helping the Astronaut Centre do that, and is also ensuring that everyone complies with the strict environmental rules.

13TÜVtel

Getting changed is hard work: Alexander Gerst

practices climbing into the 160-kilo spacesuit.

One heading, two stories: a teddy bear gets really hot at

TÜV Rheinland. Why? TÜVtel explains. And if you turn the magazine

counter-clockwise, you'll see this hot topic from

a different perspective. Give it a try!

14TÜVtel

Why is the teddy bear burning? During this safety assessment, the experts from TÜV Rheinland test how long a teddy bear can withstand fire by exposing it to an open flame. A lab worker checks how much time it takes for the fire to spread on the bear's fur. It should be as long as possible so that a child has enough time to throw the cuddly toy further away before it hurts them. Many toys are tested for flammability, including playhouses and dress-ups.

Seeing Double

make it Hot

Ho

w d

oes co

rn b

ecom

e po

pco

rn?

Kern

els of co

rn co

ntain

a lot o

f water.

Wh

en th

ey are heated

up

, the liq

uid

w

ater turn

s into

steam. T

he steam

exp

and

s un

der en

orm

ou

s pressu

re un

til th

e ou

ter shell can

no

lon

ger w

ithstan

d

it: the kern

el explo

des an

d th

e water

blo

ws o

ut. In

the p

rocess, w

hite, d

ried

starch fo

am is fl

un

g o

ut, o

ften ad

herin

g

to th

e go

lden

-yellow

remain

s of th

e exp

lod

ed sh

ell.

make it

ho

t

Think Twice

Guess

Balancing act

You

can

find

the

answ

ers

on t

he b

ack

page

of TÜ

Vtel.

If you take the correct letter from each cube

and then read from left to right, you get three

different types of fruit. What are they?

The top three seesaws are perfectly balanced.

How many yellow balls need to be added to the

bottom seesaw to counterbalance the purple ball?

diced fruit

?!

See if you can create eight

triangles by moving three of

the house's matches.

match This

15TÜVtel

B r P a n Ao A n A Y E

A A n G AP

The Prickly Guest

Tess and Roby

Help for hedgehogs

161616

TÜVtel

In Germany, it is illegal to remove hedgehogs from the wild. However, there are exceptions: You are allowed to assist sick and injured animals. Orphaned baby hedgehogs also need help if they are found outside the nest during the day, still have their eyes and ears closed, and feel cool to the touch. You can read about how you should handle found hedgehogs on the Internet, for example in the English section of the website www.pro-igel.de. A local vet can also give you advice.

Roby designs a very special hedgehog house. Can he convince a little hedgehog to spend the winter with him and Tess?

When helping a hedgehog, the goal is always to heal it and then release it back into the wild as quickly as possible.

Finally, the rain has eased up and the autumn sun is slowly emerging from behind the gray clouds. Where its rays touch the ground, the fallen leaves gleam in shades of yellow, red and orange. Tess and Roby use the break from the rain to gather chestnuts, which they want to make into funny little people. Suddenly, the robot stops: Wow, a giant chestnut! With his fingertips, he reaches for the big, spiky fruit, and examines it carefully from all angles. He has never seen anything like it before. Yikes, now it is even moving! A tiny sliver opens up, but no smooth, brown kernel appears. Instead, the face of a hedgehog is staring inquisitively at Roby through gleaming, black beady eyes.

"What’s that you’ve got there?" asks Tess, glancing curiously over her shoulder at her friend. Roby carefully holds the little hedgehog out to her. "Look! A baby hedgehog! Surely it won't survive out here. We'd better take it inside and build it a home for the winter," decides Roby spontaneously. Without any hesitation, he races back into the house with his spiky new friend. Tess is not so sure. Is it really alright to just take a hedgehog home like that? She decides to do some Internet research first, and sits down at the computer.

Roby lays out some newspaper in an empty cardboard box and gently places the hedgehog inside. A thousand ideas are rattling through his robot head. He grabs a pencil. With rapid strokes, he draws a sketch on a piece of paper. Some quick rubbing out and improving here, an extension there, and he's all done - this is how the hedgehog house should look. Satisfied, he starts looking for his building materials.

Keep reading on page 18 →

17TÜVtel

Yuck!Many people love eating chestnuts in the fall and winter.

But careful: Never eat the horse chestnuts that grow in

a lot of parks and gardens! Not only do they taste bitter,

but they also contain substances that can give you a

bad stomachache. From a botanical viewpoint, the two

chestnuts belong to entirely different families, despite

their similarity: The horse chestnut is the fruit of a

soapberry plant, while the edible chestnut comes

from the beech family.

Edible chestnuts are also known as sweet chestnuts.

Horse chestnuts taste terrible but they are great for

craft projects.

Tess and Roby

18TÜVtel

doesn't want the hedgehog to get bored. Tess comes clattering down the stairs, shouting: "Roby, I looked on the Internet and I found out that it is really bad to take a hedgehog home. In Germany, it is even illegal! You should only help sick or very young hedgehogs. We have to..." She stops still as she enters the living room and sees Roby's creation. "What on earth is that?" she asks in amazement. Roby proudly shows her his hedgehog house, which is now

Roby busily saws, glues, drills, connects cables, and paints. He uses thin particle board to build three stories, all connected by a tiny elevator that whirrs up and down. Through large windows on the first floor, you can see the living room with a cosy sofa corner and even electric lighting. On the roof, Roby installs blue solar panels to provide power for the underfloor heating in the sleeping area. A huge antenna on the roof receives satellite television. After all, he

Keep dryUmbrellas have already been protecting people from the rain for more than 1,200 years. They used to weigh around five kilos because their frames were made of whalebone and heavy wooden slats. Nowadays, they are very light and easy to use. You can buy them in many different colors and sizes for a range of different prices.

In the laboratory, TÜV Rheinland tests whether umbrellas can withstand strong gusts of wind, are break-proof, let any rain through, and can easily be opened or closed. Umbrellas that pass the inspection receive a GS mark for tested safety.

The end

19TÜVtel

ready for occupation. "When you consider that a hedgehog normally sleeps under a boring pile of leaves, then this is pure luxury. Or what do you think, little hedgehog?" asks Roby, turning towards the cardboard box. But the box has toppled over and the animal has disappeared.

Roby is devastated. How could that happen? Tess guesses that the hedgehog has probably run back into the garden. "We have to find him!" begs Roby. Tess doesn't take much asking. She pulls on her gumboots, grabs the big umbrella, and strides outside. It has started to rain again. Roby huddles close to her to avoid getting wet. They don't have to search long before discovering their little friend in a big pile of leaves. A whole family of hedgehogs is frolicking there. Happily, the little animals sniff

at one another. "He has found his family again!" says Tess with delight. Roby is disappointed though. He put so much effort into the house, but now he has to accept that hedgehogs are wild animals who are much happier in their natural environment.

"Come on, let's go inside and turn the hedgehog's home into a playhouse for little Lea next door’s dolls," suggests Tess. Somewhat reluctantly, Roby agrees. At least then somebody will get some use out of his masterpiece. On his way indoors, he glances back at the pile of leaves that the hedgehog is busily crawling into. "Oh well, goodnight little hibernator," he thinks, feeling quite glad after all that his prickly guest is in such good company.

www.tuv.comID 1000000000

Behind the Scenes

20TÜVtel

What are you

testing there?

Detective work in the materials lab

Doris Schucht might not be a detective but it is part of her job to solve fascinating cases. Her task for today: A bolt that was used to fasten some scaffolding at a building site has broken. The scaffolding collapsed and a construction worker was badly injured. Now she wants to find out how it could have happened. To do that, she examines the surface of the bolt using a scanning electron microscope in the TÜV Rheinland materials laboratory.

In a special chamber, the bolt is irradiated with electron beams. This process creates an image with many tiny details that are

barely visible to the eye. The image is displayed on a monitor and magnified up to 10,000 times. Schucht can clearly see that the bolt has numerous fine cracks.

However, the materials expert is not only interested in the surface; she also wants to look inside the bolt. To enable that, a section of the bolt is cut out, sanded, polished, and treated with acid to create a surface that is as smooth as glass.

Without this elaborate polishing, only a hilly landscape would be visible under the next microscope - a light microscope.

This way, Schucht can tell that the bolt was not forged seamlessly. Mistakes were already made during the production process, so it is hardly surprising that it developed cracks and ended up causing an accident.

Schucht is glad that she has solved the case of the broken bolt. The accident was the bolt manufacturer's fault. They will have to produce more stable bolts in the future to make sure accidents like that never happen again.

?steel and Metal

Sanding, polishing and treating with acid: Doris Schucht's colleague, Dieter Biskup, prepares the bolt.

doris Schucht Takes a close look at steel and metal.

How a light microscope works

In a light microscope, there are many glass lenses working together. They direct the light to your eye as it is reflected from or shines through an object. That makes a leaf seem up to 1,000 times bigger to you than it really is.

The object under the lens is fixed

between two transparent plates.

21TÜVtel

This is how the broken bolt looks.

1

2 3

The eyepiece contains lenses

that make the already magnified

image even bigger.

On the microscope stage, the object - such as a leaf - is held firmly in place.

The coarse adjustment knob is a wheel that helps focus the image by altering the distance between the microscope stage and the objective.

A bright light illuminates the leaf from below through a hole in the microscope stage.

The objectives are lenses that can enlarge the object considerably.

Micro-QuizCan you tell what's under the microscope?

Answers: 1 part of a green leaf with breathing cells,

2 the eye of a wasp, 3 the bristles on a toothbrush

Try It Out

22TÜVtel

Jürgen Nolden tests tunnels, retaining walls on roads, and around 200 bridges a year. He is a trained civil engineer. When he inspects bridges, the TÜV Rheinland expert makes sure they are standing firmly, can be safely driven over, and that all parts are

in good shape. To do that, he sometimes has to abseil off a bridge or go diving to examine pillars under the water.

STEM is the abbreviation for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics - all fields that involve exciting experiments.

Today: E

For Engineering

You need: • a sheet of A4 paper• two piles of books of equal height• a weight such as an apple

Balance the sheet of paper between the books and put the apple on top. The bridge doesn't hold.

Fold the paper

in a concertina

pattern and place

it on the books

again.

Why does the folded bridge hold more weight? By folding the sheet up, you divide it into many small lengths of paper. Each fold makes the paper more stable. That is because the weight of the apple no longer rests on just one area. Instead, it is spread evenly over the whole sheet of paper. Design engineers call this physical principle "stiffening". It is also employed in the construction of real bridges - but of course they use folded steel there, and not paper.

Bridge inspectors at TÜV Rheinland

A paper Bridge

Put the apple back on the bridge. It holds!

1

2

3

Mathematics

Technology

Science

Engineering

stem Spells

Fan Page

TÜVtel is not just available in

Germany. The magazine is also

read in many other countries.

Its fans include the students from

the German Section of the Taipei

European School. Taipei is a

megacity in the northern part

of Taiwan.

23TÜVtel

Estella Felicia and Mei Hui have just been rescuing tadpoles from a muddy waterway. To do that, they had to make a little pool in the meadow. They have also built a butterfly house and planted some flowers. It was a lot of hard work, so now it‘s time to relax with a copy of TÜVtel.

TÜVtel fans Jannik

and Andre sowed

the flower seeds

from one of the

last editions and

made the world a

little bit brighter.

Do you have photos of yourself with a

copy of TÜVtel? Send them to

TUEVtel@de.tuv.com and we‘ll print

them in the next magazine.

TÜVtel in ChinaThe third-grade students at Bramstedt primary school say a big hello to all the other TÜVtel fans. They always really look forward to the next edition of TÜVtel. Right now, they‘re having a ball with the balls from the last edition.

A Well-Earned Break

A Big Hello!

Flourishing

Join in!

The pumpkin is a

berry, so it belongs

to the fruits - not

the vegetables.

Berry GoodFossilize

d pumpkin

seeds as old as

10,000

years have bee

n

discovered.

Ancient

It comes from South America. The explorer Christopher Columbus brought it back from his travels.

In the night before 1 November, the pumpkin serves as a death mask for an old Celtic custom called Halloween.

International

TÜVtel – Who Made It?Publisher: TÜV Rheinland Aktiengesellschaft, Communications, Am Grauen Stein, D-51105 CologneResponsible: Aud Feller, v. i. S. d. P. (responsible according to the German press law)Editing: S+L Partners GmbH, Cologne Printing: Druckhaus Ley + Wiegandt, Wuppertal

Photos: All Roby and Tess illustrations by Franz Gerg/Comic-Agentur Roberto Freire; German Aerospace Center (DLR)/ESA (cover, 13); DLR/NASA (pp. 3, 12); DLR/GCTC (p. 12); TÜV Rheinland (pp. 2, 6, 14, 20-21); LEGO® (pp. 2, 15); The Vegetable Orchestra/Heidrun Henke (p. 4); WDR/Klaus Görgen (p. 13); WDR/Schmitt-Menzel/Streich/WWF (p. 13); Lothar Wels (p. 20); Lisa Landwehrjohann (p. 22); private source (p. 23); 123RF: Andrii IURLOV (cover), Pavlo Vakhrushev (p. 2), iimages (pp. 2, 10), Kasia Bialasiewicz, stfotograf (p. 4), Prakaymas Vitchitchalao (p. 5), Galyna Andrushko, tristan3d (p. 8), Mariano Ruiz, MichaÅ‚ BaraÅ„ski (p. 10), Aleksandr Levchenko, designua, Andrey Shupilo (p. 11), gemenacom, tovovan, Orlando Rosu (p. 15), lookstore (p. 19), PAN XUNBIN (p. 21), Denys Prokofyev, Krzysztof Slusarczyk (p. 24); fotolia: Joachim Neumann (cover, p. 16), Willee Cole (p. 4), tovovan, arturaliev, Aleksandr Bryliaev, Dirk Schumann, eyewave (pp. 4-5), valdis torms (pp. 4-5, 22), grafikplusfoto (p. 6), Natis (p. 7), lamax (pp. 8-9), klz (p. 9), Denis Tabler (pp. 12-13), baibaz (p. 14), djama, eyetronic (p. 17), Rafal Olechowski (pp. 20-21), crimson, Jacek Chabraszewski (p. 21); iStockphoto: RealRedHair (cover), PeteDraper (pp. 2, 9), Minerva Studio (pp. 6-7), yafa80 (p. 9), skynesher (pp. 10-11), CraigRJD, dem10 (p. 11), mtr (p. 21); shutterstock: razlomov (p. 9), Fablok, Levent Konuk (p. 10), Coprid, Imageman (p. 11)

The Lodger

THE PUMPKIN – A FASCINATING FRUIT

Au Ja, total gerne!

Roboter-Eissorten!

Puzzle Solutions

from Page 15

Balancing

Act

Match This

The fruits are banana, orange and papaya.

There are more than 850 different sorts.

Varied

The world‘s biggest pumpkin is in

the Guinness Book of Records. It

weighed more than 821 kilos. That

is about as heavy as a cow.

Diced Fruit

The trick: Make

two triangles,

one on top of

the other.

Five yellow balls

weigh as much as

one purple one.

Like cucumbers and melons, pumpkins are more than 90% water.

Watery

Massive

Creepy

TESS and ROBY

Roby, your stomach is rumbling.

What is that noise?

I know!

I have a lodger for the fall and winter.

How cute!

B r P a n A

o A n A Y EA A n G A

P

Deciduous Trees

As a rule, leaves grow high on the trees. It is really only possible to examine them closely when they sail down from the branches in the fall. So now is the best time to go on a discovery tour. The sidewalks and parks are full of colorful leaves. But with the sheer volume of them, things can get pretty confusing.

Which leaf belongs to which tree? With a bit of practice, you can tell which plant you are looking at by the shape of the leaf, the fruits that you find nearby, as well as the bark on the tree. Give it a try: Read the tree facts on this poster and then go on a leaf hunt.

Photos: Le Do, photka, tilltibet, OLEKSANDR YEROMIN, Baloncici, lianem, Alexandr Pakhnyushchyy, Wu Ruiyun, Sergii Figurnyi, Eric Isselee, konzeptm, Maksym Bondarchuk, Ying Feng Johansson, Valentyn Volkov Volkov, Marilyn Barbone, Stefan Balk/123RF; Schlierner, Dionisvera, eyetronic, doris oberfrank-list, spyder24, natureimmortal, Edler von Rabenstein, Fotoschlick, zagart, Elenarts/fotolia; Roby and Tess illustration by Franz Gerg/Comic-Agentur Roberto Freire

Tree expert

MapleThe serrated leaves of the maple turn glorious shades

of red, orange or yellow in the fall. A good way to

identify the tree is by its fruits. They have

two wings that they use like a propeller to fly to the ground.

BirchThe birch is easily

identified by its white and black

trunk. There are more than 40 different varieties. Its wood is good for building

furniture and its branches are

used to bind twig brooms.

oakYou can tell the oak by

its deep green ridged leaves, its cracked

bark, and of course, its acorns. They look like nuts but sadly they are inedible for humans.

Oaks can live to more than 1,000

years old. Hornbeam

The hornbeam with its serrated leaves and

smooth bark doesn‘t only grow in the forest. You can also see it planted in rows in many gardens as a thick hedge. Its wood

is considered the hardest in all of

Europe.

Copper beech

The copper beech grows up to 45 meters tall. Its green

leaves turn bright red in the fall, and that is where it gets its name from. Its fruits are called beechnuts.

HazelHazel usually grows as a dense bush or a tree with

many branches. In the late summer,

the hazelnuts ripen. They are extremely healthy - both for us and for squirrels.

ChestnutWith its large, palmate leaves

and magnificent flowers, the chestnut is a real

eye-catcher. For that reason, you often also find them in the city, lining country roads, and in parks.

Depending on the variety, the willow grows as a bush or a tree. The flexible branches are good for weaving baskets with. In the spring, you can identify the willow by its silky yellow flowers, or pussy willows. In the fall, you‘ll know it by its slender leaves that are turning yellow.

Willow

The jaybird loves to eat acorns and builds up a huge store of them for the winter.

Squirrels use their sharp teeth to gnaw through the shell and get to the nut.

As an early bloomer, the willow is a welcome source of food for busy honeybees.

The may beetle loves green leaves and regularly nibbles entire hedges bare.

Know What’s Growing

Become a

For several years now, killer bacteria have been attacking chestnut trees in Germany and making them rot.

Owls

When the sun goes down, owls wake up and go hunting. Thanks to their soft plumage and the indentations on their outer pinion feathers, they generate barely any atmospheric turbulence during flight. That enables the birds of prey to fly silently through the air and catch their victims by surprise. Owls like eating mice best, but their menu also includes worms, insects, frogs and small birds.

While the female protects the chicks and keeps them warm, the male goes hunting for the whole family. Around 25 mice per night are needed to feed three growing owlets. Most young owls already leave the nest long before they can fly. They hop around in trees and sit among the branches, which is why they are also known as branchlings. Their parents continue to feed them there until they can fly properly and have learned to catch their prey themselves. In the fall, it is time for them to go their separate ways. The families disperse and the young owls move away to find their own hunting grounds.

Photos: D.J. Cox (2), M. Varesvuo/ Juniors Bildarchiv GmbH/ WILDLIFE; Saddako/Thinkstock; Jim Vallee/fotolia; IPGGutenbergUKLtd/iStockphoto; Roby and Tess illustration by Franz Gerg/Comic-Agentur Roberto Freire

Creatures of the Night