Issue 4 | Winter 2026

Nothing new to report from the Lab, except for all the exciting learning journeys we have in store for the kids this week! Keep reading to find out what they are…

COOKING UP SCIENCE

Getting water and oil to mix is impossible. Since water is polar and oil is nonpolar, the two most frequently used liquids in our kitchens refuse to play nice. But there are chemicals out there, like soap, that bridge the divide and bring these two closer together to create an emulsion. Now, no one wants their food to taste like soap, so this week, we will test out far more appetising emulsifiers like starch, egg, mustard, and honey. Then, using these, we will whip salad dressings and pasta sauce into stable emulsions full of flavour.

PLANET EARTH, ANIMATED

We live on a thin crust of solid rock floating on a vast ocean of magma, heated by the incredibly high temperatures of our iron-rich core. The energy welling up from these depths is what drives the changing surface of our planet. This week, we will discover how fossils showed us that the continents drift on their tectonic plates, and, with the help of chocolate powder, crackers, and icing, how the movement of these plates causes earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, as well as creates mountains and new land. Before we head for the surface, using electricity and iron, we will explore how the planet’s roiling centre gives rise to a lifesaving planetary magnetic field.

RAMPANT REACTIONS

All of chemistry comes down to the humble electron. This subatomic particle - tinier than even the infinitesimal atom - drives chemical change. Some chemicals even go so far as to steal them from others in search of stability, and one chemical has such a bad rap for doing this that we name this subatomic theft after it. Oxidation will set our lab ablaze this week as we get fuels in close contact with oxygen. With a little kick of energy to set things off, we will make iron dazzle with rust, flasks whoosh with fire, and ignite a sprinkle of seeds into dazzling flames.

Issue 3 | Winter 2026

We are giving out free classes!

Refer our Modules to a friend, and we will give you a free class off your next package when they sign up for the term.

While we are at it, we will give a free class to your friend too!

COOKING UP SCIENCE

Heat is such an integral part of cooking that you’d be hard-pressed to think of a culinary example where there was no heat involved. Not only does it make food easier to digest, but it also opens up a whole new world of flavours, aromas, colours, and textures. This week, we will turn up the heat as we transform sugar into caramel and then use the Maillard Reaction and a few amino acids to toast up the perfect grilled cheese sandwich. Finally, we will use heat and other chemicals to denature proteins and “poach” some eggs to go with it.

PLANET EARTH, ANIMATED

As lava cooled, these new lands shook under the barrage of asteroid impacts that plagued our young planet. Nowadays, the Earth mostly shudders for another reason (a reason we will explore next week), and it is these more modern earthquakes that have allowed scientists to peer right down to the core of our planet. However, before we delve any deeper, we should ensure our homes can withstand the next seismic shift. Using nothing but sticks and marshmallows, our would-be engineers will have to construct a tower that reaches for the sky while we shake the ground beneath it with our drill-powered earthquake simulator!

RAMPANT REACTIONS

Now that we can tell our acids and bases apart, it’s time to neutralise them. Mixing one with the other produces a salt, water, and a more neutral solution - handy if you have a spot of heartburn and even handier if you need to measure the concentration of an acid or base. After running a few tests to select the right indicator, our chemists will turn detective! They will perform a titration - a carefully carried out neutralisation with an acid of known strength - and find out the strengths of some mystery bases.

Issue 2 | Winter 2026

Thank you for the great response to our first newsletter of the term!

Going forward, we will be posting these at the start of each week. This will give you a sneak preview of what your kids will be learning in the days to come and provide you with time to prepare for an enthusiastic science chat with them on the drive home.

So here's what we have in store for your future scientists this week...

COOKING UP SCIENCE

Kitchens may not be the first place that comes to mind when looking for crystals, but our cupboards are full of them! Sugar, salt, and even ice are crystals hiding in plain sight, and the first of these is perfect for serving up a mouthwatering treat. After examining what makes a crystal a crystal by comparing these household ones to their geological counterparts, we will explore solubility to concoct a supersaturated syrup from which we will grow our own rock candy - a tooth-decayingly big, single crystal of sugar on a stick.

PLANET EARTH, ANIMATED

The Earth was far from idyllic in its younger days. The heat from all those collisions that amassed our planet was so immense that our world wasn’t much more than a molten ball of rock. Even if a little patch of it managed to cool into solid ground, the next volcanic eruption wasn’t too far behind to melt it back into a liquid. So this week, we will explore the volcanoes that once dotted our land using chemistry. With the help of vinegar, baking soda, and peroxide, we will cause eruptions that are far safer yet no less spectacular!

RAMPANT REACTIONS

Now that we know a chemical reaction when we see one, it’s time to get reacting! Acids and bases are notorious chemicals, and neutralisation is a surefire way of blunting their danger. But what exactly are they, and how can we tell them apart? This week, our chemists embark on a journey across the pH scale, learning about proton donors and acceptors.  Using red cabbage to dye kitchen towels, we will create our own pH paper and compare it to store-bought stuff as we test the acidity (or alkalinity!) of household chemicals.

Issue 1 | Winter 2026

Welcome to the first newsletter of the term!

Each week, you will find a short write-up on each Module’s lessons so that you can have some great science chats with your future scientists.

You will also find news about important upcoming events to keep you in the loop on what’s going on at the Lab.

We hope you find it fun, informative, and helpful!

COOKING UP SCIENCE

Before we don our chef hats and cook up a storm, it would be good to know what food even is in the first place. Are they calories - those pesky things all the most tempting foods seem to be full of? And what about those so-called nutrients? How do we get more of those? Last week, we broke down foods and discovered the chemicals that make them up. By rolling up our sleeves and getting chemical, we added reagents and watched the colours change to reveal the sugars, starches, proteins and fats that build up our bodies and sustain them.

PLANET EARTH, ANIMATED

Our time-travelling adventure through Earth’s long history started at the very start - not with the formation of our planet, but with the beginning of the universe as we know it. While our Big Bang was a liquid nitrogen-fuelled explosion of fog rather than the colossal expansion of space that began 13.8 billion years ago, it nevertheless gave us the momentum to explore how gravity spent the next 9 billion years sculpting matter into generation after generation of stars and planets. Then, with the help of our giant trampoline, weights, magnet balls, and marbles, we put in orbit our very own planets around a sun and set in motion our brand new Solar System.

RAMPANT REACTIONS

Chemical reactions can build up chemicals, break them down, and transform them in jaw-dropping ways, so you’d think we would recognise them when we see them. No one will mistake something as mundane as ice melting as a chemical reaction, but what if it’s dry ice? Surely, all those clouds of fog are giveaways of some chemical magic! Or what about the fountains of fizz when Mentos and cola meet? Last week, our chemists investigated whether these glorious reactions made any new chemicals or were they simply physical reactions in cunning disguise?

Issue 13 | Autumn 2025

That’s us for the term!

Thank you so much for giving us the chance to share some science and wonder with your future scientists. We have loved teaching them and can’t wait to do it again soon.

Until then, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

If January is too long to go without some science and wonder, join our Winter Camp by clicking here.

SCIENCE BEHIND THE WAND

Even in winter, Glacius, the freezing spell, would be really handy in Dubai, but plain old refrigeration has already worked wonders in cooling the desert. While spraying compressed air cans that cooled in our hands, we learnt how pressured refrigerants are used to chill everything from rooms to food. But it was the freezing air that came out the other end that let us cheat the laws of thermodynamics and make things really cold! By rapidly expanding pressurised gas, we made clouds in bottles and even froze carbon dioxide. At -80 degrees, this dry ice was perfect for creating enough billowing, magical fog to celebrate our graduation from the wizarding world of science.

MYTH BUSTERS

With so many myths and so little time, we end the term with a bunch of myths you don’t need a lab to debunk. Can you fold paper in half more than seven times? You sure can! Just ask Britney Gallivan, the high-schooler who not only worked out the formula for this but also holds the world record for most paper folds. Does air moving around a wing really want to reach the end at the same time? Nope. And, as our paper planes showed, there’s a lot more to flight than just Bernoulli’s principle. Does water drain clockwise in the Northern hemisphere? While there may be a tendency for this, you can easily overcome the Coriolis Effect and make water drain whichever way you like, as we did in our tornado bottles. Is the Earth round? Yes!!! Just ask Eratosthenes, who used nothing but a shadow to prove this more than 2000 years ago!

PERIODIC PIONEERS

Unlike most of the elements we have met this term, the larger, heavier ones at the tail end of the Periodic Table are ones you wouldn’t want to see up close. At least not without a few inches of lead in the way. With such large nuclei, their atoms are prone to radioactive decay, breaking down into smaller elements and a whole bunch of DNA-damaging energy and particles. Since even Googling where we could find some of these elements would put us on some watchlist somewhere, we recreated their toxic glow by shining UV light on our fluorescein potions, before breaking down luminol with some bleach to end the term basking in its ethereal light.

Issue 12 | Autumn 2025

We’ve got discounts expiring soon!

Early-bird for our Winter Camp expires on the 1st of December.

Book here using the code WC10 to get an additional 10% off the week!

And the preorder window for our Christmas Science Kit closes on the 1st as well.

Preorder yours here and get the Kit at a special discounted price!

Don’t miss out on this chance to save.

SCIENCE BEHIND THE WAND

While the wizarding world need only utter “Ventus” to blow great, big gusts, we muggles need to rely on ungainly fans to push air around. But Bernoulli’s principle gives a way to get so much more out of our fans. After using the power of pressure differentials to defy gravity and stop an upturned cup of water from pouring onto the floor, we will explore the relationship between air’s speed and pressure. Using fast-moving air to reduce pressure, we will get the surrounding atmosphere to give us a helping hand. Balls will be sucked right out of cups and will float midair. Water (and the toilet paper to soak it up) will be sent flying across the lab. And giant bags and entire rooms will be filled up with just a single puff of air!

MYTH BUSTERS

Does lightning never strike the same place twice? To find out, we will go deep into the world of static electricity. Using simple friction, we will dislodge electrons from everyday objects and induce charges that will make balloons attract and repel, and paper rise up and dance. But is the static behind these simple experiments also responsible for one of nature’s most magnificent sights? Our Van de Graaff generator will answer that by supercharging the charges involved, allowing us to rain down tiny lightning bolts without a storm cloud in sight. Our plasma ball will let us get up close and personal and see what happens to the air in a strike, but it’s the fierce arcs of the Wimshurst machine that will finally settle this myth!

PERIODIC PIONEERS

The post-transition metals are definitely metals, but to a lesser extent. Not only are they softer and more brittle than your typical transition metal, but they also melt at much lower temperatures, making them easier to work with. Using a blowtorch, we will melt aluminium. Using a soldering iron, we will melt tin. And using nothing but our body heat, we will melt gallium! Then, it’s time to turn up the power. By passing a current through a solution of tin salt, we will crystallise a delicate metal snowflake right out of the liquid!

Issue 11 | Autumn 2025

The Curiosity Lab Christmas Science Kit is now available for preorder!

We have pulled out all the stops to make sure this Kit is perfect for any future scientists who have made the “Nice List” this year. And since we are doing all the measuring, bottling, label-sticking, packing, and ribbon-tying ourselves, we have a very limited number of Kits available.

Preorder yours here and get the Kit at a special discounted price!

And don’t forget… Early-Bird is still on for our Winter Camp.

Book here using the code WC10 to get an additional 10% off the week!

SCIENCE BEHIND THE WAND

On a blue planet like ours, Aguamenti, the spell to create water, hardly seems needed. That is, until you discover how little of that is accessible fresh water. So in places like the desert we live in, humans have had to be more resourceful. By soaking potato strips in distilled and salt water, we will explore the process of osmosis, the movement of water across a partially permeable membrane, and its counterpart, reverse osmosis, which is how we desalinate the seas to quench our thirst. But if we really want to make water rather than filter it, we need to break it down into its components using electricity. Then, by reacting oxygen with the hydrogen in a balloon, we will create water out of thin air and a whole lot of fire!

MYTH BUSTERS

Is custard explosive? The question may seem silly, but custard factories have been known to explode! Using flint and steel to spark up a fire, we will explore the fire triangle and determine whether custard has what it takes to combust. As we roast marshmallows over our mini campfires and charm a carbon “snake” out from the sugary ashes, it will become all too clear that custard has the energy to ignite. However, for an explosion to occur, things need to get much finer. By grinding this dessert into a powder and dispersing it into our oxygen-rich atmosphere, we will blow the lids off paint cans and send sweet, fiery whooshes into the air.

PERIODIC PIONEERS

Not all Transition Metals are created equal. Some resist change so irresolutely that we covet them. We make our jewellery from them. The alchemists of the past spent their lives trying to magic them up from lesser ingredients (a task we succeed at by turning a flask pure silver!). The precious metals may be prized, but the others have a trick up their sleeves. They readily produce salts, salts which do more than flavour our food. By sprinkling a dash of these more exotic salts into a flame, we will make it burn with every colour of the rainbow.

Christmas Science Kit

Do you know any future scientists who made the “Nice List” this year? Then we have the perfect gift for them!

Santa’s Curiosity Lab elves have been busy putting together the best Christmas Science Kit ever! Inside each, you will find everything you need to carry out three of our most popular experiments, all with a festive twist.

REINDEER TOOTHPASTE

Unleash an eruption of foam as you carry out YouTube’s most popular chemical reaction from the comfort of your home.

CHRISTMAS TREE SLIME

Mutate your Christmas tree into a stretchy polymer that looks (and smells!) like the real deal.

CRYSTAL ORNAMENTS

Brighten up your Christmas Tree with ornaments crafted and crystallised by your own hand.

The Kit will have enough material to complete each experiment twice, along with easy-to-follow instruction videos and cards that will teach you all the cool science behind each one.

Our Christmas Science Kit can be yours for:

AED 300

Once ordered, Kits can be picked up from Curiosity Lab, Al Quoz. Delivery is also available within Dubai at an additional AED 30.

If the Kit wasn’t exciting enough already, make it extra special by adding on a Curiosity Lab lab coat and drawstring bag at an additional AED 100 per kit!

Since being one of Santa’s elves is only a side hustle, we have a very limited number of Kits available. So don’t miss out…

Fill out the form below and order your Curiosity Lab Christmas Science Kit now!

All prices are exclusive of VAT