Tiny Particle, Giant Detector - Neutrinos
A Catalyst article about neutrinos. Neutrinos are fundamental particles. They are tiny, a neutrino has a mass about one-millionth of the mass of an electron, and they have no electric charge. This article looks at the detection of these elusive particles which requires the use a giant detector. The one described is from the Katrin…
How Smart Is an Ant?
A Catalyst article about ants. A colony consists of hundreds, even thousands, of ants working diligently and cooperatively, perhaps to kill and carry a large prey item, build a large nest structure or develop and use road-like networks for foraging. Collectively, colonies of social insects can do amazing things and scientists invest…
Energy Control
A Catalyst article about the efficient use of heating systems. Many people complain of being too hot or cold. Coming soon are a new generation of intelligent heating controls which can learn how people live, and then deliver heating efficiently when and where they need it. These devices are known as Wattboxes and the article describes…
Biophotovoltaics
A Catalyst article looking at the use of plant cells to generate electricity via photosynthesis. This branch of science is called biophotovoltaics. The Sun is the ultimate source of energy for almost all life on Earth and harnessing this energy is one of the great scientific and technological challenges. Traditional fossil fuels…
Splitting Light: Spectroscopy
A Catalyst article looking at which type of radiation is absorbed and emitted through spectroscopy. This is the study of the wavelengths of light which allows us to identify the substances present in the source. This investigation provides a lot of useful information about a compound. It is used in a very wide variety of applications,…
Cloud Control
A Catalyst article about climate control, and specifically the process known as cloud seeding. Cloud seeding has met with initially encouraging results. The method entails adding silver iodide to the air in clouds to encourage ice crystals to form, so that they grow rapidly and produce more snow or rainfall than the cloud might have…
Science on the Western Front
In this Catalyst article the work of archaeologists working on the graves of World War One (WW I) victims is described. The total number of military dead in WWI is estimated at 8.5–10 million. In the mud and confusion, many of the dead did not have proper burials. Many temporary graves were destroyed by later shellfire. There…
The Species that Changed the World
A Catalyst article describing the species that have had the greatest impact on planet Earth during its billions of years of history. Which come out on top of the 'league table of life'? As hominids have only walked the Earth for part of its existence the article looks at the history of life, from the dawn of evolution to…
Memories Are Made of This?
In this Catalyst article scientists investigate the basis of memory using lab animals; this can lead to insights into human memory, and treatments for people suffering deteriorating memory. The article focuses on two aspects of memory: • the hippocampus, the part of the brain belonging to the limbic system • non-human…
Starting a Greener Revolution
A Catalyst article looking at strategies for ensuring that there is a plentiful food supply in the future and how this can be sustained. The article looks at three main areas for scientific investigation: • Fertilisation • Pest control • Genetic modification It also looks at balancing the need for more food…
Hearing Trouble
This Catalyst article looks at 'Restored Hearing', a business which grew out of a school science project. It provides therapy for sufferers of temporary tinnitus, a debilitating hearing condition caused by exposure to loud noises. The article looks at how hearing loss can occur and how also explains how the business was…
Infra-red Astronomy
A Catalyst article describing how the VISTA telescope, which is located in Chile, works. It detects infrared radiation - electromagnetic radiation beyond the red end of the spectrum. This has two great benefits: • The telescope can detect radiation from distant stars which are otherwise hidden behind clouds of dust which…
Biomimetics
A Catalyst article describing how new materials can be designed by studying natural materials and how they work. In particular the development of Velcro, military fabric, swimwear and waterproofing is looked at. These products were developed by scientific study of natural products such as plant burrs, pinecones, sharks skins and…
Mission to Mercury
A Catalyst article about BepiColombo, a spacecraft which will visit Mercury, powered by a revolutionary new rocket engine technology using ion engines and using a slingshot manoeuvre to accelerate it. The development of the spacecraft is an international project and will combine exciting scientific goals exploring the inner solar…
Encounters with Aliens - Invasive Species
This Catalyst article looks at harlequin ladybirds, just one of the invasive species that has spread through Western Europe. Over the last century there has been a dramatic increase in the movement of so called alien species around the world as a consequence of international trade and travel. Invasive alien species, alongside climate…
LEDs - Lighting Up a Brighter Future
A Catalyst article about devising better, more energy-efficient lighting. In particular the article focuses on LEDs. Like food, water, clothing and shelter, light is essential to daily life and is needed by most people for most of their waking hours. The article explains how LEDs work and how they are made. This article is from…
Solar Cells
This Catalyst article investigates the development of better, more energy-efficient solar cells. Every minute enough sunlight strikes the Earth to power our civilisation for a year, yet less than 1% of global energy generation is provided by solar energy. Solar cells convert sunshine directly to electricity, but to make them more…
Small Wonders - the Invention of Microscopy
A Catalyst article about the early microscopists, including Leeuwenhoek, Hooke and Swammerdam. Their work looked at the miniature world beyond human sight and through publications raised awareness of phenomena such as how insects functioned and how disease spread. The article also examines the use of simple and compound microscopes. This…
How Science Works in Africa
A Catalyst article about a Kenyan scientist who is searching for better treatments for malaria, a disease which kills more than a million people in Africa each year. The article also explains some of the challenges of doing science in Africa, where funding is low. Often the illness shows a remarkable ability to select for resistance…
When the Drugs Don't Work
This Catalyst article explains why there are many anti-bacterial drugs but few antivirals. There are millions of bacteria everywhere – on skin, in the gut, and on food. Bacteria have been troubling human beings for as long as they have been around, so a lot of effort has been directed into finding ways to fight back at them. This…
Molecules From the Past
A Catalyst article looking at how modern archaeology uses analytical chemical techniques to answer questions about ancient civilisations and animals. Scientists working at the University of Bristol match compounds present in archaeological materials to those in modern plants and animals which were likely to have been used in ancient…
Drilling Down/At Sea with Chikyu
A Catalyst article about Chikyu, a Japanese drilling ship capable of boring through the Earth's crust. It will investigate regions where the crust is thinnest. Core samples are examined using a number of scientific techniques and they have produced useful information about areas where there is seismic activity together with…
Can You Hear Me?
This Catalyst article looks at hearing loss, which is usually associated with the elderly, straining to hear the TV while turning up their hearing aid. As a teenager losing the ability to hear correctly seems decades away but hearing loss is increasingly becoming a problem for young adults and teenagers. The article looks at how…
It's Life, But Much As We Already Know It
This Catalyst article looks at a newspaper report, which carried the headline “It’s life, but not as we know it”, following NASA’s supposed discovery of a ‘second form of life’. The scientific paper, published by the eminent journal Science, even created widespread speculation about the existence…
Artificial Photosynthesis
This Catalyst article explains how artificial photosynthesis could provide a useful energy supply and reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Experiments are underway in labs around the world. The aim is to use the basis of Photosynthesis to recycle the huge amounts of Carbon Dioxide being emitted into the atmosphere…
Life Under a Log
A Catalyst article describing how a decaying log is used by many different invertebrates and vertebrates. The damp environment is suitable for many species. This well illustrated article looks at some of them. This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2011, Volume 21, Issue 3. Catalyst is a science magazine for students…
Numbers from Nature
This Catalyst article looks at the work of field ecologists, discussing how ecological studies require the gathering and processing of large amounts of data. This article looks at how ant populations are studied in the field and how their study can produce information about the way living organisms exist in the wild, their interaction…
The Chemistry of the Noble Gases
This Catalyst article looks at the noble gases (Group 0 or 8 in the periodic table) which are almost inert. This article shows how they were discovered through the use of fractional distillation and looks at their chemical and physical properties. This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2011, Volume 21, Issue 3. Catalyst…
Phytoplasmas - Friend or Foe?
A Catalyst article about phytoplasmas which are micro-organisms that affect crop plants modifying their growth. The article looks at the damage that they can inflict on crops which in turn can cause famine. Botanists are seeking to counter the effects of phytoplasma disease and the article looks at laboratory research so far. This…
Pterosaurs - Flying Reptiles
This Catalyst article looks at the pterosaurs, which were flying reptiles, and which died out along with the dinosaurs. Analysis of the fossil record has increased scientists' knowledge of these creatures and how they lived. Bird watching during the Mesozoic Era, the expanse of time stretching between 245 and 65 million years…
Down on the Farm, 10 000 Years Ago
This Catalyst article looks at how people lived in the past, archaeologists look at the items (artefacts) these cultures left behind. Using chemical analysis of residues in the artefacts an enormous amount of additional information can be gleaned. This article investigates early dairy farming. Analysis of tiny residues of fats found…
Soil - the Final Frontier
A Catalyst article about the organisms which live in soil. Many, such as worms and mycorrhizal fungi, are vital for keeping soil healthy and productive. An adventurous biologist could once bank on finding new species by simply travelling to some part of the world little known to science. Darwin’s famous voyage round the world…