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…
Dr Gillian Lockwood
A Catalyst article about the working life of Dr Gillian Lockwood, a reproductive biologist who specialises in IVF. The article looks at the ethical issues surrounding fertility treatments for problems such as polycystic ovary syndrome. This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2007, Volume 17, Issue 4. Catalyst is…
Make Your Own Lava Lamp
This Catalyst article describes how to make a lava lamp by using three simple ingredients: vegetable oil, food colouring and fizzing tablets. The article also explains the processes taking place inside a real lava lamp and why they happen. This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2011, Volume 22, Issue 1. Catalyst…
Circadian Rhythms
This Catalyst article looks at how an internal biological clock within every cell of the human body helps to co-ordinate and organise human behaviour and metabolism into approximately 24-hour rhythms – allowing organisms to synchronise with, and anticipate, day and night. When the body clock is disrupted in humans it can have…
Fireworks: an Explosive Business
This Catalyst article looks at fireworks and their history, how they are made and set off, and what gives them their colours and effects. The basic chemistry used in fireworks is looked at and how they work once the fuse is ignited. This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2002, Volume 13, Issue 2. Catalyst is a science…
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…
Exercise, Energy and Movement
Produced by the Wellcome Trust, this issue of the Big Picture looks at the physiology and sociology of exercise and movement. For humans, movement is for more than just basic survival. They move for fun, to compete and to be healthy. This resource looks at the biological systems that keep humans moving and consider some of the…
Cool Chemistry
A Catalyst article about the work of a scientist from the British Antarctic Survey, gathering data about climate change by studying ice cores from Antarctica. One of the areas of research was to find out whether it is possible to learn how much sea ice there was around Antarctica in the past by measuring how much sea salt is in ice…
Do U Wan2 Tlk> ;-)
A Catalyst article about mobile phones. This article looks at the science behind this popular piece of technology, such as the use of radio waves, aerials and cells. The article also explains how mobile phones are able to use short aerials. This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2005, Volume 16, Issue 1. Catalyst…
Engineering - Careers
A Catalyst article about careers in the different branches of modern engineering. The article offers an alternative view of engineering focusing on problem solving and making the world a better place to live. Engineers can travel the world working in teams such is the demand for their expertise and much use is made of computers.…
5/5- Publication year: 2000 - 2009
- Article
H2O: Hot Ice and the Mysteries of Water
This Catalyst article looks at some of the unusual features of water and especially the way it behaves when it is frozen. The article explains the properties of water and how it behaves at different temperatures with the aid of illustrations showing its molecular structure. Some unusual scientific ideas are also investigated. This…
breakthrough: the RI at 200
breakthrough was a termly resource for teachers published between 1999 and 2001. Each edition highlighted a number of discoveries and inventions and the people who made them. This edition was published in September 1999. Each edition of breakthrough included feature articles and regular items such as profiles of key scientists,…
Plants and Mineral Nutrients
A Catalyst article looking at the chemicals that are in plants and trees and the role they play in the life of the plant. Starting with photosynthesis the article moves onto naturally occurring chemicals and explains why plants need fertilisers. Growing salad crops hydroponically is also examined. This article is from Catalyst:…
Olympic Alloys
This Catalyst article looks at metals and alloys which play an important role in construction at the Olympic site, both in sports equipment and in medals. Designers must consider the properties of the materials used to make both sports equipment and buildings. These include strength, density, toughness, ductility and resistance to…
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…
Battle of the Barnacles
A Catalyst article about biologists looking for patterns in the distribution of barnacle species on the sea shore. Barnacles are arthropods which live as tiny larvae in the sea and then cement themselves, head down, on suitable rocks, build a shell, poke their legs out of the top of it and start to filter feed. The article looks…
- 5/5
- Publication year: 2000 - 2009
- Article
Flies, Weeds, Atom Bombs and Computers
This Catalyst article explores 'Biomodels', biological species which are increasingly well-understood and which have been chosen because they can help us to test new biological theories, particularly in the field of genetics. This article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2011, Volume 22, Issue 2. Catalyst…
Plants Fight Back - Physical and Chemical Defences in Plants
One of a series of articles for post-16 students published by Science and Plants for Schools (SAPS). Plants attacked by herbivores or pathogens respond by synthesising additional physical and chemical defences and so increasing their resistance to subsequent assaults. The induced defences are initiated close to the damaged site but…
Damian Murphy: Music Technologist
A Catalyst article about the work of Damian Murphy a music technologist. Acoustics and sound are examined in addition to the physical modelling and acoustics of buildings and environments, both real and virtual. This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2007, Volume 17, Issue 3. Catalyst is a science magazine for…
Food Additives
A Catalyst article about food additives. Some additives are natural and some are manufactured by the chemical industry. Some, like vitamin C, can come from either natural or artificial sources. As with every other component of food all additives are chemicals. Even organic food can contain a certain number of additives; this article…
Carbon Capture
A Catalyst article explaining how carbon capture and storage can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere and may reduce the effects of climate change. Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This is a major contributor to climate change but can CO2 be captured and stored as it is produced?…
Dorothy Hodgkin - a Life in Science
A Catalyst article about Dorothy Hodgkin who was a pioneering scientist, a peace activist, a mother of three and a Nobel Prize winner. The article looks at her life and work in science. She did valuable work as an X-ray crystallographer and in finding the structure of biologically important molecules such as antibiotic penicillin…
From Earth to Mars
This Catalyst article describes how a manned trip to Mars and back would be very demanding, both technologically and for the people involved. This article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2011, Volume 22, Issue 2. Catalyst is a science magazine for students aged 14-19 years. Annual subscriptions to print copies of…
Plastics Forever?
A Catalyst article discussing how polymers affect every day of people’s lives. With diverse characteristics and applications their usefulness can only be limited by human imagination. Due to polymers’ widespread and varied use a responsible and systematic recycling programme is both economically and environmentally advantageous. This…
Food Waste Recycling - Power from Potato Peelings
This Catalyst article describes how food waste can be treated by anaerobic digestion to produce methane and fertiliser. This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2011, Volume 22, Issue 1. Catalyst is a science magazine for students aged 14-19 years. Annual subscriptions to print copies of the magazine can be purchased…
Marie Curie - A Life of Discovery
This Catalyst article looks at Marie Curie, who discovered two radioactive elements and showed that radioactivity was a property of atoms, not compounds. Marie Curie won two Nobel Prizes, the only woman to have done so. She is still the only person to have won awards in both Physics and Chemistry. The article describes her life…
Unlocking the Genetic Diversity of Rice
This Catalyst article looks at wild rice which was domesticated a long time ago, and explores how understanding its genetic diversity can help to develop new strains. This article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2011, Volume 22, Issue 2. Catalyst is a science magazine for students aged 14-19 years. Annual subscriptions…
Superconductors: Powering the Future, Probing the Past
A Catalyst article about the many uses of superconductors. The article looks at what the 1700 magnets at the Large Hadron Collider and power cables in Detroit have in common. Both use superconductors - materials which, when cooled below a certain temperature, lose all their electrical resistance, and display some other remarkable…
Careers in Biochemistry
This Catalyst article looks at young people working in biochemistry, detailing how they got to where they are and what their job involves. This article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2011, Volume 22, Issue 2. Catalyst is a science magazine for students aged 14-19 years. Annual subscriptions to print copies of the…
Testing New Medicines
A Catalyst article exploring the testing of new medicines to see if they are safe for people to take. The effects on cells of a potential new drug are investigated using tissue cultures of human or animal cells. Some tissue cultures use fresh tissue samples, but most come from well-established laboratory cell strains. If a substance…
- 5/5
- Publication year: 2000 - 2009
- Article
On Screen: Physics and Computer Games
This Catalyst article looks at how computer games make increasingly sophisticated use of the laws of physics to produce convincing on-screen effects. From calculating the angle that a ball bounces off a wall to modelling the frictional forces on a rally car, physics has always played a part in the development of computer games. In…
A Close Look at Pollen Grains
A Catalyst article about how the scanning by an electron microscope of pollen grains shows up their structure, and can help scientists understand why some people suffer from an allergic reaction - hay fever. The article describes how the images were made and how they are used in scientific research. This article is from Catalyst:…
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