Try This - Make Your Own Cloud
In this Catalyst article an experiment is described in which the formation of clouds can be replicated. The experiment requires nothing more than a plastic bottle, warm water, matches and a small thermometer. This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2011, Volume 21, Issue 4. Catalyst is a science magazine for students…
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…
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…
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…
Birth of an Ocean: Africa Splits Apart
This Catalyst article describes how, as two tectonic plates separate, wide fissures appear in the ground in northern Ethiopia. Eventually a new ocean will form in the area affected. The Earth’s surface is not stable or permanent. The tectonic plates that form our planet’s outer crust are constantly moving around, bumping…
Solar Surface
This Catalyst article is about the surface of the Sun. The article looks at a sunspot as seen by the Japanese Hinode solar observatory. Sunspots enable research about the nature and activity of the Sun. They are regions of strong magnetic activity and the article reports on the history of research into sunspots. This article is…