Issue 29
Editorials
Welcome to the twenty-nineth issue of Science in School
With the FIFA World Cup, football fever seems to be everywhere and it is amazing to think how much the game has changed since the first one in 1930.
News from the EIROs
Solving a sticky problem for cancer treatment and getting into the fusion energy game
Science in School is published by EIROforum, a collaboration between eight of Europe’s largest inter-governmental scientific research organisations (EIROs). This article reviews some of the latest news from EIROs.
Cutting-edge science
Up, up and away: using aircraft for atmospheric monitoring
When measuring the chemistry of the atmosphere, it helps to fly up in specially modified laboratories.
Super cold meets super hot
To keep refuelling its reactor, the EFDA-JET facility fires frozen hydrogen pellets into 150 million°C plasma. But these pellets have an added benefit as well.
Reviews
Pieces of light, by Charles Fernyhough
Sub-titled “The new science of memory”, this is the paperback edition of a title that appeared first in the UK in 2012 and has received several awards.
The inGenious code, by inGenious
These days, more and more of my colleagues in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education are warming to the idea of closer links with industry to show students what these subjects can do in the real world.
Science and society
Experiments in integrity – Fritz Haber and the ethics of chemistry
One hundred years after the start of the First World War, chemical weapons are still in the news. We consider some of the ethical questions behind the war’s chemical legacy.
Science topics
More than meets the eye: how space telescopes see beyond the rainbow
How do astronomers investigate the life cycle of stars? At the European Space Agency, it’s done using space-based missions that observe the sky in ultraviolet, visible and infrared light – as this fourth article in a series about astronomy and the electromagnetic spectrum describes.
Teaching activities
Light refraction in primary education: the solar bottle bulb
More than 10 years ago, a very clever and inventive inhabitant from a favela discovered he could produce light without electricity. Now solar bulbs are spreading all over the world.
- Read: English, Lithuanian, Dutch, Romanian, Portuguese | PDF
Simulating the effect of the solar wind
The smooth operation of communications satellites can be influenced by solar weather. Mimic this effect on a smaller scale in the classroom with a simple demonstration.
Using biological databases to teach evolution and biochemistry
Online tools can be used to compare the sequences of proteins and understand how different organisms have evolved.
- Read: English, Lithuanian, Portuguese, Greek, Polish, Spanish, German, Italian | PDF
Become a water quality analyst
Industrial activities and even geological changes can affect the quality of water, causing contamination that poses risks to human health and the environment. Learn how to become an independent analyst to ensure that we have good-quality water.
- Read: English, Lithuanian, Dutch, Greek, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Italian | PDF
How water travels up trees
Why do giant redwoods grow so tall and then stop? It all has to do with how high water can travel up their branches.
