Articles

Showing 10 results from a total of 319

Understand

June 6, 2007 | Issue 5

Plastics, naturally

We sit on them, wear them and cook with them: plastics are everywhere. Yet this very versatility makes it difficult to produce and dispose of plastics in environmentally friendly ways. David Bradley explains how researchers at the University of Manchester, UK, are working on a solution.

Ages: 14-16, 16-19;
Topics: Biology, Chemistry, Earth science
                 

Understand

June 6, 2007 | Issue 5

Synchrotron light illuminates the orang-utan’s obscure origins

Paul Tafforeau from the University of Poitiers and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, France, explains what synchrotron X-ray studies of fossil teeth can tell us about the evolution of orang-utans – and our own origins.

Ages: 16-19;
Topics: Physics, Biology
     

Teach

June 6, 2007 | Issue 5

Fun with genomes: the Mycomuncher DNA Puzzle

Fed up with explaining genomes, genes and proteins? Why not get your students to figure it out for themselves using Johan Leveau’s DNA puzzle?

Ages: <11, 11-14, 14-16, 16-19;
Topics: Biology
       

Understand

March 9, 2007 | Issue 4

Plant hallucinogens as magical medicines

Did witches once soar through the night sky on broomsticks? Or were they hallucinating after eating or touching certain plants? Angelika Börsch-Haubold explains how modern pharmacology helps us to understand the action of many toxic plants – some of which are still used in medicine.

Ages: 16-19;
Topics: Biology, Chemistry
     

Understand

March 9, 2007 | Issue 4

Silken, stretchy and stronger than steel!

Could spider silk be the answer to medical and military challenges? Giovanna Cicognani from the Institut Laue-Langevin and Montserrat Capellas from the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, France, investigate Christian Riekel and Tilo Seydel’s research into this remarkable material.

Ages: 16-19;
Topics: Physics, Biology, Chemistry
           

Teach

March 9, 2007 | Issue 4

Scientists@work

Teaching science in the classroom is all very well, but wouldn’t it be wonderful to let your students learn for themselves what it’s really like to work in a research laboratory? Sooike Stoops from the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (VIB), Belgium, describes a project that does just…

Ages: 14-16, 16-19;
Topics: Biology, General science
 

Understand

March 9, 2007 | Issue 4

Ethics in research

Is it acceptable to use human embryonic stem cells in research? What about live animals? Professor Nadia Rosenthal, head of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Monterotondo, Italy, talks to Russ Hodge about the ethics of her research.

Ages: 14-16, 16-19;
Topics: Biology
     

Understand

March 9, 2007 | Issue 4

How do muscles produce work? Using optical tweezers to study molecular machines

Alexandre Lewalle from King’s College, London, UK, pushes back the frontiers of our knowledge of motors – at the molecular level.

Ages: 16-19;
Topics: Physics, Biology
   

Teach

March 9, 2007 | Issue 4

Two hydrolytic enzymes and an epistemological–historical approach

Why are enzymes so special? How do they differ from inorganic catalysts? Isabella Marini from the University of Pisa, Italy, describes a classroom protocol to enable students to answer these questions for themselves.

Ages: 14-16;
Topics: Biology, Chemistry
       

Understand

March 9, 2007 | Issue 4

Is traditional engineering the right system with which to manipulate our world?

We are relative newcomers on Earth and still have a lot to learn. Julian Vincent from the University of Bath, UK, investigates some of the lessons we can learn from the living world.

Ages: 14-16, 16-19;
Topics: Physics, Biology