Understand – Page 32 of 34 – Science in School

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June 6, 2007 | Issue 5

Fusion in the Universe: where your jewellery comes from

Does alchemy sound too good to be true? Paola Rebusco, Henri Boffin and Douglas Pierce-Price, from ESO in Garching, Germany, describe how creating gold – and other heavy metals – is possible, though sadly not in the laboratory.

Ages: 16-19;
Topics: Physics, Astronomy / space

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June 6, 2007 | Issue 5

Damn lies

Do you have more than the average number of ears? Is your salary lower than average? When will the next bus arrive? Ben Parker attempts to convince us of the value of statistics – when used correctly.

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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March 9, 2007 | Issue 4

Fusion in the Universe: we are all stardust

Henri Boffin and Douglas Pierce-Price from ESO, in Garching, Germany, investigate our celestial ancestry.

Ages: 16-19;
Topics: Physics, Astronomy / space

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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

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December 20, 2006 | Issue 3

The yeast proteome: retooling the factory floor

Russ Hodge from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, reports on the first complete survey of 'molecular machines' in yeast.

Ages: 16-19;
Topics: Biology

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December 20, 2006 | Issue 3

Sleep and learning

When we sleep, are we just passively recovering from a hard day, or is there something more going on? Angelika Börsch-Haubold considers the implications of some intriguing research – was her grandmother right all along? Test the scientists’ conclusions for yourself!

Ages: 16-19;
Topics: Biology

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