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Showing 10 results from a total of 314

| Issue 6

Counting Buttons: demonstrating the Hardy-Weinberg principle

Pongprapan Pongsophon, Vantipa Roadrangka and Alison Campbell from Kasetsart University in Bangkok, Thailand, demonstrate how a difficult concept in evolution can be explained with equipment as simple as a box of buttons!

Ages: 14-16, 16-19;
Topics: Biology
 

| Issue 6

Monastic ink: linking chemistry and history

One of the many purposes of science is to support the humanities. With this in mind, Gianluca Farusi and his students set out to investigate and prepare iron-gall ink, a historically significant material for the transmission of knowledge.

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

| Issue 6

DNA labs on the road

Ever wished you could borrow a PCR machine for your lessons? And perhaps an expert to show your students how to use it? Marc van Mil introduces DNA labs that bring genomics directly to the classroom.

Ages: 16-19;
Topics: Biology, Health
   

| Issue 6

Why biodiversity research keeps its feet dry

Marine ecologists Iris Hendriks, Carlos Duarte, and Carlo Heip ask why – despite its importance – research into marine biodiversity is so neglected.

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

| Issue 5

Down to Earth: interview with Thomas Reiter

Shortly before Christmas 2006, German ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter returned from the International Space Station. A month later, Barbara Warmbein asked him about his trip, the experiments he did – and how to become an astronaut.

Ages: 11-14, 14-16, 16-19;
Topics: Physics, Biology, Astronomy / space
     

| 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
                 

| 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
     

| 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
       

| 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
     

| 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