Articles

Painting life green: GFP

From jellyfish to arsenic detectors via a Nobel Prize: Sonia Furtado reports on the discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein, and interviews scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, about its applications.

Ages: 16-19;
Topics: Biology, General science, Science and society
       

Gene ABC website, By the Swiss National Science Foundation

DNA, also known as the molecule of life, has fascinated scientists since its discovery over half a century ago.

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

Plasma balls: creating the 4th state of matter with microwaves

Halina Stanley describes how two Israeli scientists investigated plasma balls and in the process found a potentially useful way to create nanoparticles.

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

Hydrocarbons: a fossil but not (yet) extinct

Continuing our energy series, Menno van Dijk introduces us to the past, present and future of hydrocarbons – still the most common of all fuels.

Ages: 14-16, 16-19;
Topics: Physics, Chemistry, Earth science, Engineering, Science and society
       

Welcome to the twelfth issue of Science in School

In this issue’s feature article, Leroy Hood, the ‘father of systems biology’ describes his commitment to encouraging concept-driven, hands-on science teaching. He explains how he introduced this approach across schools in Seattle – and why his achievements in science may be due to his…

Ages: not applicable;
Topics: Uncategorized

Looking to the heavens: climate change experiments

In the second of two articles, Dudley Shallcross, Tim Harrison, Steve Henshaw and Linda Sellou offer chemistry and physics experiments to harness the Sun’s energy and measure carbon dioxide levels.

Ages: 14-16, 16-19;
Topics: Physics, Earth science, Engineering
       

A classroom in space

Lucy Patterson spoke to Greek science teacher Theodoros Pierratos, who recently won the chance to bring physics to life for his students in a truly extraordinary way with the help of the European Space Agency.

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

Physics: a black box?

Ľudmila Onderová from PJ Šafárik University, Košice, Slovakia, introduces us to the use of black boxes in the physics classroom.

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

The Beagle

In 2009, the world celebrates the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. Emmanuel Reynaud revisits the story of the vessel aboard which the foundations for Darwin’s publication were laid.

Ages: 14-16, 16-19;
Topics: Science and society
     

Issue 12