Darren Hughes from the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, France takes a look at stress. How can it be manipulated to make safer rails for trains or more efficient wind turbines – and what can we learn from neutron- and X-ray analysis?
At Science on Stage 2, the European Science Teaching Awards 2007 were presented for the 12 best projects. Eleanor Hayes, editor of Science in School, describes how the jury made their difficult decisions
Science on Stage 2 took place during the first week of April and brought together some of the best science teachers in Europe. Montserrat Capellas describes some memorable moments.
Anna Gawthorp describes the creation of the ambitious Science Learning Centres network to help UK teachers, technicians and classroom assistants to make UK science education world-class.
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.
Elisabeth Schepers from the Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany, introduces a school programme linking climate change and the future of traffic technology.
Ages: <11, 11-14, 14-16, 16-19; Topics: Earth science, General science
Ellen Raphael from the charity Sense About Science explains why peer review is so important in science, and describes how an existing guide is being adapted to meet the needs of science teachers.
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.
Caroline Molyneux, from Balshaw’s Church of England High School, UK, explains how she kick-starts her classes and helps her students remember certain lessons, facts or concepts.
Ages: 11-14, 14-16, 16-19; Topics: Science and society, General science
Jenny List, a young particle physicist working at DESY in Germany, leads her own research group to find out how the Universe works. She talks to Barbara Warmbein.
