Risks and benefits
A collection of Catalyst articles about risks and benefits.
A Nuclear Future?
A Catalyst article examining the UK’s electricity supplies, twenty per cent of which come from nuclear power stations.
This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2003, Volume 13, Issue 4.
X-rays at Work
A Catalyst article about X-rays. The medical profession does its best to avoid X-raying young people, but sometimes the benefits outweigh the hazards.
This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2003, Volume 14, Issue 1.
Decommissioning a Nuclear Reactor
A Catalyst article about the first generation of nuclear power stations.
This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2003, Volume 14, Issue 2.
Safety in the Lab
A Catalyst article about practical chemistry experiments and the risks involved.
This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2004, Volume 15, Issue 1.
Climate Modelling
A Catalyst article about the sudden onset of an ice age and whether it is a scientific likelihood.
This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2005, Volume 15, Issue 4.
Medical Imaging *suitable for home teaching*
A Catalyst article about microwaves, infrared, ultraviolet and X-rays which are all electromagnetic waves.
This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2005, Volume 16, Issue 2.
Nanotechnology *suitable for home teaching*
A Catalyst article about nanotechnology, the science of building tiny devices.
This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2006, Volume 16, Issue 3.
Impact Earth
A Catalyst article about giant asteroids. Astronomers say that, one day, a giant rock from space will collide with the Earth and cause mass devastation.
This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2006, Volume 17, Issue 1.
Testing New Medicines *suitable for home teaching*
A Catalyst article exploring the testing of new medicines to see if they are safe for people to take.
This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2006, Volume 17, Issue 1.
Investigating RTAs *suitable for home teaching*
A Catalyst article about road traffic accidents (RTAs).
This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2006, Volume 17, Issue 2.
Hurricanes
A Catalyst article about Hurricane Katrina which caused many deaths in August 2005, and vast damage along the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico in the USA.
This article is from GCSE Science Review 2006, Volume 17, Issue 2.
Electrical Safety *suitable for home teaching*
A Catalyst article about what causes faults in electrical appliances and the wiring installations in homes, and why people receive electric shocks.
This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2007, Volume 17, Issue 3.
Radioactive Waste Decisions
A Catalyst article about how decisions taken about controversial issues such as the sitting of a radioactive waste store.
This article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2007, Volume 18, Issue 2.
Do Mobile Phone Signals Harm Our Health?
A Catalyst article about people who believe that their health is affected by mobile phone radiation.
This article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2008, Volume 18, Issue 3.
Food additives
A Catalyst article about food additives.
This article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2008, Volume 18, Issue 3.
Natural Born Healers
A Catalyst article providing examples of some drugs derived from natural substances.
This article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2008, Volume 19, Issue 1.
Selling Science Short
A Catalyst article about a group of young scientists testing scientific claims in advertising.
This article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2008, Volume 19, Issue 2.
Risky Radiation
A Catalyst article comparing mobile phones and UV sunbeds. Mobile phones emit radiofrequency (RF) radiation.
This article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2008, Volume 19, Issue 2.
The Ethical Maze
A Catalyst article about deciding right from wrong in biology.
This article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2008, Volume 19, Issue 2.
TBL@WWW
A Catalyst article about Tim Berners-Lee, the founder of the World Wide Web.
This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2006, Volume 17, Issue 1.
Can Your Mobile Phone Damage Your Health?
A Catalyst article investigating if mobile phones produce harmful radiation.
This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2005, Volume 16, Issue 1.
Is Salmon Good for You?
A Catalyst article examining if there are harmful chemicals in farmed fish.
This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2005, Volume 16, Issue 2.
Radiography - Careers
A Catalyst article about careers using radiography in medical procedures. The article looks at a typical working day for a radiographer, the types of radiography used, how to become a radiographer and the qualifications available.
This article is from GCSE Science Review 2006, Volume 16, Issue 3.
Working in Radiation Protection
A Catalyst article about how people can work more safely with radiation.
This article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2009, Volume 19, Issue 3.
H2O: Hot Ice and the Mysteries of Water
This Catalyst article looks at some of the unusual features of water and especially the way it behaves when it is frozen.
This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2009, Volume 19, Issue 4.
Drug Formulation
A Catalyst article describing how a medical drug is made into a form which works well in the body.
This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2009, Volume 20, Issue 1.
A Love Letter to Science
This Catalyst article describes a film which has been made to provide a range of reasons for students to study science.
This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2009, Volume 20, Issue 2.
Fluoride in Water Supplies
This Catalyst article looks at the use of fluoride in water supplies.
This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2009, Volume 20, Issue 2.
When the Drugs Don't Work
This Catalyst article explains why there are many anti-bacterial drugs but few antivirals.
This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2010, Volume 20, Issue 3.
Ocean Iron Fertilisation
This Catalyst article looks at OIF (Ocean Iron Fertilization) a process of pouring iron into the oceans.
This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2010, Volume 21, Issue 1.
Money, Mistakes and the Birth of a Science
This Catalyst article looks at how the laying of telegraph cables across the ocean bed led to the science of oceanography.
This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2011, Volume 21, Issue 2.
Can You Hear Me?
This Catalyst article looks at hearing loss, which is usually associated with the elderly, straining to hear the TV while turning up their hearing aid.
This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2011, Volume 21, Issue 3.
Phones and Health
This Catalyst article explores whether the use of mobile phones increases the risk of cancer, including a recent study from Denmark which investigates the issue further.
This article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2011, Volume 22, Issue 2.
From Earth to Mars
This Catalyst article describes how a manned trip to Mars and back would be very demanding, both technologically and for the people involved.
This article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2011, Volume 22, Issue 2.
Zombie Invasion
This Catalyst article looks at how Californians are being encouraged to prepare for the next big earthquake.
This article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2012, Volume 22, Issue 3.
Marie Curie - A Life of Discovery
This Catalyst article looks at Marie Curie, who discovered two radioactive elements and showed that radioactivity was a property of atoms, not compounds.
This article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2012, Volume 22, Issue 3.
Fracking: an Energy Revolution?
This Catalyst article looks at hydraulic fracking, the process of breaking up rocks deep underground using high-pressure water mixed with sand and chemicals.
This article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2013, Volume 23, Issue 3.
Saving Lives While Cooking Lunch
This Catalyst article investigates traditional cooking stoves. These stoves burn fuel and produce a lot of smoke which is a major cause of pollution, leading to problems locally for the people using the stoves and also globally as a probable cause of retreating glaciers.
The article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2014, Volume 24, Issue 3.
Thorium - the Perfect Nuclear Fuel?
This Catalyst article looks at thorium - a heavy element, similar to uranium.
This article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2014, Volume 24, Issue 3.
Scientific Volunteers
This Catalyst article outlines volunteering opportunities for young scientists, engineers and medical students who put their studies to good use, working with local people around the world to bring the benefits of technology to communities who otherwise would go without some of the basic needs of life.
This article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2014, Volume 24, Issue 3.
Superman's Not Dead
This Catalyst article investigates x-rays. X-rays are used in security scanning and medical diagnosis.
The article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2014, Volume 25, Issue 2.
X-rays Then and Now
In this article from Catalyst, a series of images shows how X-ray technologies have improved over the last century.
The article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2014, Volume 25, Issue 2.
Using Chemistry to Reduce Animal Testing
This Catalyst article discusses how chemical tests can reduce the numbers of animals used in the testing of new products.
The article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2015, Volume 25, Issue 4.