What is the perfect curve of a ball’s trajectory, what must the ideal turf be like, and...

A Catalyst article about careers in forensic science covering the work of the reporting officer. The article explains what it takes to become a forensic scientist and what qualities are required to join this profession.

This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2005, Volume 16, Issue 1.

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This Catalyst article looks at hydraulic fracking, the process of breaking up rocks deep underground using high-pressure water mixed with sand and chemicals. The process has been used for decades in the energy industry to free oil and gas trapped in rock formations. However, questions have been raised over the...

This Catalyst article investigates the research into artificial photosynthetic systems.

With the world’s population ever-expanding, energy demand is expected to double by 2050 and triple by 2100. In only 200 years, mankind has squandered what nature has taken hundreds of millions of years to lay down as...

This Catalyst article investigates pollutants in the Arctic. Scientists are monitoring the accumulation of synthetic chemicals which are polluting the Arctic environment.

The article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2014, Volume 25, Issue 3.

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This article focuses on the practical uses of the element Boron, including its pivotal role in heat conservation, energy conversion and storage....

Gelli Baff, a crystalline powder, has been dumped into a bathtub filled with water. How can you force the hydrogel to go down the plughole in order to drain the bathtub? 

In this investigation, students learn about swelling reactions, balanced reactions, and polymerisation. Students should be able to...

A Catalyst article about the life and work of Gertrude B. Elion a pioneer in anti-viral drugs. The ground breaking research methodology she used and her work in creating and investigating purine compounds lead to the development of drugs which are used in the treatment of leukaemia.

This article is from...

This Catalyst article investigates Glaciologists. Glaciologists are scientists who study glaciers and the effect climate change is having on them.

The article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2015, Volume 26, Issue 1.

Catalyst is...

This multimedia package was developed by the Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme to help students understand the interesting and unusual properties of a range of fluids, semi-solids and solids. Published originally as a CD-ROM, the materials contain a collection of...

This Catalyst article looks at how humans are exposed to radiation from many different sources, including food. The article describes the doses of radiation from sources such as:

• building materials and rocks
• bananas
• bone scans
• cosmic rays
• radon gas

The...

This Catalyst article investigates how gold is an important metal which, when extracted from its ore, has useful properties of durability and electrical conductivity. The article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review...

This information sheet gives educators background information on how the steel making process is changing in order to reduce or eliminate the amount of carbon dioxide produced in the process. It gives details on traditional steel making processes using carbon as the reductant and then discusses alternatives to...

The animal kingdom contains an abundance of exquisite natural patterns from the stripes of an angelfish to the spots of a leopard. But how do these arise during early development? This Catalyst article looks at Turing mechanisms as a way of explaining how patterns develop as an animal grows.

In 1952, Alan...