These technical briefs focus on manufacturing on a small-scale. It is an important livelihood for many people in the developing world and businesses are usually run by a family or a small group within the same community.

Technical briefs are documents produced by Practical Action which are freely available...

This Catalyst article looks at Marie Curie, who discovered two radioactive elements and showed that radioactivity was a property of atoms, not compounds. Marie Curie won two Nobel Prizes, the only woman to have done so. She is still the only person to have won awards in both Physics and Chemistry. The article...

Guidance and navigation engineer, Richard Lancaster, explains how the ‘Mars Yard’, at Airbus Defence and Space, Stevenage, allows engineers to test out the capabilities of the ExoMars rover.  He talks about the need to transmit all commands and receive data through a spacecraft orbiting Mars.  Spacecraft engineer,...

This resource looks at how cutting edge science is being used to answer archaeological questions, as well as solving present day problems, such as the identification of meat in processed foods. Analysis of mitochondrial DNA was performed, at the University of York, on samples from skeletal remains unearthed by the...

Produced by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), these naked Scientist podcasts look at materials science questions in an accessible and informative way.

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This Catalyst article investigates carefully designed polymer materials that can repair themselves when mechanically damaged. The article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2015, Volume 26, Issue 2.

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This resource, provided by the Association for Science Education (ASE), introduces a group of scientists working in a range of different careers. The resource is part of the SYCD: Science Year Only Connect? collection.

The scientists describe:

*How they got into science
*Where they have worked...

This is one of the 14 Background Books published for Stage III of the Nuffield Chemistry Sample Scheme. The books were highly illustrated and designed to be attractive. This book describes applications of chemistry.

There are four parts to this book:
*Part 1: Extraction of metals
The extraction...

This Catalyst article looks at microplastics. Microplastics are tiny particles of polymer used in many products, they have been found to be an environmental pollutant especially in oceans.

This article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2016, Volume 27, Issue 1.

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In this practical investigation, students will perform a combustion reaction using a mixture of alcohol and air in a plastic water...

This simulation explores the factors which determine the concentration of a solution. It illustrates the relationships between moles, litres and molarity by adjusting the amount of solute and solution volume.

The moles of solute and the volume of solution (water) can be changed using sliders to make...

This Catalyst article takes a look at Mount Etna on the Italian island of Sicily, the biggest and tallest active volcano in Europe and one of the most active in the world. The article explores the geology of the volcano, its history and the local habitat surrounding it including how the volcanic conditions create...