A Catalyst article investigating chromosomes. In particular, the article looks at genes and explains how the chromosomes and genes a human inherits from their parents can cause problems such as sickle-cell anaemia, cystic fibrosis and Huntington’s disease.

This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review...

This Catalyst article looks at the teenage brain.The way the human brain changes, particularly during adolescence, can be studied using magnetic resonance imaging.

The article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2014, Volume 25, Issue 2.

...

A Catalyst article explaining how much of the food that humans consume comes from systems in which large numbers of plants or animals are grown under closely controlled conditions, designed to maximise production. When they grow plants as crops farmers intervene in various ways to optimise growth, so that the food...

This resource from Inquiry Maths investigates the connections between linear sequences.

Intersecting linear sequences...

Investigating serious crimes such as murder, rape and terrorism requires forensic science experts. These people work alongside the police to find the evidence that will bring the culprit to court.

In this Catalyst article, Tony Hargreaves looks at criminal poisoning and shows how forensic science is used to...

A Catalyst article about road traffic accidents (RTAs). After the accident police and other investigators try to establish what went wrong. This may be with a view to prosecuting a motorist, or simply in an effort to improve road safety. An understanding of the physics of motion plays a large part in such...

A Catalyst article about the astronomer William Herschel who discovered Uranus in 1781. He became the first person since ancient times to identify a new planet. However, he is also known as the ‘accidental’ discoverer of infrared radiation. The article asks is this a fair description and can such discoveries really...

This article from Catalyst looks at ionic liquids which are a developing area in chemistry. Ionic liquids are liquids which have the potential to provide greener ways of carrying out chemical processes.

The article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2014, Volume 25, Issue 2.

...

A Catalyst article about iron, a relatively abundant element that humans have made widespread use of since the Iron Age (about 750 BC). The article explores the extraction of iron ore, the chemistry of iron and the blast furnace process.

This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2006, Volume 16,...

This Catalyst article looks into Alzheimer’s disease which affects around 465 000 people in the UK, with the number of sufferers is growing as the population ages. It is a form of dementia that causes cell death in the brain and leads to memory loss and mood swings. The article investigates whether the presence of...

A Catalyst article explaining how new data suggests that it is very unlikely that life ever existed on Mars. When the presence of water was confirmed a few years ago, there was a lot of speculation that at least simple life forms had once lived there as water is essential for every known living organism. The latest...

A Catalyst article examining if there are harmful chemicals in farmed fish. Oily fish such as salmon, tuna, sardines and mackerel contain plenty of protein, vitamins and the right sort of fats. They are rich in omega-3 fatty acids which are released when fats are digested. The human body uses these fatty acids to...

A Catalyst article about the Kepler spacecraft, which is used to look for extra-solar planets. Scientists are hoping to shine light on the age old question of life’s existence elsewhere in the Universe using a new space-based telescope named Kepler. Launched on 6 March 2009, Kepler is searching the sky for small,...

A Catalyst article about scientists publishing their results in journals. Newspapers, magazines and TV programmes are full of stories based on science and technology. But can these articles be trusted? This article looks at the way in which scientists try to ensure that their own publications are reliable. It makes...

This Catalyst article looks at a newspaper report, which carried the headline “It’s life, but not as we know it”, following NASA’s supposed discovery of a ‘second form of life’. The scientific paper, published by the eminent journal Science, even created widespread speculation about the existence of extra-...