This Catalyst article looks at harlequin ladybirds, just one of the invasive species that has spread through Western Europe. Over the last century there has been a dramatic increase in the movement of so called alien species around the world as a consequence of international trade and travel. Invasive alien species...

A Catalyst article devoted to food chains. This article looks at photosynthesis and the loss of energy from plants to animals throughout the food chain. How this limits the number of animals that can survive on the energy fixed by a patch of vegetation is explained. Foraging characteristics and how many animals can...

Published by the Wellcome Trust, the 'Big Picture' explores issues around biology and medicine. How do we stop new diseases emerging or re-emerging infections getting out of hand?

How does this happen in a world of...

Since the discovery of antibiotics, many people believe that the pathogenic microorganism threat to the population has been removed, with fatal infections and infectious diseases brought under control. This has discouraged research into drugs containing natural compounds such as essential oils. However, humans are...

Published by the Wellcome Trust, the 'Big Picture' explores issues around biology and medicine. Why does Darwinian evolution raise controversy when, say, quantum mechanics scarcely registers on the public consciousness?

A Catalyst article looking at the evidence for evolution and which considers the ongoing conflict between scientists and creationists. The work of Charles Darwin is central to the article which summarises his theory of natural selection and also covers creation myths and creationists.

This article is from...

Produced by the Wellcome Trust, this issue of the Big Picture looks at the physiology and sociology of exercise and movement.

For humans, movement is for more than just basic survival. They move for fun, to compete and to be healthy. This resource looks at the biological systems that keep humans moving and...

A Catalyst article looking at the benefits of exercise and how it affects bone structure and hence physical fitness. Furthermore, obesity in Britain is on the rise and so the population is encouraged to do regular exercise, not only for cardiovascular and respiratory health, but also for general well-being. But...

This Catalyst article describes discovering hydrothermal vents at ocean sea-beds. Hydrothermal vents form along mid-ocean ridges. A mid-ocean ridge is where the Earth’s tectonic plates are moving apart, usually at a rate of about 6 to 18 centimetres a year. The presence of hydrothermal vents had been predicted by...

This article from Catalyst investigates how cells transfer packets of control hormones from one cell to another using subcellular packages called exosomes. The article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2014, Volume 25, Issue 2.

Catalyst...

A Catalyst article about what happens as plants grow. During their growth, plants remove compounds of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium from soil which need to be replaced to maintain the soil’s fertility. For centuries farmers have used organic manures, crop rotation or ploughed in specially grown crops; today...

This article from Catalyst focuses on dengue fever. Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne disease found in tropical areas and its range is spreading. The article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2014, Volume 25, Issue 2.

Catalyst is a...

This Catalyst article looks at how exercise affects our immunity and susceptibility to infection. Recent research indicates that a person's level of physical activity affects their immune function, influencing their risk of respiratory tract infections such as a cold. Whereas moderate levels of regular exercise...

This Catalyst article explores 'Biomodels', biological species which are increasingly well-understood and which have been chosen because they can help us to test new biological theories, particularly in the field of genetics.

This article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2011, Volume 22, Issue 2....

This Catalyst article explores how high-speed photography can reveal how mosquitoes can keep dry while flying in the rain.

To find out how mosquitoes survive impacts with raindrops, a group of engineers from Georgia Institute of Technology (USA) developed a system which allowed them to photograph collisions...