This Catalyst article looks at orchids, their breeding, and why they have great commercial value. The family of Orchidaceae is one of the largest plant families, with about 900 genera and 25,000 species. Orchids are amongst the oldest flowering plants. After a long evolution, they have developed a very intimate...

This article explores the relationship between black holes and gravitational waves.

Catalyst is a science magazine for students aged 14-19 years. Find out more about Catalyst magazine: www.stem.org.uk/catalyst

This Catalyst article explains how chemists build molecular 'traps' to mimic the surface of a cell. To scientists, sugar is much more than a food; sugar molecules can also form polymers which act as ‘molecular bar codes’ to help cells recognise each other. The article describes how chemists made a synthetic...

A Catalyst article about fainting and how it can be the result of a sudden drop in blood pressure, which is often part of a shock reaction. Maintaining blood pressure is an important part of keeping the human body in balance. This article examines hypertension, living with high blood pressure, and the relationship...

A Catalyst article about the use of tiny electronic sensors to monitor the movement of people. As electronic devices get smaller and more powerful, they are finding new uses in monitoring human activity. This article describes a project to develop sensors with uses in medicine, sport and electronic gaming.

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Breakthrough was a termly resource for teachers published between 1999 and 2001. Each edition highlighted a number of discoveries and inventions and the people who made them. This edition was published in September 2000.

Brighton Energy Co-op recently installed Brighton’s second-largest solar system on the roof of Shed 3a at Shoreham Port. Since May 2013, 800 panels have covered the two sides of this 3000 m2 roof: half face east, the other half west.

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

A Catalyst article about a temple singer who was preserved as a mummy over 2000 years ago in Egypt. She now lies inside a coffin in a museum in Manchester. Thanks to developments in medical science, researchers are revealing the secrets of her life and piecing together the diseases she suffered from by using X-rays...

This articles article looks at the work of astrobiologists, and how the study of extremophiles on Earth can help us to understand how we might colonise another planet in space exploration. ...

A Catalyst article about buckytubes, a type of carbon nanoparticle.The allotropes of carbon —diamond, graphite and buckminsterfullerene (bucky balls) — are well known. Now scientists are working on buckytubes. These are based on elongated tubes formed from sheets of hexagonally-linked carbon atoms, capped at both...

This Catalyst article explores the processes undertaken during the construction of a white water canoe course for the Olympic Games which requires a huge range of practical skills, but also great science skills too. The scientist must calculate how much noise from both the course's construction and its use during...

A Catalyst article about a visit to CERN, the particle physics lab and what the centre has to offer a science student by way of a case study.

This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2007, Volume 17, Issue 4.

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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. As a teenager losing the ability to hear correctly seems decades away but hearing loss is increasingly becoming a problem for young adults and teenagers. The...

A Catalyst article investigating if mobile phones produce harmful radiation. The short article compares the view points of a concerned parent, protester, scientist, official report and a complacent citizen.

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

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