24 May 2012
As explained by Antonio Torrisi, MSc Science Communication
Zeolites, literally “boiling stones” from the Greek words zeo (to boil) and lithos (stone), owe their name to the Swedish mineralogist Axel Friedrik Cronstedt, who observed water vapours being released from these materials when heated. (more…)
Tags: Science from Scratch
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4 May 2012
As explained by Douglas Heaven, MSc Science Communication
An algorithm is a recipe. When following a recipe for a chocolate fudge cake, for example, we carry out an ordered series of actions that takes a set of ingredients – flour, sugar, eggs, chocolate – and produces a cake. The recipe specifies which actions to perform and the order in which to do them. In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm relates a set of inputs to an output in much the same way that a cake recipe relates the ingredients to a cake. Some algorithms have become standard tools for common tasks such as sorting, or finding the best routes between locations. Algorithms have also been around for a lot longer than computers: Euclid’s algorithm for finding the largest positive whole number that divides two others, for example, was recorded in 300 BC. More recently, ‘rogue algorithms’ have been blamed for the stock market crash. But blaming an algorithm is like blaming a recipe – the responsibility lies with whoever requested a cake when a brownie was wanted instead.
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4 April 2012
As explained by Antonio Torrisi, MSc Science Communication
In nature, spontaneous chemical reactions can be fast like combustion, or slow like rust formation. (more…)
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12 March 2012
As explained by Antonio Torrisi, MSc Science Communication
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27 February 2012
As explained by Nicola Guttridge, MSc Science Communication
Tags: Science from Scratch
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26 January 2012
As explained by Dr Catherine Zentile, MSc Science Communication
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25 January 2012
As explained by Roberta Sottocornola, Research Associate (Life Sciences).
Tags: Life Sciences, Science from Scratch
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28 November 2011
As explained by Dr Cristina Lo Celso, Lecturer in Immunology (Life Sciences) to Roberta Sottocornola, Research Associate (Life Sciences)
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1 November 2011
As explained by Dr Hugh Brady, Reader in Immunology (Life Sciences) to Roberta Sottocornola, Research Associate (Life Sciences)
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17 October 2011
The protein factories of our cells, ribosomes, translate our genetic code into proteins needed for our survival. The term ‘ribosome’ is derived from the Greek word soma, meaning ‘body’.
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23 September 2011
Supersymmetry, or SUSY, is a particle physics theory that suggests all the particles that we know exist have a ‘superpartner’ particle. These are expected to have more mass than their counterparts but, most importantly, they have a different quantum property called spin, which occurs in nature in fixed units. For example, the superpartner of an electron, which has a spin with a half-number value, will have a spin with a whole-number value.
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13 July 2011
Goldilocks planets are planets which have the right conditions to support human life, and which may even already support other forms of life. These planets must have a certain mass and diameter, and be the right distance from their star, so that they can maintain liquid water on the surface (rather than ice or steam).
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1 July 2011
A virus is a small particle about one-hundredth of the size of a bacterium that infiltrates and infects living cells in order to replicate. Viruses consist of only their genes and a protein coat that protects these genes.
Tags: Science from Scratch
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3 June 2011
Proposed by Charles Darwin in 1859 as a process by which species evolve, natural selection gradually eliminates inferior species over time. In order to survive, species must adapt to their natural environment.
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16 May 2011
If your brain wants to tell your foot to move, it sends a message via your nerves. Each nerve consists of a bundle of nerve cells called neurons, and each neuron has a long, specialised extension – the axon.
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