- Rachel Dentinger
In September 2010, the BBC reported an “Urgent call on EU to stop billion-euro 'alien invasion'”. But for all the talk of "invasion", the "aliens" at issue were none other than the organisms that we humans have taken on our voyages around the globe and relocated. What makes these species "invaders", rather than migrants? According to a group of critics from within ecology, it's our own prejudice against biotic outsiders. On a planet rife with biological change, much of it wrought by ourselves, it's time to reconsider the categories that define some species as "natives" and others as "invaders".
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- Harriet Dickinson
Everyone can contribute to the work of scientists. Harriet Dickinson explains how you can get involved, and why Science Needs YOU!
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- Ayan Bhowmik & Harshal Mathur
The inside of a modern aircraft jet engine is a harsh and complex environment, but the drive for ever more powerful and efficient engines means conditions are getting even harsher. Hotter engines are more efficient, so temperatures are going up! Our present day materials are already at their limit, so the heat is on to find the next generation of high-performance metals...
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- Robinson Fulweiler
Disruption of the nitrogen cycle can wreak havoc on ocean ecosystems for which oxygen is in short supply. Robin Fulweiler explores the formation of 'dead zones' in part II of The Nitrogen Story.
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- John Gamel
What do you do when you have freckles...um...down below? The discovery of a crop of pigmented spots on a sensitive body part put John Gamel in a squeeze...
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- Emma Easton
Dating codes are placed on food to indicate the food is safe to eat before this date. But how are these dates decided, and what do they really mean? Emma Easton explains...
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- Katrina Stewart
Rare genetic mutations have been known to abolish pain, or to cause permanent agony. But what if subtle differences in genes mean that everyone has a different pain threshold that is hard-wired into their genetics?
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- Kara Majerus
It’s pretty easy to get lost when you venture deep into the Jungle of Lambusango on the Isle of Buton, just off the South East coast of Sulawesi in Indonesia - a fact that I discovered more than once and to the amusement of the local guides with whom I worked during my summer on the Island. The purpose of my trip was to investigate the ranging behaviour of a small carnivore called a Malay civet. This species (and in particular the population I was studying) makes for a very good study model as they are the largest mammalian predator on Buton Island...
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- John Gamel
Leukaemia is a deadly cancer of the blood affecting over 250,000 people every year, many of which are children. It isn't caused by an infection or virus, but by uncontrolled proliferation of the victim's own cells. How do you poison the cancerous cells without destroying healthy tissue? Professor John Gamel explores the history of the search for a cure...
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- Richard Johnston
CSI has come to Swansea. But rather than solving murders, for a team at the University's Technology Centre (UTC) in Materials it's all about getting young people involved in investigating why materials fail and what makes metals strong. And despite being slightly less sinister than its Miami-based TV counterpart, it can nonetheless exert a powerful pull on prospective undergraduate students, as materials scientist Richard Johnston explains...
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