- Laurie Winkless
Almost 70% of the energy produced by a car engine is lost, mostly in the form of heat that exits along the exhaust pipe. But by using some old fashioned physics and some new engineering, it's possible to capture and reuse some of this heat energy. Thermoelectric Generators (TEGs) convert wasted heat into electricity, without the need for complex moving parts. They've been used in the space industry for 40 years to power space probes and now the car industry is finally starting to catch up. Laurie Winkless finds out how...
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- 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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- 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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- 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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- 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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- 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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- Robinson Fulweiler
Nitrogen is the element limiting the amount of life on earth. Until 100 years ago the amount was fixed, cycling though the environment, re-used and recycled. Now we have the technology to create plenty more and to support a larger population. But is this without consequence? Robinson Fulweiler explains...
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- Caroline Bell
Barnacles and mussels have an intimate relationship, but are they welcome house guests or uninvited squatters?
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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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- Philip Strange
In 2009, the synthetic stimulant mephedrone became a hugely popular recreational drug for young people in the UK while at the same time it was demonised by the media. Although it was eventually made illegal, drug policy and availability will never be the same...
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