Naked Science Articles

Infection-fighting Eggs

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 12:44:01 +0000

The simple chicken's egg has long been known as a symbol of new life. Less well known is that eggs can be turned into incubators to produce a raft of other molecules, including agents to combat human infections...

The Hygiene Hypothesis Unraveled

Sun, 22 May 2011 10:43:16 +0000

Parasitic worms that live in our intestines are currently being tested as medical treatments for diseases such as hayfever and certain bowel conditions. But how do parasitic worms protect against disease, are they a safe and effective therapy, and why have they evolved to help us in the first place?

Beyond Mere Metals

Wed, 4 May 2011 18:05:41 +0000

With the precision design of superalloy materials we are able to manufacture materials that can cope with most of the stresses and strains of everyday life inside a jet engine. But there is an extra step we can take to really make the most of these materials and protect them from harm. In these two short articles, Cathie Rae & Bill Clegg explain how applying different coatings to the turbine blades found in jet engines can help to protect the material and make the engine more efficient...

In Search of Advanced Intermetallics

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 11:39:35 +0000

A new high temperature aerospace material has proved to be elusive so far, however, the candidate materials have to ascend from this peculiar and exciting class of materials, the intermetallics...

Processing Nickel-Base Superalloys

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 10:09:41 +0000

How do materials scientists process strong, deformation-resistant blades for gas turbine engines? What developments have there been in the field since the 1970s?

Steeling the Show

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 10:33:55 +0000

What is steel? How have the production methods for making it changed over hundreds of years? What are different kinds of steel used for, and what is the future for this essential material?

Why all decisions aren't made equally

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 13:46:47 +0000

Decisions are not made equally. Situations, fatigue, hunger and a taxing day can all influence how we appraise and feel about different situations. Here Ginny Smith looks at the evidence and asks how can we make better choices...

I Remember It Well...

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:38:14 +0000

Your memories may be less reliable than you think. Research has shown that not only do our memories often play tricks on us, but they can easily be manipulated. Something as simple as the question you are asked can cause you to remember the details of an event differently or even to think something impossible happened. Ginny Smith explains how...

Water and Worldwide Wellbeing

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 14:36:08 +0000

Fresh water is a precious resource. How can the use and abuse of this resource exacerbate or manage water poverty in the most arid regions of the planet? What new developments in chemistry can make management strategies more efficient? The United Arab Emirates makes an illuminating case study to see just how much water is key to human wellbeing.

A Traveller's Guide to Bed Bugs

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 13:25:34 +0000

Toby Fountain does something rather strange when he checks into a hotel: bags deposited unopened at the room's centre, he lifts the bed's mattress, inspecting the edges and probing any cracks. His quarry is an insect that has recently been haunting the dreams of many travellers across the world...

Making life better on a global scale

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 11:30:10 +0000

What can chemistry do to make a greener future? Aaron Page envisages a carbon-neutral future based on the cutting edge chemistry and nanotechnology of today.

Medicines that make you smarter

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 11:29:30 +0000

Over the last 40 years, drugs have been developed that, as well as performing their original purpose of helping those with medical conditions, can improve the cognitive skills of the healthy population. This newfound ability to make normal people better has led to a growth in the area of neuroethics; scientists, philosophers and politicians are debating whether it is right to use these performance enhancers, as Ginny Smith explains...

Bigfoot: The Nitrogen Problem

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 21:52:54 +0000

Less than 5% of the nitrogen added to crops to feed animals ends up as meat in our mouths. The rest is wasted and enters the environment with potentially devastating effects. Here Robinson Fulweiler looks at practical ways to bring the nitrogen bigfoot down a shoe-size or two...

Bright Future for Solar Cells

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 15:11:13 +0000

In a world with ever-increasing energy demands and pollution, clean and abundant energy is urgently needed. The Sun provides us with thousands of times more energy than we currently consume, but the challenge is tapping into it. Here, Per-Anders Hansen explains how he's trying to make superior solar cells with double the efficiency of what is already available...

Mushroom Magic

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 12:49:00 +0000

The psychedelic drug psilocybin, the active principal of magic mushrooms, was once thought to have promising medical applications. When psilocybin was banned, medical research on the drug ceased. But now, 40 years later, psilocybin is back on the research radar where it is helping to shed light on human consciousness and a range of disease processes, as Philip Strange finds out...

The International Meteorite Market

Wed, 16 May 2012 10:07:38 +0000

Meteorites on the open market routinely fetch a higher price than the equivalent weight of gold. But how does this trade operate, and is science paying the ultimate price as researchers are priced out of the market? Audrey Tempelsman investigates...

No Smoke Detectors in the Sea

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 10:45:09 +0000

Ocean deadzones are triggered by nitrogen-fuelled bursts of microorganisms. So how does this happen and what can we do to combat it? In her third article in this series, Robinson Fulweiler dives beneath the waves to explore the chemistry of denitrification...

Thermoelectric Generators - TEGs

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:30:47 +0000

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...

Reconsidering Non-Native Species

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:50:35 +0000

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".

Freckles where the Sun don't Shine

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 10:44:56 +0000

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...

Breathless: The Nitrogen Story Continued

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 12:56:56 +0000

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.

Citizen Science: Science Needs YOU!

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 14:38:04 +0000

Everyone can contribute to the work of scientists. Harriet Dickinson explains how you can get involved, and why Science Needs YOU!

Food Date Coding Decoded

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 13:55:30 +0000

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...

Making Metals Take the Heat

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 16:40:32 +0000

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...

I'm a Civet: Get me out of here!

Mon, 5 Sep 2011 10:51:32 +0000

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...

Barnacles "mussel" in

Wed, 7 Sep 2011 16:32:09 +0000

Barnacles and mussels have an intimate relationship, but are they welcome house guests or uninvited squatters?

The Wheels on the Bus: The Nitrogen Story

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 11:28:54 +0000

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...

The Doctors who Poisoned Children

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 13:50:37 +0000

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...

Pain genes and perception

Thu, 4 Aug 2011 15:26:03 +0000

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?

CSI Swansea

Wed, 6 Jul 2011 16:16:52 +0000

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...

Letting the Khat out of the bag

Fri, 13 May 2011 16:23:26 +0000

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...

Making Metals Stronger

Mon, 18 Apr 2011 16:11:40 +0000

Countless atomic recipes and crystal arrangements mean there are literally trillions of possible materials that could be made. So, without hunting for the equivalent of an atom-sized needle in a galactic-scale haystack, how do we find the ones with the properties we want? Materials scientists David Collins and Bryce Conduit are on the case...

The Superalloys

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 15:48:07 +0000

Spinning hundreds of times per second and carrying a load equivalent to the weight of a family car, often at temperatures approaching the melting point of the metal, the blades in a modern jet engine have to withstand what is arguably one of the harshest environments any engineered material must face. So what are the substances that can rise to this challenge, and how do they beat the odds? To find out, materials scientist John Aveson explores the science of the superalloy...

The Ocean's Cleaners

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 16:14:04 +0000

The seabed is surprisingly clean considering the amount of waste, both natural and man-made, that gets dumped in the oceans. So how does the ocean do it?

Evolution Through the Looking Glass

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 11:34:45 +0000

In Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking-Glass", The Red Queen tells Alice that she has to run as quickly as possible just to stay in the same place. Similarly, biologists coined the phrase "Red Queen Theory" to highlight how all species are in a constant race for survival that ultimately ends with the evolution of a range of new species. Anders Aufderhorst-Roberts finds out how it works.

Photorhabdus luminescens: The Angel's Glow

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 13:28:31 +0000

Microbial warfare is constantly happening all around us, and often humans can reap the benefits if the right bacteria are fighting our corner. One such species, Photorhabdus luminescens, harbours a secret weapon...it glows...

Southern Right Whales

Wed, 5 Jan 2011 14:29:29 +0000

Southern right whales live in the southern oceans that surround Antarctica. In the winter, they move north, settling in the warmer waters around Argentina, Australia and South Africa. Although a major tourist attraction, very little is known about these majestic sea mammals. Richard Lomax, a keen diver and snorkeller from South Africa, tells us about one of his encounters with this elusive whale.

The Magic of Binary

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 11:31:13 +0000

The digital world is all around us, and is becoming evermore layered and integrated into our lives. Technology, computing, the Web and mobile phones, to name but a few, are now accepted parts of our lives, but are not all that well understood. Jeff Zihaly introduces the maths behind your computer screen...

Can Our Oceans Survive the Acid Attack?

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 17:05:23 +0000

As more carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, the world's oceans become more acidic, affecting the ability of marine organisms to produce shells. So can these species survive?

Catching Energy From the Sun

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 10:50:20 +0000

Fifty years from now, our kids are going to look incredulously at us and ask - "you burnt things to get electricity?" We'll answer - "yes, but only until we realised how cheap and efficient renewable energy could be." In this article, Niraj Lal looks at a growing part of our electrical future: the solar cell...

Donated to Science

Tue, 11 Jan 2011 13:19:51 +0000

Have you ever wondered why people donate their body to medical science? Or what goes on in the dissection room? Medical student, Katrina Stewart speaks to doctor and film-maker, Paul Trotman, about his new film, Donated to Science. The film explores the journey of body donation from the point of view of both the donors and the students.

How do plants develop?

Thu, 25 Nov 2010 22:18:41 +0000

Plants and animals seem worlds apart, and indeed in many ways they are. Plants don't eat anything more substantial than carbon dioxide, don't move, and even the way they grow and develop is vastly different to us. But despite these differences, in important ways, we are more like plants than we realise, you just have to think about it...

The San Andreas' fault - or ours?

Tue, 7 Dec 2010 11:24:16 +0000

Is earthquake prediction for California truly a problem beyond the powers of science, or is there something that actually can be done, yet isn't? David Nabhan, author and former Earthquake Preparedness Coordinator, delivers a hard-hitting case for determining higher-probability windows for seismic activity on the US West Coast.

Forgotten Knowledge: The Science of Scurvy

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 13:51:49 +0000

Of all the slang names for the British, none is more iconic than 'Limey'. While the the term provokes majestic images of the Golden Age of Sail, scurvy cost countless sailors and seamen their lives. The results of James Lind's work in 1747 led to a cure. Yet in Cherry-Garrard's account of Scott's 1911 expedition to the South Pole, he writes: "There was little scurvy in Nelson's days; but the reason is not clear" So why did Lind's results get forgotten?

The Science of the Supernova

Tue, 9 Nov 2010 21:59:01 +0000

A massive star ends its life with a BANG - a supernova - seen on Earth as bursts of energy in the form of light, including ultraviolet, x-rays and gamma rays. But what can we learn by studying these stellar death throes? Jeannie Moulton ventures into a supernova to find out...

Toxins in Neuroscience Research

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 16:16:26 +0000

Rheanna Sand gives us an insight into how deadly toxins can be used to serve, rather than to harm, humans. She takes a closer look at toxins in neuroscience reasearch and in the development of antivenom...

Donated to Science

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 16:10:48 +0000

Have you ever wondered what happens to a body when it is donated to a medical school? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a medical student and to take somebody apart to see how they worked? Now is your chance to find out, thanks to a film from New Zealand...

Lise Meitner: The Nucleus of Fission

Mon, 27 Sep 2010 14:34:44 +0000

Lise Meitner's name is to many an unfamiliar one, occasionally found somewhere amid the pages of a text on nuclear physics and seldom with great acclaim. In truth Lise Meitner was the mother of nuclear fission explaining the process by which atoms may be split to release huge quantities of energy - knowledge which has been harnessed to develop both nuclear reactors and nuclear bombs.

When the Immune System Fails

Mon, 27 Sep 2010 11:02:39 +0000

Unless you're shot in the head or hit by a bus, your immune system has a major and direct influence on your life span! Here, Helen Carter explains what can happen when your immune response goes awry...

No need to change the lightbulb - we already have

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 14:51:16 +0000

First came fire. Cavemen rubbed sticks together and there it was, a source of 'artificial' heat and light, giving us freedom from the night and control over our days. Torches, candles, lanterns and kerosene lamps have each played their part in the evolution of human-controlled light over the last two millennia. In some respects though, the problems with the ways in which the world gets its light, haven't changed since ancient times.