Interesting topical science stuff

My very easy method just speeds up naming...
So for a long time everyone was taught there were 9 planets in our solar system. Then some astronomers claimed to have found a 10th (see: Astronomers discover 'new planet') in 2004, and then in 2006 they decided Pluto wasn't a planet anymore (see: Pluto not a planet), thus thoroughly destroying all those carefully-created school mnemonics. Well for the moment they've left our solar system in peace and, instead, managed to take pictures of some new planets! These are believed to be the first pictures of planets outside Earth's solar system and show white dots which scientists say are gas giants not unlike our Jupiter. None of the four planets are believed to be habitable but they raise the possibility that more hospitable planets could be found elsewhere.

 • Exoplanets finally come into view (BBC News)
 • Hubble Directly Observes Planet Orbiting Fomalhaut (Hubblesite.org)
 • First images taken of 'new' planets (Al Jazeera)


Is aspirin really a wonder drug?
For many years we've been hearing that aspirin is a cure for everything from headaches to heart attacks, but recently it appeared that perhaps it isn't quite the miracle drug that everyone thought. The British Medical Journal reported that for 1,300 adults with no symptoms of heart disease aspirin, which can cause stomach bleeds and other potentially dangerous side-effects, had no benefit. However several organisations have since warned patients not to stop taking their medication without first discussing it with their GP.

 • Diabetes aspirin use questioned (BBC News)
 • Diabetics told to continue with their prescribed aspirin (Belfast Telegraph)
 • The Asprin Foundation website


Biofuels bad or good?
We only ever seem to hear negative things about biofuels on the news.  The media seems to do nothing but report the fact that valuable cropland is being used to grow plants which will later be used for fuel rather than food.  But did you realise that biofuels can be made from algae?  Algae biofuels can potentially produce 30 times more energy than those from crops, and algae beds can be set up on desert land, not interfering with crops at all.

 • Wikipedia page on algae biofuels
 • Algal biomass organization
 • Solix biofuels
 • News article: Enterprise Rent-A-Car invests in algae biofuel research

Read old news articles here: news archive

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Featured links

Visit the Periodic Table of Videos from the University of Nottingham to watch videos on (nearly) every element in the periodic table.

Check out the Freezeray website to see lots of really useful science animations.

Have a look at Discovery Education's PuzzleMaker: an excellent way to make a puzzle on any topic.  This is a brilliant way to revise - make puzzles and swap them with your friends!

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Class activities

Spectroscopy
Explore Spectroscopy for Schools and Colleges - an online resource from the RSC which includes all kinds of tutorial problems for you to practise with.  Choose the database to look at spectra from compounds, or look at the tutorial to learn how to interpret different kinds of spectra.