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Popular, Science, Nature and Tech

What is Biotechnology?

Perhaps you have heard of the term biotechnology and wondered what it is. You may think you know already – after all, the parts that make up the word are very familiar: bio + technology. You have seen the first part of the word in biology, antibiotics, all sorts of words. It comes from Greek bios, which means ‘life’.

As for technology, it is not just about computers and smartphones. Technology is the practical use of knowledge to create useful things and solve problems. You might like to think of it as tech-knowledge-y. So, taking it one step further, biotechnology is about using biology in technology.

We talked to Alessandra Iscaro, a biotechnology researcher at the University of Florence, Italy, and she explained to us what it is all about.

News & Politics, Popular

What Does Brexit Mean for Kids?

The British have voted to leave the European Union, but what does this mean, and what does Brexit mean for kids?

Most of you will have heard of the EU Referendum, known as BREXIT (which stands for BRitish Exit). If you don’t know what a referendum is, then this is a good place to find out more.

We asked some of our readers what questions they had about BREXIT. These questions are difficult to answer right now because even the experts don’t know exactly what will happen, but here’s what we know so far. If you have any questions, comment on this post and we’ll try to find the answers for you.

School & Career, Written By You

Do Home Educated Kids Have Friends?

‘Do home educated kids have friends’, may sound like quite a rude question to ask, but according to 14 year old Iona, this and other questions are asked of her when she says that she doesn’t go to school.

She answers common questions in our article about the reality of home ed.

Home, Health & Style, Popular

6 Things Kids with Special Needs Wish EVERYONE Would Do

When we published our article 6 Things Parents Wish Their Kids Would Do … and 6 Things Kids Wish Their Parents Would Do, one of our readers got in touch to say we should do one for the things that kids with special needs wish EVERYONE would do. So we asked our followers, and came up with this list.

It was a bit tricky to put the list together, because there are so many different kinds of “special needs”. For some children, their disability is quite well manageable with medication, or with assistance and therapy, and you’d hardly know they had any additional needs. You may have heard of autism or Asperger’s Syndrome – these are part of the autistic disorder spectrum, a range of conditions that affect how people communicate and relate to people around them. You can’t tell by looking at someone if they have ASD.

Other children have disabilities that are apparent when you meet them, such as those with Down’s Syndrome, which we have covered in more detail here. Or they might use a wheelchair to get around.

What thing do they all have in common? They sometimes get asked really silly questions, and get treated badly by people. Make sure you aren’t one of them, by listening to what the kids (and their parents) had to say!

Science, Nature and Tech

Winter Wonderings – Why Can You See Your Breath When it is Cold?

This is the first in a series of posts by Sam Gouldson called Winter Wonderings. Sam will take a closer look at some of the amazing things that winter brings, such as snowflakes, ice and snow and explain the science behind the season!

You may have noticed that you can see your breath when the weather is cold, especially if you exhale really hard. But what causes this and why doesn’t it happen when it’s warm?