Michael McElroy grew up in Belfast and earned a Ph. D. in applied mathematics from Queen’s University, where he famously solved ten test problems instead of the required three. His curiosity pushed him from planetary studies during the space race to deep investigations of Earth’s atmosphere. At Kit
Some city leaders and people online are puzzled by videos that show snow staying solid when a flame is held near it. One video shows a man holding a lighter to a snowball, and the snow doesn’t melt or drip. Commenters say it looks like fake snow. The trick behind this effect is that real snow is mo
Scientists from Seoul National University are using tiny tags on Weddell seals to learn how a warming ocean is changing life beneath Antarctica’s ice. They first capture the seals on sea‑ice near Thwaites Glacier by carefully approaching from behind and gently darting a sedative into the animal’s
Scientists are looking for ways to store energy quickly and safely. One idea is to use tiny hydrogen ions, called protons, as the moving charge in batteries. Protons can move fast through solid materials, which could let a battery charge and discharge almost instantly. The big problem is that not m
A new material, made by coating tiny beads of a resin with a conductive polymer, can turn sunlight into a powerful cleaning agent. The resin bead is called resorcinol‑formaldehyde and the polymer is polypyrrole. When light hits this combo, it grabs electrons from water and releases oxygen‑based mole
The cosmos is full of surprises, and every week a fresh batch of discoveries pops up on the internet. A science site that tracks everything from rockets to telescopes has taken those highlights and turned them into a crossword puzzle. The goal? Let readers review the week’s top space stories while s
The study shows that pictures taken during a routine breast scan can reveal hidden clues about the tumor’s immune environment. Radiologists used a technique called radiomics, which turns an image into thousands of tiny data points. By feeding these numbers into a computer model, the researcher
Researchers want to know why stem‑cell treatments help some people with inflammation but not all. The focus is on mesenchymal stromal cells, or MSCs, which can lower immune reactions. Many clinical trials have shown that the treatments are safe, but it is still unclear how well they work because sci
In a German grassland study, researchers looked at how the number of plant species affects tiny life in the soil. They took samples from plots that had between one and sixteen different plants, ranging from grasses to legumes to herbs. By sequencing the DNA of bacteria and fungi living there, they c
The study shows that the layout of artificial reefs strongly influences where a common sea‑urchin grazer spends its time. Researchers built several mock reef structures with different shapes and measured how the urchins moved around them. On flat, open designs, the urchins spread out widely. They v
