
Great balls of fire
Goodness gracious – two great balls of fire have been spotted in the skies over Manchester. But there’s no need to run for higher ground quite yet – while fireball events aren’t always caught on camera, they are fairly common. In the last month alone, a brand new meteor camera located here on The University […]

Unicorns, pulsars and graphene – just a typical day at Bluedot
Fiona Porter, Postgraduate at the School of Chemistry, and Sebastian Leaper, Postgraduate at the School of Chemical Engineering, are both Outreach Representatives for the Graphene NOWNANO Centre for Doctoral Training. Bluedot 2018 was their final event. They share their experiences of working at the festival below: Fiona Porter: “For the 2018 Bluedot Festival, a team of […]

The bone of contention in the evolution of vertebrates
It takes backbone to try and tackle one of the age-old mysteries of the evolution of life, but a researcher at The University of Manchester has proven he’s certainly not too spineless to take on the challenge. Just like close to ten per cent of all life on Earth, we humans are vertebrates – meaning […]

Shitsukan – how we make sense of our material world
The human brain is a miraculous thing. Take a moment to look out of the window at the nearest plant or tree and you immediately know what it is thanks to your brain’s understanding and processing of all the microscopic bits of information you collect through your senses. It’s not only the shape and colour […]

The wonder stuff: why graphene’s everywhere this summer
While Andy Murray may be missing from the courts at Wimbledon this summer, another British legend has made a return appearance – graphene. The advanced material, first isolated here at The University of Manchester, is featured in the design of certain tennis racquets and helps players add power to their play. The inclusion of graphene […]

One small step for man, one giant leap for Manchester
Like the plot of a movie, a team of students from across the Faculty of Science and Engineering have overcome some serious odds to claim victory at an international space probe competition in Texas. The fourth annual American Astronautical Society CanSat Competition took place at Tarleton State University; with a team from The University of […]

Like a diamond in the sky
‘Twinkle twinkle little star’ could prove itself more science lesson than nursery rhyme thanks to a new discovery. For the first time, diamonds far smaller than grains of sand have been observed shimmering around stars. But this discovery is more a case of A Touch of Frost than Frost of London, as it’s allowed a […]

Magma crystallisation provides scientists with volcanic crystal ball
Volcanos have been around since time on Earth began – and the devastation they can cause has hardly changed in the intervening 4.5 billion years. In the past month alone, untold damage has been wrought by volcanic eruptions – in Hawaii, Indonesia and Guatemala. Of course, it is not possible to prevent volcanoes from erupting […]

Walk this way… through the security scanners
Ever felt like you need a new walk? One that makes you look more confident, successful or just plain cool? Well you don’t have to be a member of Monty Python’s Ministry of Silly Walks to move with a gait that’s completely unique to you. No matter how subtle, there is a clear difference between […]

Ain’t no sunshine when it’s gone
The sun is the great star of human existence in more ways than one. All life on Earth depends on it, and the creation of our very planet would have been impossible without it. You would think, therefore, that when it dies, our iconic star would go out in style. However, until recently, scientists were […]