
Meet The University of Manchester’s famous alumni
If you’ve started a degree in science or engineering here at The University of Manchester this week, you’ve made a good choice – and you’ll be following in some very distinguished footsteps. You see, Manchester has been at the centre of the European scientific community for centuries. It was in this city that John Dalton […]

Intelligent energy: how smart districts could change the world
“HAL: I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.” Thankfully, we’re a little way off from having computers like HAL 9000 of 2001: A Space Odyssey in our houses, but our homes are becoming smarter. The realm of smart technology […]

The first UoM students in space?
Tim Gregory and Tessa Naran share more in common than just their UoM background. They also both want to be astronauts and are currently appearing on our screens every Sunday at 9pm. The reason? They’re participants in the new BBC 2 show Astronauts: Do you have what it takes?. Beating off tough competition from 3,000 […]

Guest post: Bluedot – the ultimate festival of science
For one weekend in July, the observatory at Jodrell Bank, known for its huge radio telescope, transforms into Bluedot Festival. The site is filled with thousands of campers who come for the fantastic mix of science, art and music, all set against the amazing backdrop of the Lovell Telescope. The festival blends the frontiers of […]

Turing’s lost letters found in storeroom tidy up
We all have it – that cupboard, cabinet or even room where we ‘tidy stuff away’ simply so we can forget about it. Who doesn’t have a box left unpacked after every home move that they just shove unopened under the bed? At The University of Manchester, we have our fair share of chocker storage […]

Welcome to UoM!
Congratulations! You’ve survived the stress and fervour of A-level results day. The nerves, the worry, the knots in the stomach – they’ve all been worth it to secure your place in the Faculty of Science and Engineering at The University of Manchester. And now the fun really begins. Welcome to a city of creativity, a […]

Unravelling the mystery of left-handedness
This Left Handers Awareness Day, we decided to set ourselves what we thought was a straightforward task – finding out what causes one in ten of us to favour our left hand for everything from writing to throwing. Turns out, the task wasn’t so easy after all. There is no one proven reason as to […]

Expert comment – Have we forgotten what nuclear weapons really are?
As the Cold War fades into history, fewer and fewer people remember what life was like lived under the ever-present threat of nuclear warfare. Indeed, even during the Cold War years, the reality of nuclear weapons was downplayed. Atmospheric testing was banned in 1963, driving tests underground – out of sight and out of mind […]

In a New York minute: breakthrough could get us to NYC in 2 hours
A new breakthrough means that we could soon be jetting off from London and touching down in the Big Apple just two hours later. While Concorde may have taken its last flight some years ago, the research and development in hypersonic travel has never stopped. And now new research from The University of Manchester in […]

Nuclear power: playing the long game
When it comes to the nuclear power industry, you’ll always be playing the long game. So, when you’re considering its future, you need to think long-term. And one topic occupying the minds of people in the nuclear power industry right now is the future of its power source. Uranium, a silver-grey coloured heavy metal that […]