Ice

Traffic in the vicinity of Antarctica has become a bit trickier now that A23a, the world's oldest and largest iceberg, has broken free of its watery trap north of the South Orkney Islands and is floating northward on the Antarctic Circumpolar Current.

Ice wreaks havoc on surfaces, but we might have a new way to prevent it building up. Scientists at Northwestern University have shown that textured surfaces with thin layers of graphene oxide can stay completely frost-free for long periods.

Everybody from NASA to David Bowie has wondered if there’s life on Mars – and now we might have a precise place to look for it. A new Caltech study has shown that photosynthetic microbes could thrive in a small habitable zone beneath the ice.

A massive volcano has been hiding in plain sight on Mars, says new research. Not only is its sheer size noteworthy, but the team believes it might also harbor glacial ice that could be critical for further exploration and Martian settlements.

Scraping ice off your car window might get a lot easier in the future thanks to a new spray coating developed by scientists in Austria. That's because of the way the molecules line up – or don't – during its high-tech creation process.

Preventing or clearing ice build-up on surfaces is a major winter problem, as some areas are currently experiencing. Scientists at KAIST have now developed a new thin film coating made of gold nanorods that can passively melt ice using just sunlight.

Not unlike the wings of airplanes, the blades of wind turbines need to be kept ice-free in order to function properly. Scientists have now developed an inexpensive method of using drones to apply an eco-friendly anti-icing coating to those blades.

Scientists have developed what they call the most water-repellent surface ever. By giving it a liquid-like coating that defies usual designs, water will roll off the surface at angles 500 times shallower than other superhydrophobic materials.

Ice build-up can pose a problem for roads, aircraft, wind turbines and power lines, among many other things. Now scientists have developed a new structure made of copper nanowires that can passively de-ice surfaces with an efficacy of close to 100%.

While it's nice to have ice cubes available for cold drinks on hot outings, bags of store-bought ice often melt too quickly and take up cooler space. The Evo Icer offers an alternative, in the form of a portable battery-powered ice cube maker.

The igloo is an ingenious form of winter shelter, but building one in the traditional fashion definitely takes some skill. That's where the Inland Iglu comes in, as it allows users to build an approximation of an igloo using their garden hose.

Ice on roads isn't a good thing, but neither are the eco-unfriendly chloride-based salts used to melt it. Scientists have developed a greener and more effective alternative, however, that could be mixed into the asphalt and remain active for years.