Panel: The Trivedi Science Book Prize 2026 shortlist reveal - Royal Society

“Chemistry can’t be viewed as some long, glorious, progressive march to an enlightened future. It came from everyday people, living their lives by their own understanding of the world, and just trying to get by.” – The Age of Alchemy The Age of Alchemy: How Early Innovators Shaped Modern Chemistry by self-proclaimed science adventurer Kit Chapman has been announced as the winner of the 2026 Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize.

We’re sharing this article early to provide faster access to peer-reviewed, accepted research. It is citable and carries a permanent DOI. This version is subject to further edits and will be replaced automatically by the final Version of Record. All legal disclaimers apply. AbstractThis study presents the development of high-sensitivity real-time X-ray dosimeters based on room-temperature-vulcanized (RTV-2) silicone nanocomposites incorporating 0–60 wt% Bi2O3 nanoparticles, fabricated via solution casting. Structural and morphological characterization using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) with elemental mapping, and elemental analysis confirmed the uniform dispersion of monoclinic Bi2O3 nanorods within the amorphous RTV-2 matrix. Complementary Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) validated the chemical integrity, thermal stability, and mechanical robustness of the resulting nanocomposites. Dosimetric performance was investigated under diagnostic-range X-ray exposure using a COMET MXR 320/26 source (dose rates: 2.8–12 mGy/min).

Antarctica’s towering ice cliffs may be more resilient than scientists once feared. New satellite observations reveal surprising natural mechanisms that could reshape predictions of future sea level rise. Credit: ShutterstockSatellite observations show Antarctic ice cliffs stabilizing after unexpectedly rapid collapse, challenging assumptions about runaway ice loss and its contribution to rising seas. Antarctica’s ice shelves help hold back the ice sheet behind them, but rising temperatures are causing these supports to melt and break apart at record rates. As sheer ice cliffs are left exposed, scientists have worried that a collapse could reveal a taller cliff farther inland, setting off a chain of failures that eats into the ice sheet and raises seas worldwide. In a four-year satellite survey of more than 15,000 Antarctic ice cliffs, researchers at MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) found that the tallest cliffs they examined closely did collapse, and the ice sheet in those regions retreated faster than models predicted. “But that retreat was short-lived,” says Caroline Needell, a graduate student in the MIT-WHOI Joint Program.

THE TAKEAWAYNASA’s Perseverance Mars rover broke a world record on Oct. 11. The rover drove the farthest distance on another world than any other vehicle. The milestone came when the rover was exploring traces of ancient hydrothermal systems. NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has set a world record for the farthest distance driven by any vehicle on the surface of another world. HOW OFTEN DO METEORITES CRASH IN THE US? On Oct. 11, the rover reached 28.10 miles, surpassing the previous record of 28.06 miles set by NASA’s Opportunity rover. The milestone also marks three decades of NASA rover operations on Mars. NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover took a self-portrait against a sweeping backdrop of ancient Martian terrain at a location the science team calls "Lac de Charmes. " (NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS / NASA)"The original mission called for no more than 12.4 miles of driving," Steven Lee, project manager for the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, said.