Floating at 250 miles above the planet, the International Space Station (ISS) provides a unique laboratory to conduct pioneering investigations.

By being permanently in orbit, it allows scientists to carry out experiments with the help of on-board astronauts and gain new insights into challenges we face on Earth.

This April, a machine designed at Strathclyde and built by UK-firm QinetiQ, was launched from Cape Kennedy in Florida into orbit on the station for the cutting edge "particle vibration" experiment.

The station, a joint program between U.S., Russia, Japan, Europe (ESA) and Canada, is equipped with a host of modern research equipment.

The experiments needed three months of continuous activities, a period of microgravity that only the ISS can provide.

"Microgravity" removes the effect of gravity to see the effects of other forces that can be hard to reveal on Earth and enabled researchers to test the behavior of solid particles dispersed in a liquid in a variety of operating conditions.

New materials

The trial showed that by heating and shaking complex fluids—liquids that contain fine solid particles or other liquid droplets—in space's microgravity environment, new materials can be created.