Alexander McNamara

Alexander McNamara

Editor-in-Chief, Live Science

Alexander McNamara is the Editor-in-Chief at Live Science, and has more than 15 years’ experience in publishing at digital titles. More than half of this time has been dedicated to bringing the wonders of science and technology to a wider audience through editor roles at New Scientist and BBC Science Focus, developing new podcasts, newsletters and ground-breaking features along the way. Prior to this, he covered a diverse spectrum of content, ranging from women’s lifestyle, travel, sport and politics, at Hearst and Microsoft.

He holds a degree in economics from the University of Sheffield, and before embarking in a career in journalism had a brief stint as an English teacher in the Czech Republic. In his spare time, you can find him with his head buried in the latest science books or tinkering with cool gadgets.

Latest articles by Alexander McNamara

We see hundreds of gold and silver coins against a black background.

The most popular Live Science stories of 2023

By Alexander McNamara published

These were the stories our readers loved in 2023.

Animals
Royal Institution Christmas Lectures host Michael Wooldridge with a robot

How to watch the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures online and on TV

By Alexander McNamara published

Every Christmas, the U.K.'s Royal Institution puts on a set of lectures, each exploring a fascinating subject in science. Here's how you can watch the Ri Christmas Lectures wherever you are.

Artificial Intelligence
Science news this week includes a 72 million-year-old mosasaur unearthed in Japan and a startling theory about atom-sized black holes.

Science news this week: An ancient 'blue dragon' and atom-size black holes

By Alexander McNamara published

Dec. 24, 2023: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.

Extinct species
An aerial view of the volcano on the Reykjanes peninsula in south west Iceland which has erupted after weeks of intense earthquake activity, on December 20, 2023 in Grindavik, Iceland.

Iceland volcano LIVE: Likelihood of further eruptions diminished, lava flows appear to have ceased

By Hannah Osborne, Sascha Pare, Harry Baker last updated

LIVE Latest updates on the volcano on Iceland's Reykjanes peninsula, which began erupting on Monday (Dec. 18) north of the small fishing village of Grindavík following weeks of localised earthquakes and sinkholes.

LIVE
Science news this week includes a dolphin with an unexpected appendage and a massive 1,000-qubit quantum chip.

Science news this week: A dolphin with thumbs and a massive quantum chip

By Alexander McNamara published

Dec. 17, 2023: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.

Technology
Science news this week includes SpaceX rockets creating blood-red ‘atmospheric holes’ and privacy-boosting smart glasses that use sonar.

Science news this week: Atmospheric holes and smarter glasses

By Alexander McNamara published

Dec. 3, 2023: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained.

Space
Science news this week includes a 'missing' blob of water in the Atlantic and 100,000 centuries-old coins in Japan.

Science news this week: The Atlantic's missing blob and 100,000 ancient coins

By Alexander McNamara published

Nov. 26, 2023: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.

Planet Earth
Science news this week includes a virus that attached itself to another virus and the first images from ESA's dark universe detective Euclid.

Science news this week: A virus' virus and Euclid's magnificent first photo

By Alexander McNamara published

Nov, 12, 2023: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.

Health
Striped cat yawns with wide open mouth on bright pink background; The sun showing sunspots, solar flares and coronal mass ejections.

Science news this week: The many faces of cats and an impending solar maximum

By Alexander McNamara published

Nov. 5, 2023: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.

Animals
Science news this week includes a perilous expedition to an uninhabited island in the South Atlantic to find the world's 8th lava lake, and a chunk of the moon appears to be orbiting near Earth.

Science news this week: Lava lakes and moon chunks

By Alexander McNamara published

Oct. 29, 2023: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.

Planet Earth
Bright neuron; dark body of water against black rock cliffs.

Science news this week: False memories and swallowed seas

By Alexander McNamara published

Oct. 15, 2023: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.

Health
Deep sea water abyss with blue sun light.

'Earth's civilizations are shaped by what the ocean engine does,' says oceanographer Helen Czerski

By Alexander McNamara published

In this interview, British oceanographer Helen Czerski explains the systems driving our ocean, compares it to a fancy cocktail, and explains what the next great ocean frontier is.

Planet Earth
Norse gods, Nobel Prize

Science news this week: Norse treasures and Nobel Prizes

By Alexander McNamara published

Oct. 8, 2023: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.

Archaeology
Science news this week includes discoveries from the James Webb telescope and the development of an ‘inverse vaccine’.

Science news this week: James Webb telescope discoveries and an inverse vaccine

By Alexander McNamara published

Oct. 1, 2023: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.

Space
Nuclear pasta; Pink diamonds

Science news this week: Pink diamonds and nuclear 'pasta'

By Alexander McNamara published

Sept. 24, 2023: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.

Planet Earth
composite image showing a huge alligator with its mouth being held open and an asteroid

Science news this week: A giant gator and a wobbly asteroid

By Alexander McNamara published

Sept. 17, 2023: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.

Space
Science news this week includes black holes that "burp" star matter and radioactive wild boars.

Science news this week: Burping black holes and radioactive wild boars

By Alexander McNamara published

Sept. 8, 2023: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.

Space
The "Great Kentucky Hoard" and a map of the moon's far side taken by NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission

Science news this week: Civil War haul and the moon’s hot blob

By Alexander McNamara published

July 16, 2023: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.

Archaeology
We see an enormous yellow bubble that is an atomic bomb exploding against a black sky.

'The night turned into day': How Manhattan Project scientists reacted to the world's first atomic bomb test

By Alexander McNamara published

In this except from the biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer, we hear from the people at the historic first test of the atomic bomb in New Mexico.

Warfare
Gravitational waves and a Roman phalera, or military medal, featuring Medusa with two wings atop her head

Science news this week: Gravitational waves and a winged Medusa medal

By Alexander McNamara published

July 01, 2023: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.

Space
The tallest tree in Asia has been found in a canyon in China / An artist's illustration of the human mind containing a large spiral

Science news this week: Asia’s tallest tree and mysterious brain spirals

By Alexander McNamara published

June 24, 2023: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.

Planet Earth
A sculptor's rendering of the hominid Australopithecus afarensis / An image of a rock painting discovered in a cave in northern Australia

Science news this week: Lucy’s legs and ancient rock art

By Alexander McNamara published

June 17, 2023: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.

Archaeology
Radio observations of the Milky Way's center / Cassius, a nearly 18-foot-long saltwater crocodile living in captivity, is roughly 120 years old

Science news this week: Crocodile mysteries and spindles in space

By Alexander McNamara published

June 10, 2023: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.

Animals
a beluga whale with a strap around its neck surfacing from the water, and an asteroid with the sun and earth in the background

Science news this week: A quasi-moon and a lonely spy whale

By Alexander McNamara published

June 3, 2023: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news over the past few days, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.

Animals
Composite of a blood-belly comb jelly and New York City

Science news this week: Sinking cities and tree of life mysteries

By Alexander McNamara published

May 27, 2023: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news over the past few days, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.

Planet Earth
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