Scientists Develop Novel Ice-Based Coding System Using Air Bubbles—Could Help Decode Climate, Store Data, and More

A team of Chinese, Korean, and Czech scientists has discovered an innovative way to encode and store information—by manipulating air bubbles in ice. The study, published in Cell Reports Physical Science, details how patterns of bubbles created during the freezing process can form Morse-like or binary codes, opening up new possibilities in data storage and scientific research.

“It is a totally new method for humans to record information,” said lead author Mengjie Song from the Beijing Institute of Technology. While the technology isn’t positioned to replace smartphones, researchers suggest it could have applications in climate science, aviation safety, and even lunar construction.

Experts uninvolved in the study are intrigued. “I could see it showing up in a James Bond movie,” quipped Robin E. Bell, a geophysicist at Columbia University, imagining secret plans hidden in an ice cube that melts into a smoothie to erase evidence.

To create the code, the researchers froze water between two acrylic plates and adjusted the freezing speed and angle. This allowed them to control bubble shapes—either spherical like eggs or elongated like needles—and sequence them into messages, which a computer then translated into letters and numbers.

Though the concept may seem futuristic, it draws on the everyday physics of freezing. “The opaqueness in your freezer ice is from tiny frozen bubbles,” explained Jochem Meijer of the University of Chicago. High-end bars, he noted, invest in crystal-clear ice that’s bubble-free—proof that controlling air in ice is already a craft.

Beyond novelty, the technique might aid in improving models for de-icing infrastructure, understanding ice-based construction materials on the Moon, or training AI to study glaciers for clues about Earth’s climate past.

“The level of control obtained for the ice bubble shapes and distributions is impressive,” said Virginia Tech’s Jonathan Boreyko. “Science often works this way—we explore out of curiosity, and unexpected applications follow.”