news 2020

Researchers have found that pulse-like releases of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere are a pervasive feature of the carbon cycle and that they are closely connected to major changes in Atlantic Ocean circulation.

Radiocarbon dating, a technique widely used in archaeology and geoscience, is set to become more accurate than ever after an international team of scientists have shared much-anticipated new calibration curves based on data from ancient trees, lake and ocean sediments, cave deposits and more.

New estimates of ice shelf melting around Antarctica since the 1990s show where and when ice has been lost and where meltwater entered the Southern Ocean A science team led by researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego has created a detailed history of mass loss from Antarctica's floating ice shelves.

Analysis of NASA lander seismograph data reveals boundaries from crust to core Using data from NASA's InSight Lander on Mars, Rice University seismologists have made the first direct measurements of three subsurface boundaries from the crust to the core of the red planet. "Ultimately it may help us understand planetary formation,” said Alan Levander, co-author of a study available online this week in Geophysical Research Letters.

Findings also suggest exoplanets lying within habitable zones may be susceptible to ice ages. At least twice in Earth's history, nearly the entire planet was encased in a sheet of snow and ice. These dramatic "Snowball Earth" events occurred in quick succession, somewhere around 700 million years ago, and evidence suggests that the consecutive global ice ages set the stage for the subsequent explosion of complex, multicellular life on Earth.

Evolution seems to be a story of continual progress. The weak will perish, according to Darwin's law. Nevertheless, genetic defects that at first glance might make an organism weaker can increase its long-term chances of survival. At first sight, evolution seems to be a story of continual, step-by-step progress.

Geological evidence suggests the known dinosaur groups diverged early on, supporting the traditional dinosaur family tree. The classic dinosaur family tree has two subdivisions of early dinosaurs at its base: the Ornithischians, or bird-hipped dinosaurs, which include the later Triceratops and Stegosaurus ; and the Saurischians, or lizard-hipped dinosaurs, such as Brontosaurus and Tyrannosaurus .

Research recently published in the journal "Science" has shown that lockdown measures to combat the spread of COVID-19 lead to a 50% reduction in seismic noise observed around the world in early to mid-2020. By analysing month-to-years long datasets from over 300 seismic stations around the world, the study, led by Thomas Lecocq from the Royal Observatory of Belgium, was able to show how the seismic noise decreased in many countries and regions since the start of the lockdown measures.

The lack of human activity during lockdown caused human-linked vibrations in the Earth to drop by an average of 50 percent between March and May 2020. The lack of human activity during lockdown caused human-linked vibrations in the Earth to drop by an average of 50 percent between March and May 2020.

A new study by an international team of scientists has found lockdown measures to stop the spread of COVID-19 led to a 50 per cent reduction in seismic noise observed around the world. It is the largest reduction in human-generated noise ever observed globally. The researchers, including Associate Professor Meghan Miller and Professor Louis Moresi from The Australian National University (ANU), analysed datasets from over 300 seismic stations around the world.

A team of 76 seismologists, including several French scientists from the CNRS, the Paris Institute of Earth Physics (IPGP), Université de Paris, Université de Strasbourg and the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD) 1 discovered that the lockdown measures used in the fight against the spread of COVID-19 have led to a 50% reduction in seismic noise due to human activity across the globe between January-June 2020.

Research published in the journal Science has shown that lockdown measures to combat the spread of COVID-19 led to a 50% reduction in seismic noise observed around the world in early to mid 2020. By analyzing months-to-year-long datasets from over 300 seismic stations around the world, the study was able to show seismic noise reduced in many countries and regions, making it possible to visualize the resulting "wave" moving through China, then to Italy, and around the rest of the world.

Researchers used computer simulations to classify the current activity of corona structures on the surface of Venus. To their surprise, they found a previously undiscovered ring of fire on our neighbouring planet. Years ago, planetary researchers discovered unusual circular structures on the surface of Venus when observing high-resolution images from NASA's Magellan mission.

An international consortium of scientists has refined the map of caesium and plutonium radionuclide concentrations in soils in Switzerland and several neighbouring countries. Using an archive of European soil samples, the team led by Katrin Meusburger from the University of Basel, now at the WSL research institute, was able to trace the sources of radioactive fallout between 1960 and 2009.

Noise from wind turbines is a constant source of annoyance, despite compliance with emission control standards. But while some people feel heavily burdened by the noises, others hardly notice them. The Inter-Wind research project (Interdisciplinary Analysis and Mitigation Approaches - Residents' Experience of Acoustic and Seismic Wind Turbine Emissions), in which the University of Stuttgart is also involved, is investigating which factors interact in the noise pollution caused by wind turbines and which approaches for mitigation can be considered.

An ancient European volcanic region may pose both a greater long-term volcanic risk and seismic risk to northwestern Europe than scientists had realized, geophysicists report in a study in the Geophysical Journal International. The scientists are not predicting that a volcanic eruption or earthquake is imminent in the densely populated area, which is centered in the Eifel region of Germany, and covers parts of Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Luxembourg.

Global water consumption has increased almost fourfold in the past 100 years, and many regions can only meet their water demand thanks to essential contributions from mountain regions.

In a process that may help lakes maintain healthy levels of nutrients, new research from the University of Minnesota College of Biological Sciences shows that a majority of the lakes examined are continuously shedding nitrogen into the atmosphere. Nitrogen, along with phosphorus, is a nutrient that can be found in excess in some lakes.

Artificial watering points in rangelands are posing an increasing threat to surrounding biodiversity long after the removal of livestock, according to University of Queensland research. UQ researcher Graham Fulton studied the behaviour and impact of 20 bird species on Faure Island in Western Australia's Shark Bay - a nature and conservation reserve which had previously been a pastoral station.

Researchers from the Swiss Seismological Service SED and ETH Zurich are working with the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre CSCS to develop a way of utilising geothermal energy safely with the help of supercomputers. According to Switzerland's Energy Strategy 2050, the plan is for deep geothermal energy to contribute to the expansion of renewable energies in the country.