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Environment - Earth Sciences - 26.01.2023

Who done it? Searching for clues with sediments
The sediments near Horn Richterswil - today a recreation and bathing resort on Lake Zurich - are contaminated with toxic metals, particularly mercury. On behalf of the Canton of Zurich, researchers have used sediment cores to reconstruct when the pollutants entered the lake. In this way, they could help clarify the origin of the contaminants.

Earth Sciences - 25.01.2023

Shark and ray populations rebounding in Northwestern Atlantic: SFU study
Better fisheries management and conservation is effective at turning the tide on the shark and ray declines, according to a study from Simon Fraser researchers. The fact sharks and rays are increasingly threatened by overfishing has made global headlines in recent years. Oceanic populations have plummeted by as much as 71 per cent in the last 50 years and one third of all sharks and rays are threatened with extinction.

Earth Sciences - Astronomy / Space Science - 24.01.2023

Satellite Data Shows Sustained Severe Drought in Europe
By Falko Schoklitsch Europe lacks groundwater - a lot of groundwater. The continent has already been suffering from a severe drought since 2018. This is confirmed by satellite data analysed at the Institute of Geodesy at TU Graz. Europe has been experiencing a severe drought for years. Across the continent, groundwater levels have been consistently low since 2018, even if extreme weather events with flooding temporarily give a different picture.

Environment - Earth Sciences - 23.01.2023

Look on the Bright Side of Earth
Why do Earth's hemispheres look equally bright when viewed from space? Weizmann Institute scientists offer a solution to this 50-year-old mystery When looking at the Earth from space, its hemispheres - northern and southern - appear equally bright. This is particularly unexpected because the Southern Hemisphere is mostly covered with dark oceans, whereas the Northern Hemisphere has a vast land area that is much brighter than these oceans.

Earth Sciences - Environment - 19.01.2023

A trail of dust from Africa to Antarctica
An international research team including UdeM professor James King has shown that dust from southern Africa made its way to Antarctica within the last few thousand years. CONTENU - Until recently, the southern part of South America was believed to be the main source of the dust that lands in Antarctica.

Environment - Earth Sciences - 19.01.2023

Why rivers matter for the global carbon cycle
In a new journal article, EPFL professor Tom Battin reviews our current understanding of carbon fluxes in the world's river networks. He demonstrates their central role in the global carbon cycle and argues for the creation of a global River Observation System. Until recently, our understanding of the global carbon cycle was largely limited to the world's oceans and terrestrial ecosystems.

Earth Sciences - Environment - 18.01.2023

’There are also major deposits of rare earths in Greenland’
Geophysicist Michael Becken on the -Sensational Find- in Sweden and the Involvement of the University of Münster Some observers speak of a "sensational find", others warn against too great expectations. The fact is that a few days ago, experts in Kiruna in northern Sweden found the largest deposit of so-called rare earths in Europe to date.

Environment - Earth Sciences - 18.01.2023

Runaway West Antarctic ice retreat could be slowed by climate-driven changes in ocean temperature
An international team of researchers has combined satellite imagery and climate and ocean records to obtain the most detailed understanding yet of how the West Antarctic Ice Sheet - which contains enough ice to raise global sea level by 11 feet, or 3.3 meters - is responding to climate change.

Environment - Earth Sciences - 17.01.2023

Protecting ecosystems with ecological theory
Ecosystems respond sometimes very differently to human impacts. However, it is still poorly understood what causes these differences. A team of researchers from Eawag and WSL is now proposing an integrative approach based on four fundamental processes shaping biodiversity on land and in water. The approach provides guidance for how biodiversity in blue (water) and green (land) ecosystems can be better protected.

Environment - Earth Sciences - 17.01.2023

Science of sediment transport key to river conservation & protection: Researchers
New research from SFU-s Jeremy Venditti dives into the science of going with the flow predicting the evolution of the Earth's surface. Researchers at Simon Fraser University (SFU) and The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have devised a better way to measure how fast sediment flows in rivers.

Earth Sciences - Physics - 16.01.2023

A geochemical journey from the center of the Earth
Yale researchers have a new theory to explain some of the geochemistry of -hotspots magma plumes from deep in the Earth that erupt at the surface. Hawaii and Iceland are tourist hotspots - and it turns out they are popular with geochemical travelers as well. A new Yale study suggests that throughout Earth's history, natural processes propelled measurable geochemical signals from deep inside Earth's metallic core, up through its thick, middle layer, and all the way to the surface, emerging at what are known as magma -hotspots.

Earth Sciences - History / Archeology - 12.01.2023

Alps: New findings about earthquake history
A team of geologists from the University of Innsbruck examined the sediments of Carinthian lakes for traces of past earthquakes. The results show that the earthquake of 1348 caused the strongest shaking in the Carinthian region since the end of the last cold period. Earthquakes with potential building damage are rare there, but can occur in temporal clusters .

Life Sciences - Earth Sciences - 11.01.2023

Newly discovered surface structures may affect immune function
Freiburg researchers describe a ridge network on the membrane of B lymphocytes for the first time Using new microscopic methods in combination with machine learning-based image analysis, researchers from Freiburg have discovered new structures on the surface of living B cells that affect the distribution and possibly the function of their antigen receptors.

Environment - Earth Sciences - 11.01.2023

Scientists delve into natural slicks on Lake Geneva
An EPFL researcher has, for the first time, documented slicks - those visually arresting, moving patches of smooth water - and explained what is happening beneath the surface. Natural slicks are a mysterious, intriguing phenomenon for anyone who enjoys looking out over Lake Geneva, including passers-by, commuters - and now local researchers.

Earth Sciences - Astronomy / Space Science - 11.01.2023

New Results Reveal Surprising Behavior of Minerals Deep in the Earth
As you are reading this, more than 400 miles below you is a massive world of extreme temperatures and pressures that has been churning and evolving for longer than humans have been on the planet. Now, a detailed new model from Caltech researchers illustrates the surprising behavior of minerals deep in the planet's interior over millions of years and shows that the processes are actually happening in a manner completely opposite to what had been previously theorized.

Earth Sciences - Environment - 11.01.2023

Moving water and earth
A new understanding of how particle shape controls grain flow could help engineers manage river restoration and coastal erosion. As a river cuts through a landscape, it can operate like a conveyer belt, moving truckloads of sediment over time. Knowing how quickly or slowly this sediment flows can help engineers plan for the downstream impact of restoring a river or removing a dam.

Environment - Earth Sciences - 06.01.2023

Two out of three glaciers worldwide could disappear by 2100
The world could lose over 40 percent of its total glacier mass and 80 percent of all individual glaciers this century. Depending on how successful efforts to curb the climate crisis are, it could be "only" a quarter. This is reported today in the journal Science by an international research team with participation from the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL.

Earth Sciences - Environment - 05.01.2023

Antarctic glaciers formed 30 million years earlier than previously thought
A new study has revealed that glaciers formed in the highest mountains of Antarctica at least 60 million years ago, which is 30 million years earlier than previously thought, and almost as long ago as the geological era of the dinosaurs. The continent of Antarctica is the coldest on Earth. Its extensive ice sheets, which today occupy approximately 98% of the land surface, have shrouded the continent for the last 34 million years, when they expanded as global climate cooled dramatically at the Eocene-Oligocene boundary.

Environment - Earth Sciences - 05.01.2023

Trees as witnesses to environmental pollution
Trees absorb tiny metal particles from the air and soil and deposit them in their tissues. This has been shown by an experiment conducted by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL. These findings open up possibilities for detecting environmental pollution or even remedying it in the future.

Astronomy / Space Science - Earth Sciences - 03.01.2023

Life on alien worlds
Does life exist elsewhere in the universe? There's a good chance it does - though it might look very different to life on Earth. Scientists may soon be able to offer a definitive answer. Twenty-seven years ago, at the University of Geneva, Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz - now a professor at ETH - discovered the first extrasolar planet orbiting a Sun-like star.