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A study by EPFL and the Swiss Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) has found that tire additives enter into and pass through the food chain. Further research is needed to establish the implications for human health. Traces of the additives typically used in tire manufacturing have been detected in all'of the most common types of fruits and vegetables eaten in Switzerland.

Results from a long-term field experiment shed new light on how grasslands can be restored for nature, the environment, and for farmers. From richer biodiversity and benefits for pollinators, to carbon storage in soils, while balancing hay yields for grazing livestock, the study published in Nature Communications by researchers at The University of Manchester and Lancaster University, in collaboration with the Universities of Yale and Bergen, shows that using combinations of different restoration techniques can markedly enhance the restoration of grasslands.

Bonn researchers develop method for describing and predicting critical transitions in networked systems The global climate is in an imbalance. Potential "tipping elements " include the Greenland ice sheet, coral reefs, and the Amazon rainforest. Together they form a network that can collapse if just one individual component tips.

The use of animal manure in agriculture appears to be the best choice in terms of metal contamination of our soils Metals and hormone-disrupting substances such as oestrogens present a genuine risk to the sustainability of agriculture and water management in Europe. This is the conclusion of doctoral research conducted by Chinese environmental scientist Yuwei Jia at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB).

The intensification of existing farmland can sometimes be more harmful to local biodiversity than expanding the area covered by agricultural land, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. They showed that neither expansion nor intensification is consistently better for biodiversity, as it varies by factors including region, crop type and local vegetation.

McGill researchers develop practical new tool for detecting nanoplastics and microplastics in the environment A team of McGill researchers has developed a cost-effective, high-throughput technology for detecting nanoplastics and microplastics in the environment. These particles are pervasive, posing health and environmental risks, yet detecting them at the nanoscale has been difficult.

Researchers use moss in new method capable of restoring peatlands damaged by oil and gas exploration   In what could represent a milestone in ecological restoration, researchers have implemented a method capable of restoring peatlands at tens of thousands of oil and gas exploration sites in western Canada.

A study led by researchers from EPFL and the University of Vienna shows that concentrations of concerning chemicals as high as those by a busy road can be found in the air of bouldering gyms. Those who climb indoors are doing something for their health. But climbing shoes contain chemicals of concern that can enter the lungs of climbers through the abrasion of the soles.

It is hardly surprising that green spaces in noisy cities offer people respite from stress. However, a comprehensive study by Empa and WSL shows for the first time for Switzerland how much these recreational spaces actually affect physical and mental stress management. More and more people are moving to cities, which means more traffic, denser living and less space for parks or other green areas.

An aluminium tab from a drinks can found encased in a new form of rock on the Cumbrian coastline has helped provide scientists with a shocking new insight into the impact of human activity on the Earth's natural processes and materials. Researchers from the University of Glasgow have found that slag, an industrial waste product produced by the steel industry, is turning into solid rock in as little as 35 years.

A study led by Paolo Padoan, ICREA research professor at the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB), is challenging the understanding of planetary disk formation around young stars. The paper, published in Nature Astronomy, reveals that the environment plays a crucial role in determining the size and lifetime of these planetary disks, which are the sites of planet formation.

The Go gRIEn project team at the Ilmenau School of Green Electronics (ISGE) is researching sustainability in microchip production. In future, fewer environmentally harmful chemicals are to be used in the microstructuring of glass. Whether electric cars, smartphones or smart homes - the demand for semiconductors is constantly growing and with it the ecological footprint of the electronics industry.

News from A new study published in PNAS, led by the United States Department of Agriculture and involving several researchers from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and Leipzig University, investigated how the relationship between mean annual precipitation (MAP) and grassland biomass changes when one or more nutrients are added.

A new study published in the journal PNAS examines how the relationship between mean annual precipitation and grassland biomass changes with the addition of one or more nutrients. Researchers from the German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and Leipzig University were also involved in the global analysis, which was led by the US Department of Agriculture.

Waterloo researchers are at the forefront of responding to the climate crisis with purpose-driven research and technology, including an interdisciplinary team who are in the field measuring methane emissions to support Canada's net-zero gas emissions goals. Methane is a very powerful greenhouse gas - approximately 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2) over a 20-year period.

The pedunculate oaks typical of Leipzig's floodplain forest and other German oak forests are struggling to regenerate in the understorey due to a lack of light. One reason for this is the absence of flooding in floodplain forests. In a two-year oak experiment in Leipzig's floodplain forest, researchers from Leipzig University and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) found that the current tree dieback - caused by drought and pest outbreaks - combined with the thinning of certain understorey species, can actually support oak regeneration.

The English oaks typical of the Leipzig riparian forest and other German oak forests can hardly rejuvenate due to a lack of light in the undergrowth. One reason for this is the lack of flooding in alluvial forests. Researchers from Leipzig University and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) have discovered in a two-year oak experiment in Leipzig's alluvial forest that the current tree mortality as a result of droughts and the spread of pests can be used in combination with a thinning out of certain species in the undergrowth for oak regeneration.

Wildflowers growing on land previously used for buildings and factories can accumulate lead, arsenic and other metal contaminants from the soil, which are consumed by pollinators as they feed, a new study has found. Our results should not discourage people from planting wildflowers in towns and cities.

About 66 million years ago, an asteroid slammed into the planet, wiping out all non-avian dinosaurs and about 70 percent of all marine species. The huge crater formed in the Gulf of Mexico functioned as a cradle for recovery of marine life enriching the overlying ocean for at least 700,000 years, according to research published today in Nature Communications .

Wealth inequality has been linked to human sustainability for over 10,000 years. That's according to a new study led by Professor Dan Lawrence from our Archaeology department.