A new study shows the inner core oscillates. USC Dornsife scientists identify a six-year cycle of super- and sub-rotation that affected the length of a day based on their analysis of seismic data. USC scientists have found evidence that the Earth’s inner core oscillates, contradicting previously accepted models that suggested it consistently rotates at a faster rate than the planet’s surface. Their study, published today in Science Advances, shows that the inner core changed direction in the six-year period from…

Eichstätt geographers survey mountainscape to come to light as glaciers melt away. How thick is the remaining layer of glacial ice in the Alps? And what is going on underneath that cover of ice? A research team of the Geography Department at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Inolstadt (KU) is taking a look at what happens when glaciers melt – and thereby identifies potential danger zones. Climate change has caused glacier ice worldwide to melt at an ever faster pace. The…

Faults once thought to be “creeping” yet stable may be at risk for big ruptures. By simulating earthquakes in a lab, Caltech engineers have provided strong experimental support for a form of earthquake propagation now thought responsible for the magnitude-9.0 earthquake that devastated the coast of Japan in 2011. Along some fault lines, which are the boundaries of tectonic plates, a fine-grained gravel is formed as the plates grind against one another. The influence of this gravel on earthquakes has…

A study by a research team of the University of Oldenburg, Germany, reveals that spider webs mirror varying levels of microplastic contamination of urban air. Flies, mosquitoes, dust and even microplastics – spider webs catch things flying through the air. Researchers at the University of Oldenburg, Germany, have now for the first time examined the webs for microplastics on inner-city streets with varying levels of traffic. The team mainly found the plastic PET, presumably from textiles, as well as particles…

The decline of insects, and in particular pollinating insects, threatens ecosystems and economies around the world. The dimensions are staggering: Between 1989 and 2016, the biomass of all flying insects in Germany decreased by 76 per cent, according to the Krefeld study (2017). The ever-increasing use of pesticides in agriculture is considered a driver of this phenomenon. The world’s most widely used herbicide glyphosate may contribute more to this development than was previously known, according to a new study by…

Europe imports most of its raw materials used in renewable energy and digital technologies. But Europe has its own deposits of key raw materials and boosting domestic production would help to secure strategic and industrial value chains. A new Horizon Europe project, VECTOR is coordinated by the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (HIF) at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) with 18 partners from seven countries. VECTOR partners aim to understand the acceptance and improve the efficiency of exploration in Europe by…

Usually, increasing agricultural productivity depends on adding something, such as fertilizer or water. A new Stanford University-led study reveals that removing one thing in particular – a common air pollutant – could lead to dramatic gains in crop yields. The analysis, published June 1 in Science Advances, uses satellite images to reveal for the first time how nitrogen oxides – gases found in car exhaust and industrial emissions – affect crop productivity. Its findings have important implications for increasing agricultural output…

New research finds toxic metals absorbed by Great Salt Lake plants and insects. Plants in Great Salt Lake wetland ecosystems are able to pull hazardous metal pollution from the lake and sometimes pass it up the food chain, according to work by a team of researchers from the Department of Watershed Sciences led by Edd Hammill. The study, coauthored by former master’s student Maya Pendleton and current faculty Janice Brahney, Karin Kettenring, and Trisha Atwood, sampled three types of native…

Climate research: KIT researchers prove global increase of ultrafine particles from exhaust gases of fossil fuels and warn of major weather effects. Strong precipitation or extreme drought – the frequency of extreme weather events is increasing worldwide. Existing climate models, however, do not adequately show their dynamics. Researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) assume that ultrafine particles in the atmosphere have a significant impact on cloud physics and, hence, on weather. Their aircraft measurements confirm an increase in particle…

In the future, cameras could spot blackbirds feeding on grapes in a vineyard and launch drones to drive off the avian irritants, then return to watch for the next invading flock. All without a human nearby. A Washington State University research team has developed just such a system, which they detail in a study published in the journal Computer and Electronics in Agriculture. The system is designed to have automated drones available to patrol 24 hours a day to deter…

With the rapid reduction in the costs of renewable energy generation, such as wind and solar power, there is a growing need for energy storage technologies to make sure that electricity supply and demand are balanced properly. IIASA researchers have come up with a new energy storage concept that could turn tall buildings into batteries to improve the power quality in urban settings. The world’s capacity to generate electricity from solar panels, wind turbines, and other renewable technologies has been…

During heavy storms, the normally stratified layers of water in ocean fjords get mixed, which leads to oxygenation of the fjord floor. But these storm events also result in a spike in methane emissions from fjords to the atmosphere. Researchers from the University of Gothenburg have estimated that the total emissions of this climate-warming gas are as great from fjords as from all the deep ocean areas in the world put together. The world’s fjords were created when the inland…

New carbon sorbent is 99% efficient, lightning fast, and easily recyclable. Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have developed a new carbon capture system which removes carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere with unprecedented performance. Isophorone diamine (IPDA) in a “liquid-solid phase separation” system was found to remove carbon dioxide at the low concentrations contained in the atmosphere with 99% efficiency. The compound is reusable with minimal heating and at least twice as fast as existing systems, an exciting new development…

… Just add CO2. Mount Erebus, Antarctica’s only active volcano, shows how carbon dioxide allows volcanoes to form persistent lava lakes at the surface. Antarctica has long been a land of mystery and heroic feats made famous by the explorations of James Ross, Roald Amundsen, Robert Scott and Ernest Shackleton. A key piece of the puzzle for understanding global continental evolution, Antarctica contains examples that define the spectrum of Earth’s volcanic processes. Now, a joint University of Utah and University…

Artificial Intelligence (AI) can track the health of coral reefs by learning the “song of the reef”, new research shows. Coral reefs have a complex soundscape – and even experts have to conduct painstaking analysis to measure reef health based on sound recordings. In the new study, University of Exeter scientists trained a computer algorithm using multiple recordings of healthy and degraded reefs, allowing the machine to learn the difference. The computer then analysed a host of new recordings, and…

International team reports on highly oxidized hydrotrioxides in SCIENCE. An international research team has now succeeded in detecting hydrotrioxides (ROOOH) for the first time under atmospheric conditions. Until now, there was only speculation that these organic compounds with the unusual OOOH group exist. In laboratory experiments, their formation during the oxidation of important hydrocarbons, such as isoprene and alpha-pinene, have been clearly demonstrated. By means of quantum chemical calculations and model calculations, important data on this new class of substances…