A University of Liverpool scientist has discovered a new layer near the Earth’s core, which will enable the internal temperature of the Earth’s mantle to be measured at a much deeper level than previously possible.

Dr Christine Thomas, from the Department of Earth Sciences, has found a previously undetected seismic layer near the Earth’s core-mantle boundary. Her discovery will allow geophysicists to measure variations in the Earth’s internal temperature near the boundary bet

Study using new method of dating corals reveals that sea level is more variable over shorter periods of time than previously thought

Sea level may be far more variable over shorter periods of time than can be explained by natural variations in the Earth’s orbit. Scientists using a new method of dating fossil coral reefs have uncovered evidence that sea level is capable of changing by as much as 30 meters in just a few thousand years–more quickly and more dramatically than

The EU is now entering an agreement with Lund University regarding research into the desertification. The background is that 40 research organizations from 16 countries recently gathered in Madrid to launch an EU project (DeSurvey) about land degradation and desertification in Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America. The EU funding is about SEK 75 million. Lund University will be taking part as the only Scandinavian unit, in the person of Professor Ulf Helldén at the Department of Physical Geo

European experts meet today in Brussels to consider a potential method to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions on a large scale. Greenhouse gases have increased dramatically since the time of the industrial revolution. One of the main contributors is fossil fuel combustion for power generation and industry. The European strategy “Towards Zero Emission Power Plants” will reduce drastically these emissions by capturing the CO2 and storing it underground in geological formations. This will in effect

More than half of the world’s large rivers are fragmented and regulated by dams. The largest and the most biologically and geographically diverse rivers are all affected. This is shown by a global study that is published in this week’s issue of the journal Science.

Behind the study are Christer Nilsson, Cathy Reidy and Mats Dynesius at Umeå University and Carmen Revenga at The Nature Conservancy in the U.S.

Humans have drastically changed many rivers by impoundments and d

The universe of microbes that lives in your stomach may be nearly as unique as your fingerprint, according to researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine who have embarked on the early stages of exploring the intestinal ecosystem.

Using molecular techniques that detect all known types of microbes and borrowing statistical techniques from field ecology and population genetics, Paul Eckburg, MD, a postdoctoral scholar in infectious diseases and geographic medicine, c

A new guide – the first of its kind in the world – which offers architects and other designers guidance on how they can reduce the vast amount of waste material created through standard design details is launched today (Friday April 15th).

The guide, on Detailing For The Deconstruction Of Buildings, has been compiled by Fionn Stevenson, Reader in Architecture at University of Dundee, and Chris Morgan, of Locate Architects, for the Scottish Ecological Design Association (SEDA), fol

There is a lot of junk orbiting the Earth and the problem will worsen unless there are changes in how spacecraft operators operate. But it is not all doom and gloom. The first steps toward a comprehensive solution are already well underway including a European code of conduct for space debris mitigation.

According to Dr Ruediger Jehn, a space debris specialist working at ESA’s Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, there are several relatively simple measures that will help r

Dutch-sponsored researcher Thuy Huynh has discovered that pigs get stressed if they become too warm. They go and lie on the slatted floor, wallow in urine, eat less and grow less as well. With cooling systems, such as floor cooling, sprinkling or water baths, the pigs remain cool and grow better.

Pigs in confinement find it difficult to lose body heat. Therefore their well being is strongly dependent on the ambient temperature. Huynh discovered that they huddled less at a temperatu

Deep ocean research stretching from the Arctic to the Black Sea is to receive 15 million euros (around £10 million sterling) as part of a programme involving 15 countries across Europe.

Led by Southampton Oceanography Centre’s Professor Phil Weaver, the HERMES project (Hotspot Ecosystem Research on the Margins of European Seas) will study ecosystems along Europe’s deep-ocean margin and is one of the largest research projects of its kind.

HERMES will bring togethe

If increased precipitation and sea surface heating from global warming disrupts the Atlantic Conveyer current – as some scientists predict – the effect on the ocean food chain in the Atlantic and other oceans could be severe, according to a new study just published in Nature.

In a worst case scenario, global productivity of phytoplankton could decrease by as much as 20 percent and in some areas, such as the North Atlantic, the loss could hit 50 percent. The study was conducted

Scientists at Rothamsted Research in Harpenden (1) and the University of Reading have been able to recover DNA from crop diseases on wheat samples stored as part of a Victorian field experiment (2). Using this DNA, they have discovered how changes in air pollution over the last 160 years have affected fungal diseases on our wheat crops.

The most damaging wheat disease in Europe is leaf blotch, caused by two different fungal species, Phaeosphaeria nodorum and Mycosphaerella gram

Researchers at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and the University of California, Santa Cruz have discovered that Earth’s last great global warming period, 3 million years ago, may have been caused by levels of CO2 in the atmosphere similar to today’s.

Reporting this week in a leading Earth Science journal, Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, the scientists describe how they tested two widely held ideas that attempted to explain the balmy conditions on Earth at that time. Their f

Full-scale disaster breaking out in France – in the form of a simulated accident around which a major European civil protection exercise is planned. Just as in a real emergency, the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters is being activated so rescue teams will receive satellite images of the disaster zone.

It begins with a train derailment, and then the situation gets worse. Train wagons of fuel begin to burn, the fire spreading to pressurised tanks of liquefied gas

A V90-3.0 MW offshore wind turbine has to produce electricity for just 6.8 months, before it has produced as much energy as used throughout its design lifetime. In other words this turbine model earns its own worth more than 35 times during its design lifetime.

Furthermore, compared to the V80-2.0 MW offshore wind turbine, the 6.8 months constitutes an improvement of approximately 2.2 months.

If installed on a good site, the V90-3.0 MW wind turbine will generate appro

Unprecedented study describes sources contributing to decline of Caribbean reefs

Their position at the pinnacle of the marine food chain is legendary. Now, understanding sharks and their significance as top predators-and the consequences of human activity towards them-has taken on new importance through a new study by scientists in San Diego and Spain.

Jordi Bascompte and Carlos Melián of the Integrative Ecology Group, Estación Biológica de Doñana, Consejo Superior de