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Earth Sciences - Environment - 28.04.2025
Industrial waste is turning to rock in just decades
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.
Earth Sciences - Innovation - 10.04.2025
Computer model that ’thinks’ like a missing person could help search & rescue
A new method of predicting where people lost in the wilderness may be found based on simulations of their decision-making processes could help mountain rescue teams save lives in the future. Researchers from the University of Glasgow have developed a sophisticated computer system to model the actions of simulated people lost in outdoor environments.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 04.04.2025

Fast-moving underwater avalanches, known as turbidity currents, are responsible for transporting vast quantities of microplastics into the deep sea, according to new research published today. The findings, published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology , show that these powerful flows could be capable of traveling at speeds of up to eight meters per second, carrying plastic waste from the continental shelf to depths of more than 3,200 meters.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 02.04.2025

Estimates of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from volcanoes may have been significantly underestimated, according to new research by The University of Manchester. Published in the journal, Science Advances , s cientists have developed an advanced sensor that can detect volcanic gases with rapid speed and precision.
Earth Sciences - Environment - 25.03.2025

Scientists explore a seafloor area newly exposed by iceberg A-84; discover vibrant communities of ancient sponges and corals. An international team of scientists have uncovered a thriving underwater ecosystem off the coast of Antarctica that had never before been accessible to humans. The team, including researchers from the University of Cambridge, were working in the Bellingshausen Sea off the coast of Antarctica when a massive iceberg broke away from the George VI Ice Shelf in January of this year.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 20.03.2025

A wide diversity of marine life, that may include previously unknown species, flourishes in a region of ocean once hidden beneath a thick cover of ice, finds a recently-returned Antarctic expedition co-led by a UCL researcher. The expedition, in partnership with Schmidt Ocean Institute, examined and mapped the unseen submarine environment off the Antarctic Peninsula, in an area that was until recently covered by a massive ice shelf and that in late 2024 shed a colossal iceberg from its floating edge.
Astronomy / Space - Earth Sciences - 03.02.2025
Ka-boom! AI reveals meteoroid impacts are making Mars shake
Researchers show that 'Marsquakes' are caused by seismic signals from meteoroid impacts reaching farther and deeper than previously known. Two international studies involving researchers from Imperial College London's Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and the Center for Space and Habitability at the University of Bern in Switzerland, used artificial intelligence (AI) to spot a link between the seismic activity caused by meteoroid impacts and "Marsquakes" recorded by NASA's InSight mission.
Astronomy / Space - Earth Sciences - 29.01.2025
Scientist helps uncover life’s biggest secrets in Asteroid Bennu
Curation teams process the sample return capsule from NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission in a cleanroom, Sunday, Sept. 24, 2023, at the Department of Defense's Utah Test and Training Range. The sample was collected from the asteroid Bennu in October 2020 by NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. The sample return capsule from NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission is seen shortly after touching down in the desert, Sunday, Sept.
Earth Sciences - 10.01.2025

A series of more than 100 small earthquakes in Surrey in 2018 and 2019 might have been triggered by oil extraction from a nearby well, suggests a new study by UCL researchers. The earthquakes, which occurred in Newdigate and surrounding areas from April 2018 until early 2019, were recorded as being between 1.34 and 3.18 magnitude, and were linked to cracks in walls and ceilings and other damage to people's homes, with reports of houses and beds shaking.
Earth Sciences - Environment - 03.01.2025

A new study has unveiled the key mechanisms that preserve organic carbon in the ocean-a poorly understood but vital process, which influences the Earth's climate, carbon cycles, and formation of fossil fuels. Organic carbon typically breaks down in most environments. Yet, vast amounts remain preserved in marine sediments, a mystery that has puzzled scientists for decades.
Earth Sciences - Environment - 01.01.2025

Past climate change shifts ocean currents and winds, altering heat and carbon exchange in the Southern Ocean, study finds Human-induced climate change is causing shifts in the world's largest ocean current and westerly wind systems also seen during periods of ice age and warmer intervals in Earth's history, researchers claim.
Earth Sciences - Environment - 13.12.2024
Scientists make new discovery of earth’s longest runout sediment flows
Scientists from our Geography department have made a major breakthrough in understanding one of the most powerful forces shaping the ocean floor: turbidity currents. These dense, fast-moving underwater flows of sediment and water carve out deep-sea canyons and transport vast amounts of sediment, organic carbon, and nutrients across the ocean floor to the deep-sea.
Astronomy / Space - Earth Sciences - 02.12.2024

A team of astronomers has found that Venus has never been habitable, despite decades of speculation that our closest planetary neighbour was once much more like Earth than it is today. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, studied the chemical composition of the Venusian atmosphere and inferred that its interior is too dry today for there ever to have been enough water for oceans to exist at its surface.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 27.11.2024
Climate impacts on European soils predicted by scientists
New research has revealed how tiny soil microbes are impacted by extreme weather events, offering new insights into the risks posed by climate change. As extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, droughts, floods, and freezes become more common due to global heating, understanding how soil microbes - critical for healthy ecosystems - respond is crucial.
Astronomy / Space - Earth Sciences - 21.10.2024
’Time capsule’ lunar samples link the Moon’s past and present
Samples collected from the surface of the Moon by the crew of Apollo 16 more than 50 years ago have helped scientists reconstruct billions of years of lunar history. The research team's findings, published in the journal Meteoritics & Planetary Science, are based on analysis of a distinct set of lunar breccias that have never been scrutinised in detail before.
Astronomy / Space - Earth Sciences - 16.10.2024

Scientists believe they could have pinpointed the age of the largest and oldest impact basin on the Moon to over 4.32 billion years ago. The Moon, like the Earth, has been bombarded by asteroids and comets since its formation, leaving behind craters and basins. However, the exact timing and intensity of most of these events, notably the oldest and largest basin on the Moon, have remained unclear to scientists-until now.
Earth Sciences - Electroengineering - 02.10.2024

Groundbreaking research that used a NASA-equipped plane to fly over thunderclouds has described a new kind of radiation New research into the causes of lightning strikes, which could lead to better understanding and real-time forecasting of thunderstorms in the future, has been released today. Two studies published in Nature conclude that gamma ray generation from thunderstorms may be more common and take more forms than previously thought.
Astronomy / Space - Earth Sciences - 30.09.2024

A UK team of researchers including UCL's Professor Lucie Green are working on the launch of a spacecraft mission which will allow us to view the Sun's atmosphere in more detail than ever before. The proposed MESOM mission will enable researchers to study the conditions that create solar storms, leading to improvements in forecasts of space weather on Earth.
Earth Sciences - Environment - 30.09.2024

Mount Everest is about 15 to 50 metres taller than it would otherwise be because of uplift caused by a nearby eroding river gorge, and continues to grow because of it, finds a new study by UCL researchers. The study, published in Nature Geoscience , found that erosion from a river network about 75 kilometres from Mount Everest is carving away a substantial gorge.
Earth Sciences - Physics - 25.09.2024
Research offers new insight into deep Earth processes
Sophisticated analysis of tiny bubbles of ancient gas trapped in volcanic rocks combined with new geophysical modelling has cast new light on long-held assumptions about the deep Earth. An international team of scientists led by researchers from SUERC and the University of Glasgow's School of Geographical & Earth Sciences, have uncovered surprising results in a new study of volcanic lavas which erupted in the Red Sea from the Afar mantle plume.
Environment - Apr 23
Spotlight on Professor Jon Gluyas: Pioneering Geoenergy Solutions for a Sustainable Future
Spotlight on Professor Jon Gluyas: Pioneering Geoenergy Solutions for a Sustainable Future
Environment - Apr 9
China plans to build the world's largest dam - but what does this mean for India and Bangladesh?
China plans to build the world's largest dam - but what does this mean for India and Bangladesh?
Environment - Mar 13
Spotlight on: Professor Karen Johnson - advocating for the importance of soil health
Spotlight on: Professor Karen Johnson - advocating for the importance of soil health
Earth Sciences - Feb 5
Analysis: Turkey's earthquake reconstruction efforts must balance speed with fairness
Analysis: Turkey's earthquake reconstruction efforts must balance speed with fairness
