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The West Antarctic Ice Sheet was able to re-grow after shrinking but the process is not fast enough to combat the impact of today's climate change, according to research involving Durham University. The research 000 years ago the West Antarctic Ice Sheet shrank to a size even smaller than today but managed to re-grow to its current size thanks to uplifting of the seafloor as the weight of the ice became less.

Human echolocation enables people to 'see' with their ears and build a picture of the world around them. The technique involves making sharp mouth clicks and then translating the sound reflected by surrounding objects into spatial information - a method also used by whales, dolphins and bats. Dr Lore Thaler , Associate Professor in the Psychology Department , studies the way expert echolocators use the technique and her recent research shows that echolocators make louder or sharper clicks in order to see behind them.

A Multiverse - where our Universe is only one of many - might not be as inhospitable to life as previously thought, according to new research. Questions about whether other universes might exist as part of a larger Multiverse, and if they could harbour life, are burning issues in modern cosmology. Now new research led by Durham University, UK, and Australia's University of Sydney, Western Sydney University and the University of Western Australia, has shown that life could potentially be common throughout the Multiverse, if it exists.

Warmer springs create a mismatch where hungry chicks hatch too late to feast on abundant caterpillars, new research shows. With continued spring warming expected due to climate change, scientists, including experts at Durham University, say hatching of forest birds will be "increasingly mismatched" with peaks in caterpillar numbers.

The density of barriers in European rivers is much higher than indicated by available databases - up to one barrier in every kilometre of river, according to a new study. Information For the first time, scientists are now inviting citizens to help in updating information about these barriers with a newly-developed smartphone app.

Astronomers are back in the dark about what dark matter might be, after new observations showed the mysterious substance may not be interacting with forces other than gravity after all. Three years ago an international team of researchers led by Durham University thought they had made a breakthrough in ultimately identifying what dark matter is.

Just hours after the 7.8 magnitude Kaikoura earthquake hit New Zealand in 2016 research by Dr Tom Robinson , Department of Geography , was helping to inform the work of first responders in the area. At the time of the earthquake Dr Robinson was collaborating with colleagues from the universities of Canterbury and Otago in New Zealand, to test a computer modelling approach to predict earthquake-related landslides.

Grammar schools are no better or worse than non-selective state schools in terms of attainment, but can be damaging to social mobility, according to new research by Durham University. The researchers say a policy of increasing selection within the schools system is dangerous for equality in society.

The risk of man-made earthquakes due to fracking is greatly reduced if high-pressure fluid injection used to crack underground rocks is 895m away from faults in the Earth's crust, according to new research. The recommendation, from the ReFINE (Researching Fracking) consortium, is based on published microseismic data from 109 fracking operations carried out predominantly in the USA.

Researchers have found the first major evidence that Neanderthals, rather than modern humans, created the world's oldest known cave paintings - suggesting they may have had an artistic sense similar to our own. An international study involving Durham University shows that paintings in three caves in Spain were created more than 64,000 years ago - 20,000 years before modern humans arrived in Europe.

UK fracking industry would need strict controls to minimise spill risk (15 February 2018) Strict controls would be "a necessity" to minimise the risk of spills and leaks from any future UK shale gas industry, according to new research. The recommendation comes from scientists who have investigated the possible risk of spills from well sites and tankers used to transport chemicals and contaminated fluids to and from fracking sites.

Dr Sean Twiss has been studying seal behaviour for 30 years and has recently featured on the BBC's Winterwatch programme. Here Dr Twiss, of the Department of Biosciences , tells us more about his latest research and why seals are as individual as we are. Tell us about your research into seal behaviour.

Formation of human tissue to improve drug testing and reduce animal research (18 January 2018) Innovative three dimensional (3D) cell culture technology is giving scientists the ability to grow realistic human tissues for more effective drug testing while reducing the need for animal research. Alvetex , developed at Durham University's Department of Biosciences , is a highly porous polystyrene scaffold designed to support 3D growth of human tissues from cells cultured in the laboratory - such as skin and intestinal tissue - that closely resemble those found in the body.

New image brings people face to face with Seventeenth Century Scottish soldier (14 December 2017) The face of one of the Seventeenth Century Scottish soldiers who was imprisoned and died in Durham following the Battle of Dunbar in 1650 has been revealed through a remarkable new digital reconstruction.

The wall of the Newton Crater on Mars. The dark thick lines spread out horizontally in the picture while the Recurring Slope Lineae run downwards. Credit C. Dundas NASA/JPL/USGS Dark features previously proposed as evidence for significant liquid water flowing on Mars have now been identified as granular flows, where sand and dust move rather than liquid water, according to a new study.

Starting school at a younger age could benefit children in South Africa (24 October 2017) Children in South Africa could benefit from starting school a year earlier, according to new research by Durham University in the UK and the University of Pretoria in South Africa. The study found that those children who started school in Grade R, equivalent to Reception in the UK, were better prepared for school than those who started in the usual Grade 1.

The accepted view of why some primates, including apes and humans, have evolved to have large brains is contested in new research from the Department of Anthropology. The study also questions whether brain size is a useful indicator of cognitive ability. Brain size and behaviour The research project, led by PhD student Lauren Powell, and published in Royal Society's Proceedings B journal , has found little evidence to support a long-held view that larger brains have developed to help primates cope with increasingly complex social structures - known as the Social Brain Hypothesis.

New research shows underwater rivers are more powerful and long-lasting than first thought (5 October 2017) A team of scientists, including experts from Durham University, has discovered that sediment avalanches occurring deep under the ocean are far more frequent and long-lasting than previously thought.

Earthquakes brought on by human activities, such as mining, building dams and fracking, are becoming more frequent and require evidence-based management, new research suggests. In a study led by Professor Gillian Foulger of the Department of Earth Sciences , and published in the journal Earth Science Reviews , researchers compiled a comprehensive record of over 700 earthquakes claimed to have been caused by human activity over the last 150 years.

Motorised molecules driven by light have been used to drill holes in the membranes of individual cells, including cancerous ones. The technique shows promise for either bringing therapeutic agents into the cells or directly inducing the cells to die. Dr Robert Pal at Durham University worked with researchers at Rice and North Carolina State universities in the USA to demonstrate in laboratory tests how rotors in single-molecule nanomachines can be activated by ultraviolet light to spin at two to three million rotations per second and open membranes in cells.