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Mission to discover Earth-sized planets and super-Earths in the habitable zone of the solar system - scientifically led by the University of Warwick - given the go-ahead by European Space Agency PLATO will be launched 1.5 million km into space - and will monitor thousands of bright stars over a large area of the sky, looking for regular dips in brightness as planets pass by them It will investigate seismic activity in some of the host sta

Huge pulses of volcanic activity are likely to have played a key role in triggering the end Triassic mass extinction, which set the scene for the rise and age of the dinosaurs, new Oxford University research has found. Researchers from the Oxford University Department of Earth Science worked in collaboration with the Universities of Exeter and Southampton to trace the global impact of major volcanic gas emissions and their link to the end of the Triassic period.

What if fictional places in books, such as Middlemarch, Treasure Island, Barsetshire and Gormenghast, could be generated as maps and even 3D visualisations out of the text itself?

Cutting-edge technology at WMG, University of Warwick sheds fresh light on world's first scientifically-described dinosaur, Megalosaurus Previously unseen teeth revealed in the jawbone , and historic restorations less extensive than thought Digital 3D image of the fossil created with CT scanning technology and specialist analysis software - enabling researchers to see inside jawbone in great detail for the first time Megalosaurus is held at the

Sherpas have evolved to become superhuman mountain climbers, extremely efficient at producing the energy to power their bodies even when oxygen is scarce, suggests new research published today in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) . Sherpas have spent thousands of years living at high altitudes, so it should be unsurprising that they have adapted to become more efficient at using oxygen and generating energy Andrew Murray The findings could help scientists develop new ways of treating hypoxia - lack of oxygen - in patients.

Some of the world's leading climate change scientists will be in Bristol next week to discuss extreme warm climates throughout the history of the earth and how they help us understand the future of our planet.

Researchers have developed an AI algorithm to accurately predict the gender of pre-paid mobile phone users, which could be useful in crises. Phone tracking technology is already used to locate those in need of aid in humanitarian crises; but the latest development could help further, for example by identifying vulnerable groups such as women with potentially young children.

Underwater lands that were submerged following the last Ice Age could yield vital clues about our current approach to climate change.

The Campi Flegrei volcano in southern Italy may be closer to an eruption than previously thought, according to new research by UCL and the Vesuvius Observatory in Naples.

'Here be Dragons', a film about home, belonging, and migration will be screened at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) on Wednesday 31 May 2017.

One of the last dinosaurs living in Africa before their extinction 66 million years ago has been discovered in a phosphate mine in northern Morocco. A study of the fossil, led by the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath, suggests that following the breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana in the middle of the Cretaceous period, a distinct dinosaur fauna evolved in Africa.

Sites around Bristol Parkway Station have produced an unexpected fossil haul - the first sea lily and squid remains from the British Triassic period.

The ground-breaking Dinosaurs of China exhibition , which is bringing some of the best-preserved dinosaur fossils in the world to the UK this summer, has a new supporter in the form of TV presenter and naturalist Chris Packham.

Science doesn't work the same for everyone everywhere - there are huge disparities in access to scientific hardware, and in gender and minority representation in labs.

Could waste material from mining be used to trap CO 2  emissions' A new £8.6 million research programme will investigate the possibilities.

Leopard populations in part of South Africa are decreasing in greater numbers and at a greater speed than expected, due in large part to illegal killing by humans according to new findings. A research team led by Dr Samual Williams , an Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Anthropology , conducted a long-term study of the leopard population in the Soutpansberg Mountains in South Africa and found that leopard density (the number of leopards per 100 km2) had decreased by 44% between 2012 and 2016 and by 66% since 2008.

A team of volcanologists and engineers from the Universities of Cambridge and Bristol has collected measurements from directly within volcanic clouds, together with visual and thermal images of inaccessible volcano peaks. During a ten-day research trip, the team carried out many proof-of-concept flights at the summits of both Volcán de Fuego and Volcán de Pacaya in Guatemala.

A team of volcanologists and engineers from the Universities of Bristol and Cambridge have collected measurements from directly within volcanic clouds, together with visual and thermal images of inaccessible volcano peaks. During a ten-day research trip the team carried out many proof-of-concept flights at the summits of both Volcán de Fuego and Volcán de Pacaya in Guatemala.

In recent years, tsunamis have devastated coastal regions. Writing in The Conversation, Camilla Penney, PhD Candidate in Geophysics at University of Cambridge, looks at the risks faced by Gulf states and what can be done to mitigate them.

Brexit won't be the first time Britain has left Europe, says Simon Redfern, Professor in Earth Sciences at University of Cambridge writing for The Conversation . Almost half a million years ago we experienced a catastrophic separation. As Brexit looms, Earth scientists have uncovered evidence of Britain's original split from mainland Europe.

UK shale gas extraction could be reduced by limited space to develop wells (3 April 2017) Only a quarter of the shale gas contained in one of the UK's largest reserves might be recoverable because of limited space to develop the wells needed to extract it, according to new research.

A Lancaster University environmental scientist is taking part in an Antarctic expedition which aims to look back in time to understand rising global sea levels. Dr Yani Najman from Lancaster Environment Centre is one of 50 researchers on board the Alfred Wegener Institute's research vessel Polarstern which departed from Punta Arenas (Chile) on 6 February 2017, bound for the Amundsen Sea - the region of the Antarctic currently characterised by rapid loss of ice.

Natural measures to manage flooding from rivers can play a valuable role in flood prevention, but a lack of monitoring means their true potential remains unclear, researchers say. Such measures, including river restoration and tree planting, aim to restore processes that have been affected by human activities such as farming, land management and house-building.

Natural measures to manage flooding from rivers can play a valuable role in flood prevention, but a lack of monitoring means their true potential remains unclear, researchers say. Such measures, including river restoration and tree planting, aim to restore processes that have been affected by human activities such as farming, land management and house-building.

Nottingham Lakeside Arts has launched a campaign to raise money to hatch its very own baby dinosaur.

A pioneering new computer model has been developed to simulate the whole chain of hazard events triggered by offshore mega subduction earthquakes, by a team involving UCL and Bristol engineers.

The first computer model to simulate the whole chain of events triggered by offshore mega subduction earthquakes could reduce losses to life and property caused by disasters like the huge earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan six years ago this Saturday [11 March].

A team of archaeologists, led by a researcher from the University of Bristol, has uncovered the remains of a possible Stonehenge-type prehistoric earthwork monument in a field in Pembrokeshire. Members of the Welsh Rock art Organisation have been investigating the area around the Neolithic burial chamber known as Trellyffaint - one of a handful of sites in western Britain that has examples of prehistoric rock art.

A previously undiscovered species of an extinct primordial giant worm with terrifying snapping jaws has been identified by an international team of scientists.

A project exploring the role of East Africa in the evolution of modern humans has amassed the largest and most diverse collection of prehistoric bone harpoons ever assembled from the area. The collection offers clues about the behaviour and technology of prehistoric hunter-gatherers.

Scientists from the University of Bristol have uncovered a 480-million-year-old slug-like fossil in Morocco which sheds new light on the evolution of molluscs - a diverse group of invertebrates that includes clams, snails and squids. One of the defining characteristics of the molluscs is the possession of a radula, a kind of toothed-tongue which is used to rake up or rasp food.

Two very different research projects at Cardiff University have secured EU funds to help unravel little-understood mysteries affecting our planet and the human mind.

A new interdisciplinary project led by researchers at the University of Bristol aims to develop resilience and research capacity in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan to cope with earthquakes and their cascading effects on the country's environment, business, infrastructure, and society.

Devastating tsunamis could be halted before hitting the Earth's shoreline by firing deep-ocean sound waves at the oncoming mass of water, new research has proposed. Dr Usama Kadri, from Cardiff University's School of Mathematics, believes that lives could ultimately be saved by using acoustic-gravity waves (AGWs) against tsunamis that are triggered by earthquakes, landslides and other violent geological events.

A project exploiting Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) to establish the blueprint for the world's most accurate real-time positioning service is to run at The University of Nottingham.

An international team of researchers has managed to pinpoint, to within three months, a medieval volcanic eruption in east Asia the precise date of which has puzzled historians for decades.

Science Summit will call on global leaders for immediate action on the Arctic A group of leading scientists have announced an Arctic Science Summit that will take place in Davos, Switzerland on January 18th 2017 at the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF.

One branch on the tree of life is a bit more crowded today as a team of scientists have revealed what a bizarre group of cone-shaped sea creatures actually are, as reported in Nature . Known as hyoliths, these extinct marine creatures were long believed to belong to the same family as snails, squids and other molluscs, but the researchers have shown that they are instead more closely related to brachiopods - a group which has a rich fossil record but with only a few living species known today.

Predicting how species will respond to climate change is a critical part of efforts to prevent widespread climate-driven extinction, or to predict its consequences for ecosystems. Usually, the current climatic range of a species is used to predict where it will occur under future climate change scenarios.

We know that since Charles Darwin's time. Based on observations made during the Beagle's voyage, he correctly formulated that sinking islands start to be fringed by rings of coral reefs, leading to atoll formation.