SciGlow | All Science News In One Place
SciGlow is a newsletter of science stories from the major research labs. Headlines link to in-depth articles and editorials. SciGlow keeps scientists and others up-to-date on current research.
Cardiff University scientists and collaborators at the University of Bristol and Open University have revealed the true extent of the internal ‘plumbing system’ that drives volcanic activity around the world. By examining pockets of magma contained as inclusions within crystals the large chambers of molten rock which feed volcanoes have been revealed to extend up … Read more
Groundwater – a vital source of water for drinking and irrigation across sub-Saharan Africa – is resilient to climate variability and change, according to a new study led by UCL and Cardiff University. A consortium of 32 scientists from across Africa and beyond carried out the research, published in Nature, which shows how groundwater replenishment depends … Read more
Climate change is having a greater impact on the jet stream than previously thought, according to a new study published in Nature. Scientists at the University of Reading have discovered that the jet stream has become 15 per cent more sheared in the upper atmosphere over the North Atlantic since satellites began observing it in … Read more
A report of the findings, published August 7 in Nature, reveals that, contrary to previous studies that say plate tectonics has operated throughout Earth’s history or that it emerged only 0.7 billion years ago, plate tectonics actually evolved over the last 2.5 billion years. This new timeline impacts researchers’ models for understanding how Earth has changed. … Read more
A famous experiment in 1953 showed that amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, could have formed spontaneously under the atmospheric conditions of early Earth. However, just because molecules could form doesn’t mean that the process was likely. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Central Science have demonstrated that energetically feasible interactions between just two small molecules – … Read more
Lead, a cumulative neurotoxin, is the most widespread toxic metal in the world, with highest concentrations of environmental lead found in industrialized countries. Arguably, in the Amazon rainforest, the world’s largest expanse of tropical rainforest, harbouring high levels of both biocultural and cultural diversity, wildlife should not be presumably compromised by industrial and urban pollutants given … Read more
A team of scientists led by the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena has come a great deal closer to unlocking the secrets of organic compounds dissolved in soil water. The new study, published in Nature Geoscience, shows that the dissolved molecules just are not stable degradation products. Instead, they include compounds that are … Read more
A new study led by the University of Siegen (Germany) finds an acceleration in sea-level rise starting in the 1960s that can be linked to changes in Southern Hemispheric westerly winds. The study, published on August, 5th in the journal Nature Climate Change, examined a global set of coastal tide gauge records in combination with … Read more
In swimming season, the weather forecast often includes the next day’s wave height and water temperature, and someone is always disappointed – either the surfers hoping for big waves or the swimmers who prefer small waves and warmer water. Geoscientists who have been debating for the past half century about the conditions prevailing in Earth’s … Read more
Most of the times you see the eruption of a volcano on TV or the internet, the magma shoots right out of its top. However, it is not so uncommon that the magma erupts from the volcano’s flank rather than its summit. After leaving the underground magma chamber, the magma forces its way sideways by … Read more