science wire

Ground monitoring equipment is deployed on two Ethiopian volcanoes showing signs of unrest
Images taken from space have indicated that some of the world's unmonitored volcanoes may not be as peaceful as we might like to think. Satellite radar has shown that the surfaces of a number of volcanoes within the East African Rift are deforming - inflating and deflating.  "Deformations such as these are typically attributed to magma accumulating and moving underground," said Dr Juliet Biggs , Lecturer in the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol, "and are often interpreted as pre-eruptive activity.

Budding palaeontologists discover dinosaurs are dynamite
Hundreds of South Yorkshire school children were transported back to the Jurassic era to explore the intriguing world of dinosaurs in a once in a lifetime science lesson at the University of Sheffield today (13 June 2013).

Sussex postgraduate wins national dissertation prize

Gannets don’t eat off each other’s plates
Colonies of gannets maintain vast exclusive fishing ranges despite doing nothing to defend their territory from rival colonies, scientists have discovered. A team of researchers led by the University of Leeds and the University of Exeter observed that northern gannets, which can fly hundreds of kilometres on a single fishing trip, avoided visiting the fishing grounds of gannets from neighbouring colonies.

Welsh earthquake could be result of historic ice sheet melt
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3D images of butterfly development
22 May 2013 University of Manchester scientists have produced stunning new 3D images of a butterfly developing inside the chrysalis using high-tech imaging techniques. The unique pictures were taken using a computed tomography (CT) scanner and show in amazing detail nine Vanessa cardui pupas (the life stage after the caterpillar) as they underwent metamorphosis into painted lady butterflies inside a hard outer shell.

Global warming continues; most extreme projections 'less likely'
A new study led by Oxford University concludes that the latest observations of the climate system's response to rising greenhouse gas levels are consistent with conventional estimates of the long-term ‘climate sensitivity', despite a “warming pause” over the past decade.

Views of the landscape
In a talk on Monday (20 May 2013) Dr Simon Nightingale will explore how painterly interpretations of the countryside were embedded into the literature of agricultural improvement in a way that might s

Actor Johnny Depp immortalised in ancient fossil find
A scientist has discovered an ancient extinct creature with scissor hand-like claws in fossil records and named it in honour of movie star. The 505 million year old fossil called Kooteninchela deppi (pronounced Koo-ten-ee-che-la depp-eye), which is a distant ancestor of lobsters and scorpions, was named after the actor Johnny Depp for his starring role as Edward Scissorhands - a movie about an artificial man named Edward, an unfinished creation, who has scissors for hands.

Oxford announces Shell support for energy research
Oxford University has announced that Shell International Exploration and Production B.V. (Shell) has contributed a £5.9m boost to research into natural energy resources at the University's Dep

Climate change: can nature help us?
Hard-engineered sea walls have a limited life span. Could saltmarshes and mangroves offer a different approach to buffering against storm surges and coastal erosion? Do we really want to lose these buffers and face increasing costs of sea wall maintenance? Iris Moller Flooding, landslides, crop failure, water shortages.

Richard Black appointed Pro-Director of SOAS
Richard Black appointed Pro-Director of SOAS Professor Richard Black, Head of the School of Global Studies, has been appointed Pro-Director (Research and Enterprise) of SOAS, University of London.

UCL colleagues pay tribute to Dr Katharine Giles
Dr Katharine Giles was tragically killed in a cycling accident on Monday 8 April. Here, her colleagues in UCL Earth Sciences pay tribute.

Scientists develop low-cost techniques for ’earthquake-proofing’ homes
Engineering 'quake-proof' homes could save lives, say Imperial academics. New techniques that enable people in rural communities in Central and South America to build their own earthquake resistant, low-cost housing are being developed by academics from Imperial College London. Since 1980, 18,300 people worldwide have died in homes that have collapsed because they were not engineered to be earthquake-proof.

Models to predict flood and drought risks developed by Imperial researchers
Predicting floods, droughts and contamination in UK will be easier, thanks to models developed at Imperial.

Becoming an Expert: Ewan Minter
Ewan, from Wickwar, graduated from the University of Liverpool in 2010 with a 1 st class honours degree in Zoology.

£3M award to study how Northern European seas absorb carbon
Scientists at the University of Liverpool are embarking on a series of research cruises to understand the impact of climate warming on the ecosystems of the seas surrounding North West Europe.

New sound work set to bring ruins to life
An audio collage which brings new life to the ruins of St. Peter's Seminary and Kilmahew Woods by Cardross in Argyll is set to have its first public airing at an event on Saturday 23 March.

Mammals vs. dinosaurs
Were dinosaurs really the most exciting and interesting creatures ever to roam the planet? Zoologist Nick Crumpton tells the Cambridge Science Festival that it's high time other prehistoric animals stepped out from the shadows.

Professor Tony Binns wins the ’Distinguished New Zealand Geographer’ medal

Ancient worm provides unexpected evolutionary link in our early history
Fossils of a creature that lived on the ocean floor 505 million years ago have been identified by scientists as those of a previously-unknown marine worm, now named as  Spartobranchus tenuis .

Exhibition explores different perspectives of Iraq war on 10th anniversary
An art exhibition opening this week at UCL brings together six works by artists from Iraq and Britain to explore different experiences of the Iraq war on the 10th anniversary of the invasion.

Fertilisers could help tackle nutritional deficiency in African country, researchers say
PA 74/13 Enriching crops by adding a naturally-occurring soil mineral to fertilisers could potentially help to reduce disease and premature death in the African country of Malawi, researchers have said.

Impact of magma input rate on magma chamber growth - granite intrusion or volcanic eruption?
A computational approach which links processes deep below a volcano to potential eruptions is described by researchers at the University of Bristol in a paper published today in the Journal of Geophysical Research. The research could ultimately help scientists to understand magma chamber processes and volcanic eruption timing.

Audio walk to reveal the climatic history of British beauty spot
PA 57/13 A new audio walk developed by University of Nottingham researchers is to help walkers at a Cumbrian beauty spot to unlock its rich history and learn about the dramatic climate and weather conditions that shape its landscape.

New projections of ’uneven’ global sea-level rise
Sophisticated computer modelling has shown how sea-level rise over the coming century could affect some regions far more than others. The model shows that parts of the Pacific will see the highest rates of rise while some polar regions will actually experience falls in relative sea levels due to the ways sea, land and ice interact globally.

Scientists measure the Saharan weather
University of Sussex geographers have been involved in a short film about an academic project to observe one of the most extreme climates on Earth.

Date of dinosaur extinction fixed more accurately than ever before
The demise of the dinosaurs is the world's ultimate whodunit. Was it a comet or asteroid impact? Volcanic eruptions? Climate change? In an attempt to resolve the issue, an international team of scientists have determined the most precise dates yet for the dinosaur extinction 66 million years ago and for the well-known impact that occurred around the same time.

Lifetime achievement award for Sussex geographer

Meteorite research wins top astronomy prize

UK and USA collaborate in airborne climate science projects
Birmingham scientists are taking part in the first scientific collaboration of its kind, where British and American scientists are trading skills and expertise and are using an unmanned robotic aircraft to gather high altitude atmospheric data. Today ( Friday 25 January) NASA is holding an event at its Dryden Flight Research Center in Southern California to showcase a number of Earth science missions to study climate change and air pollution.

Tiny fossils hold answers to big questions on climate change
The western Antarctic Peninsula is one of the fastest warming regions on the planet, and the fastest warming part of the Southern Hemisphere. Scientists have debated the causes of this warming, particularly in light of recent instrumental records of both atmospheric and oceanic warming from the region.

University helps reveal the Wonders of Life
Professor of Zoology, Professor Matthew Cobb, was one of two named consultants on the ambitious series.

From conservation of rare species to murder cases: NERC-funded research at Bristol is making an impact
A recent look at how research at the University of Bristol has had an impact beyond academia has illustrated the diversity and global reach of Bristol's research portfolio.

Ever wondered why ice is sometimes slippy and other times not?
A geoscientist from the University of Sheffield has explained why some of the ice caused by the Arctic conditions this month is slippy and other times it is almost grippy underfoot.

Unrestricted access to the details of deadly eruptions
Details of around 2,000 major volcanic eruptions which occurred over the last 1.8 million years have been made available in a new open access database, complied by scientists at the University of Bristol with colleagues from the UK, US, Colombia and Japan.

Natural disasters, infrastructure and the “new normal”
The talk will examine the threat posed by potential future earthquakes to the water supply of Southern California, or that of hurricanes to New York City." Some of the worst natural disast

Soot’s impact on climate change underestimated
Soot is the second largest man made contributor to global warming and its influence on climate has been greatly underestimated, according to the first comprehensive analysis of the problem. The landmark study, co-led by the University of Leeds and published in the Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres , says the direct warming effect of black carbon, the term used by scientists to describe soot, could be about twice previous estimates.