Mapping areas at risk from liquefaction

Mapping areas at risk from liquefaction

A team of researchers has joined forces to investigate and find solutions to tackle one of the most devastating forms of seismic phenomena – liquefaction. Liquefaction occurs in loosely-compacted sandy soils which are fully saturated with water. Seismic vibrations…

Unearthing the underground effects of earthquakes and volcanoes

Unearthing the underground effects of earthquakes and volcanoes

Japanese researchers find predictive potential in underground changes associated with 2016 Kumamoto earthquake and subsequent volcanic eruptions. Most of what we know about earthquakes and volcanoes is based on what we can observe at the Earth's surface….

Two Super-Earths around red dwarf K2-18

Two Super-Earths around red dwarf K2-18

New research using data collected by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) has revealed that a little-known exoplanet called K2-18b could well be a scaled-up version of Earth. Just as exciting, the same researchers also discovered for the first time that the…

Astronomer’s map reveals location of mysterious fast-moving gas

Astronomer’s map reveals location of mysterious fast-moving gas

An Australian scientist has created the most detailed map ever of clouds of high-velocity gas in the Universe around us. The map covers the entire sky and shows curious clouds of neutral hydrogen gas that are moving at a different speed to the normal rotation of the…

Earthquakes in Himalaya bigger because tectonic plates collide faster

Earthquakes in Himalaya bigger because tectonic plates collide faster

Earthquakes that happen in densely populated mountainous regions, such as the Himalaya, spell bigger earthquakes because of a fast tectonic-plate collision, according to a new study in Earth and Planetary Science Letters. Researchers from Geophysical Fluid Dynamics…

Quantum internet goes hybrid

Quantum internet goes hybrid

Researchers at the Institute of Photonic Sciences made the first demonstration of an elementary link of a hybrid quantum information network, using a cold atomic cloud and a doped crystal as quantum nodes and single photons as information carriers. In a recent…

The most tightly coupled pair of supermassive black holes ever seen

The most tightly coupled pair of supermassive black holes ever seen

An intriguing source has been discovered in the nearby Andromeda galaxy using data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and ground-based optical telescopes. Previously thought to be part of the Milky Way's neighbor galaxy, the new research shows this source…

When magma prevents volcanic eruptions

When magma prevents volcanic eruptions

Why does the floor of calderas lift disproportionately without erupting? Researchers from UNIGE and Roma Tre used thermal and experimental models to explain one of the least-understood processes in volcanology: 'Caldera resurgence' A spectacular proof of our…

Southern Ocean drives massive bloom of tiny phytoplankton

Southern Ocean drives massive bloom of tiny phytoplankton

Scientists have uncovered the ocean conditions that support a massive summertime bloom of algae that spans 16 % of the global ocean. Known as the Great Calcite Belt, this dense group of a microscopic phytoplankton, coccolithophores, can be seen in satellite images…