Thriving Antarctic ecosystems found following iceberg calving
25 Mar 2025Scientists explore a seafloor area newly exposed by iceberg A-84; discover vibrant communities of ancient sponges and corals.
News from the Department of Earth Sciences.
The coral whisperer
25 Feb 2025Duygu Sevilgen has built a coral lab in the basement of an old Zoology building. Here, 10 experimental tanks host multicoloured miniature forests, with each tank representing a different marine environment. Duygu uses extremely small sensors to record the fine details of coral skeletons and...
The tale of the tomb of Thutmose II
24 Feb 2025Cambridge University's Dr Judith Bunbury is Deputy Mission Director of the archaeological project in the Theban Mountain area that found the lost tomb of Thutmose II.
Into the underworld: the mountains beneath our feet
14 Jan 2025Sanne Cottaar is Professor of Global Seismology in Earth Sciences. She wants to understand Earth’s inner structure: how it shaped the surface and allowed life to form.
Scientists warn of ‘invisible threat’ of microplastics as global treaty nears completion
26 Nov 2024As the UN meets this week to finalise the Global Plastics Treaty, researchers warn that the agreement could fail to address one of the biggest threats to marine environments—microplastics.
Bird brain from the age of dinosaurs reveals roots of avian intelligence
13 Nov 2024A ‘one of a kind’ fossil discovery could transform our understanding of how the unique brains and intelligence of modern birds evolved, one of the most enduring mysteries of vertebrate evolution.
How did the building blocks of life arrive on Earth?
11 Oct 2024Researchers have used the chemical fingerprints of zinc contained in meteorites to determine the origin of volatile elements on Earth. The results suggest that without ‘unmelted’ asteroids, there may not have been enough of these compounds on Earth for life to emerge.
Highly-sensitive beaks could help albatrosses and penguins find their food
18 Sep 2024Researchers have discovered that seabirds, including penguins and albatrosses, have highly-sensitive regions in their beaks that could be used to help them find food. This is the first time this ability has been identified in seabirds.
Historic fires trapped in Antarctic ice yield key information for climate models
09 Aug 2024Pollutants preserved in Antarctic ice document historic fires in the Southern Hemisphere, offering a glimpse at how humans have impacted the landscape and providing data that could help scientists understand future climate change.
Video analysis of Iceland 2010 eruption could improve volcanic ash forecasts for aviation safety
13 Jun 2024Video footage of Iceland’s 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption is providing researchers from the University of Cambridge with rare, up-close observations of volcanic ash clouds — information that could help better forecast how far explosive eruptions disperse their hazardous ash particles.
