Earth’s inner core is much younger than we thought
Rochester researchers have gathered the first field data that show the Earth’s inner core is only about 565 million years old—relatively young compared to the age of our 4.5-billion-year-old planet.
What does a persistent bloom of algae indicate about the health of the planet?
Algae blooms known as red tides that plague the Gulf of Mexico have existed for millennia, but the cycles are now more frequent and intense, say Rochester alumni leading the effort to study their impact.
CEE receives $1 million grant for campus solar project
The solar and energy storage system, to be built on the roof of the Goergen Athletic Center, will offset energy needs of a new office building south of Hutchison Hall.
A sparkling summer in the field
Geology major Ben Crummins ’20, left, and physics major Frank Padgett III ’19 accompanied John Tarduno, professor and chair of earth and environmental sciences, to Labrador, Canada, this summer where the group conducted field work. The students sampled a rock known as anorthosite, which contains labradorite crystals. Labradorite crystals have the special property of refracting and reflecting light, which results in a unique iridescence. (University of Rochester photo / John Tarduno)
Honorary professorships awarded for excellence in teaching
John Tarduno has been awarded the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professorship, and Thomas Eickbush and James Zavislan are recipients of the Mercer Brugler Distinguished Teaching Professorship.
Why does ice make that sound?
What began as a “silly pastime” of tossing ice chunks down a borehole in Taylor Glacier, Antarctica, has led to a video with more than 8 million views and a collaboration between an acoustics expert and a climate scientist.
Tiny microenvironments hold clues to ocean nitrogen cycle
A new Rochester study shows that nitrogen-feeding organisms exist all over the deep ocean, and not just in large oxygen-depleted “dead zones,” changing the way we think about the delicate nitrogen cycle.
What sound does ice make when it’s dropped 90 meters into an Antarctic glacier?
Researchers in the University’s Ice Core Lab shared a viral video that shows the “unexpected and fascinating” noise that when it hits the bottom of a borehole in Antarctica.
Earth’s magnetic field fluctuations explained by new data
Using new data gathered from sites in southern Africa, researchers have extended their record of Earth’s magnetic field back thousands of years to the first millennium.
Scientists discuss nuclear and climate threats to humankind
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists recently moved the Doomsday Clock’s minute hand to two minutes to midnight, the closest it’s come to midnight since the Cold War. Tom Weber, professor of Earth and environmental sciences, discusses the clock and its underpinnings.