A research team from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGGCAS) has produced the first continent-wide map of tree-ring oxygen isotopes (δ¹⁸O_TR) in Asia. Published in National Science Review, the study provides a comprehensive new perspective of how atmospheric circulation, rainfall isotopes, and topography shape the isotopic fingerprints of trees—offering new opportunities for understanding past climate changes and tracing wood origins.

Scientists have found wolf remains, thousands of years old, on a small, isolated island in the Baltic Sea – a place where the animals could only have been brought by humans. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by researchers at the Francis Crick Institute, Stockholm University, the University of Aberdeen and the University of East Anglia, suggest that grey wolves may have been managed or controlled by prehistoric societies.

Tree-ring and planetary scientists are preparing for the big natural events thanks to a Big Idea Challenge grant and a new laboratory.