Research led by a University of Utah geoscientist shows O₂ in sulfate deposits, coupled with geochemical clues, could help identify microbial activity in Earth’s rock record and even in Martian sediments.

Dan Cziczo, a storm expert at Purdue University, found that strong summer storms in the Midwest are punching wildfire smoke up into the stratosphere — a previously pristine part of the atmosphere.

Researchers from the University of Copenhagen have discovered an important phenomenon beneath the Arctic sea ice that was previously thought impossible. This phenomenon could have implications for the food chain and the carbon budget in the cold north.

Some ancient marine organisms produced mysterious magnetic particles of unusually large size, which can now be found as fossils in marine sediments. An international team has succeeded in mapping the magnetic domains on one of such ‘giant magnetofossils’ using a sophisticated method at the Diamond X-ray source. Their analysis shows that these particles could have allowed these organisms to sense tiny variations in both the direction and intensity of the Earth’s magnetic field, enabling them to geolocate themselves and navigate across the ocean. The method offers a powerful tool for magnetically testing whether putative biological iron oxide particles in Mars samples have a biogenic origin.

A research team led by Associate Professor Tomoya Kataoka at Ehime University, in collaboration with Yachiyo Engineering Co., Ltd., Nippon Koei Co., Ltd., and Wageningen University’s Associate Professor Tim van Emmerik, has developed AI software using deep learning to detect, classify, and track plastics flowing in rivers. The system automatically estimates transport volumes from video data, supporting continuous monitoring and advancing understanding of land-to-sea plastic transport. The findings appear in Water Research.