Tsinghua University Press is pleased to announce the official launch of Ocean (www.sciopen.com/journal/3008-1203), an international, peer-reviewed open-access journal dedicated to advancing research in ocean science, technology, and engineering.

Researchers have managed to speed up a natural process that normally takes thousands of years, creating a lab “machine” to capture carbon dioxide. A new study shows how limestone, dolomite, and seawater can be used as a natural carbon absorption system and could help reduce emissions from power plants in the future. By running CO₂ and seawater through columns filled with these common rocks, the team demonstrated a controllable way to lock carbon safely in dissolved form, rather than letting it escape into the air. The system already works but currently captures only part of the CO₂, leaving clear room – and a clear roadmap – for engineering improvements toward a practical, nature-based carbon capture technology.

Five LMU researchers have been awarded Consolidator Grants by the European Research Council. Their projects deal with climate change, strokes, quantum physics, mitochondria, and cancer diagnosis.