EurekAlert! News by Subject: Earth Science - News by Subject: Earth Science

Earth Science

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 29-Jan-2026 00:11 ET (29-Jan-2026 05:11 GMT/UTC)

29-Jul-2025

Why animals are a critical part of forest carbon absorption

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Following deforestation, tropical forests with healthy populations of seed-dispersing animals can absorb up to four times more carbon than similar forests with fewer seed-dispersing animals, according to an MIT study.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Funder: MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium, Government of Portugal, Bezos Earth Fund

29-Jul-2025

Cosmic dust opens window on ancient atmosphere

University of Göttingen
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Since the beginning of Earth's history, tiny particles of rock and metal from space have been hitting our planet. On clear nights, we can even see their traces as shooting stars. Trapped in layers of rock, these micrometeorites can remain preserved for billions of years. An international research team led by the University of Göttingen and including the Open University, the University of Pisa, and Leibniz University Hannover has developed a method that allows them to reconstruct the atmosphere of the past using fossilized micrometeorites. The results were published in Communications Earth & Environment.

Journal: Communications Earth & Environment

29-Jul-2025

Bernd Rendel Prize for Early Achievements in the Geosciences

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Grant and Award Announcement

DFG to honour Katharina Seeger and Taina Marcos Lima Pinho in Göttingen this September

29-Jul-2025

How climate shapes soil fungal traits

Dartmouth College
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Many soil microbes play a vital role in ecosystems, as they help plants access nutrients and water and assist in stress tolerance such as during drought and to defend against pathogens. One such group of soil microbes are arbuscular mycorrhizal, aka AM, fungi, which are associated with the roots of approximately 70% of plant species on land. new Dartmouth-led study reports on how global climate conditions affect AM fungal spore traits and the species biogeographic patterns. The results are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

29-Jul-2025

Research improves accuracy of climate models – particularly for extreme events

North Carolina State University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers have devised a new machine learning method to improve large-scale climate model projections and demonstrated that the new tool makes the models more accurate at both the global and regional level. This advance should provide policymakers with improved climate projections that can be used to inform policy and planning decisions.

Journal: Scientific Data
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation

29-Jul-2025

How tiny fossils are leading to smarter robots

North Carolina State University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A technique used to help autonomous robots sort tiny marine fossils could pave the way for a host of additional applications.

Journal: Marine Micropaleontology
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation

29-Jul-2025

World’s largest tropical peatlands revealed to be more than 40,000 years old

University of Leeds
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A peatland complex in the Congo Basin which is known to be a globally important carbon store is twice as old as previously thought, according to a new scientific study.

Journal: Environmental Research Letters