22 June 2026 / Kiel. The second leg of the SO320 expedition began at the weekend aboard the research vessel SONNE. Led by Dr Jörg Geldmacher of the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, an international team of scientists will investigate Hess Rise in the northwestern Pacific – one of the largest and least explored volcanic plateaus on Earth. By collecting rock samples from the seafloor, the researchers aim to determine the composition and age of this more than 1,000-kilometre-long submarine plateau and test competing hypotheses regarding its origin. The expedition will travel from Honolulu (USA) to Vancouver (Canada) and conclude on 3 August 2026.

Researchers from Tampere University and the University of Helsinki have identified an unexpected chemical process that may influence the formation of air pollution particles in urban environments. The study shows that nitric oxide (NO) – a pollutant primarily emitted by vehicles, power plants and other combustion sources – can promote the formation of aerosol particles, challenging a long-standing assumption in atmospheric science.