Climate researcher Prof. Dr. Markus Rex is one of three distinguished recipients of this year’s NOMIS Award for groundbreaking interdisciplinary research. The NOMIS Award is one of the most prestigious and generously funded international scientific awards. The scientist from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) received particular recognition for leading the MOSAiC (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate) expedition between the autumns of 2019 and 2020. For a year, the research ship drifted through the Arctic, frozen in ice. The goal was to gain a better understanding of the complex interaction between the ocean, the ice, the atmosphere and the ecosystem. Through the MOSAiC expedition, hundreds of scientists representing institutions from across 20 countries made significant contributions to the global understanding of climate feedback mechanisms in the central Arctic.

In the heart of the ancient Roman city of Gabii, located just 11 miles east of Rome, a team of archaeologists led by University of Missouri professor Marcello Mogetta has made a remarkable discovery: the remains of a massive stone-lined basin, partly carved directly into the bedrock.

Built around 250 B.C., with evidence that some parts may be even older, this man-made structure may be one of the earliest examples of Roman monumental architecture other than temples and city walls.