A new study by Tel Aviv University and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev reveals groundbreaking findings about the famous Rujm el-Hiri site (known as the "Wheel of Ghosts") in the Golan Heights. Based on geomagnetic analysis and tectonic reconstruction, the researchers determined that geodynamic movement over 150 million years, at an average rate of 8–15 mm per year, caused significant shifts in the ground, rotating and reorienting it over millennia. This finding challenges the widely held theory that the structure was used as an astronomical observatory, as the original alignment of the walls and entrances does not correspond to celestial observations, as previously hypothesized.

Recently, a research team led by Professor Shuxiao Wang from the School of Environment at Tsinghua University integrated a comprehensive global natural archive database of mercury (Hg) accumulation with modelled global atmospheric Hg deposition data. This integration revealed how global ecosystems respond to changes in atmospheric Hg input. The findings of this research were published in the National Science Review.

[Boston, MA—23 December, 2024]  Thousands of professionals and students will gather to share the latest science and address key issues in weather, water, and climate at the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) in January. The world’s largest annual meeting focused on atmospheric and related sciences, AMS 2025 will be held 12–16 January, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana, at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, and will highlight the latest scientific and professional advances in areas from extreme weather to environmental health, from cloud physics to space weather and more.

Atlantic and Baltic herring are typical plankton-eating fish of central importance for the northern Atlantic Ocean and Baltic Sea ecosystems. A new study published in Nature Communications led by scientists from Uppsala University (Sweden) documents the discovery of the evolution of genetically distinct, fish-eating herring in the Baltic Sea, a young water body that has only existed since the end of the last glaciation.

A new study published in Marine Resource Economics, led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), examines the correlation between fish yield and live coral habitats. Researchers analyzed the yields of nine fisheries dependent on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef from 2016 to 2020. Results show that substantial losses could occur if the restoration of coral reefs is not prioritized.

A new study about Earth’s northernmost seafloor hydrothermal system shows even more variety in vent styles than previously thought.

•             The study has important implications for understanding the origin of these vents and assessing their global-scale impact on the Earth-Ocean system.

•             The study also has implications for understanding and searching for habitable environments, and potentially even life on other ocean worlds in our outer solar system, according to the study’s authors.

•             The surprising results found from detailed deep-ocean studies at Polaris call into question how much we really know about the nature of seafloor venting along all ultra-slow spreading ridges on Earth which remain largely unexplored but make up 25% of the global ridge crest.

An international team of scientists has returned from a 55-expedition where they mapped four unnamed underwater canyons, explored nearly 20 methane seep ecosystems thriving without sunlight – some new to science – and documented a dazzling array of otherworldly creatures, including suspected new species. VIDEO AND IMAGES AVAILABLE in release link.