Earth Sciences

More than 40% of existing and planned offshore wind farm sites in Europe and Asia are exposed to wind speeds above the maximum capacity of some turbines, highlighting the need for these energy infrastructures to adapt to extreme wind events associated with climate change.

Lingnan University signed a partnership agreement today, 31 October, with the European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies (EFFAS), a pan-European organisation representing financial analyst societies from over 20 countries. Under the agreement, the internationally established ESG Essentials®️ programme will be integrated into Lingnan’s relevant undergraduate and postgraduate curricula, making Lingnan the first university in Asia to include this professional ESG programme in its education framework to cultivate interdisciplinary ESG and green finance talents in Hong Kong.

A new species of jellyfish has been discovered! Researchers at Tohoku University named this venomous creature Physalia mikazuki, after the crescent moon helmet worn by Sendai’s feudal lord Date Masamune.

Scientists shine a light on the properties of the gemstone ammolite -- a rare type of brightly coloured fossilised ammonite shell.

Three‑Layer Trap: Congener‑Specific PCBs Accumulation Driven by the Biological Pump in the Sea of Japan

$5.5 Million partnership with WCS and WorldFish will expand Bangladesh’s Marine Protected Area network and strengthen community-led ocean stewardship

A research team led by Associate Professor Tomoya Kataoka at Ehime University, in collaboration with Yachiyo Engineering Co., Ltd., Nippon Koei Co., Ltd., and Wageningen University’s Associate Professor Tim van Emmerik, has developed AI software using deep learning to detect, classify, and track plastics flowing in rivers. The system automatically estimates transport volumes from video data, supporting continuous monitoring and advancing understanding of land-to-sea plastic transport. The findings appear in Water Research.

Researchers found overlooked sources of greenhouse gas emissions in urban Osaka using mobile measurements

A rock described as a flaky pastry may sound delicate, but researchers at Tohoku University found that when they fold under compressive forces in just the right way, they can actually be strong. These findings may help with earthquake risk assessment.

The risk of extreme water shortages due to climate change is predicted to affect almost 74% of drought-prone regions by 2100, according to new research in Nature Communications. In the first known published estimation of its kind, the authors report that hotspots of water scarcity will likely emerge across the Mediterranean, southern Africa, and parts of North America by the 2020s and 2030s.

Timely information on a company's production activities is crucial for investors and policymakers, yet it remains scarce as financial reports and other broader economic indicators like the Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) are only released periodically. This information lag makes it difficult to assess a company's operational health in real time. To address this challenge, Prof Zhao Xiaofeng, Associate Professor of the Department of Finance and Associate Director of Hong Kong Institute of Business Studies at Lingnan University, in collaboration with researchers from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology and The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, has developed a new economic indicator, which uses thermal infrared radiation data to monitor the production and operation of enterprises in real time, and accurately predicts changes in their future profitability in terms of sales growth. The findings were recently featured in the prestigious international finance journal “Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis”, and received support from the General Research Fund (GRF) of the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (RGC) amounting to about HKD$400,000.

Taiwan Innotech Expo (TIE) 2025 will return from October 16–18 at Taipei World Trade Center, Hall 1, uniting government, academia, and industry under the theme “Cross-Domain AI Innovation: Driving the Future with Intelligence.” The event will feature 450 exhibitors presenting nearly 1,100 patented technologies, highlighting Taiwan’s role as a key driver of global innovation.

Researchers led by Associate Professor Hideki Kikumoto at the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo fuse regional climate datasets and local weather observations to find a significant rise in urban temperatures and heatwaves in Tokyo

Counterintuitively, hot days are more likely to produce hail.

JapanFlux2024 compiles 30+ years of eddy covariance data from 83 sites across the region

The subducted oceanic crusts are regarded as the major source of lower-mantle heterogeneity. However, the limited knowledge about the physical properties of major components in the subducted oceanic crusts prevents us from fully understanding the complex features of the related geophysical anomalies. Here, we comprehensively investigated the phase transition of (Al, H)-bearing stishovite at simultaneously high P-T conditions. These results contribute to our understanding on the complex depth distribution of the mid-lower mantle seismic scatterers.

For the first time, researchers at Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, quickly and efficiently measure the seafloor down to the centimeter-level using an unmanned aerial vehicle

Tropical cyclones hundreds of kilometers away from the Philippines are often more responsible for heavy rainfall than those that hit the country directly during the annual “Habagat” or southwest monsoon season from July to September.

Spatial and seasonal variations of polychlorinated biphenyl (CB-153) in the Seto Inland Sea and its response to declines in atmospheric and riverine input

A daily mismatch between temperature and humidity, observed in certain mountain and waterside regions, helps regulate atmospheric dryness. However, this protective effect may weaken under global warming.

Distribution characteristics and transport processes of biodegradable microplastics in the Seto Inland Sea, Japan

Lingnan University’s Science Unit recently published Hong Kong’s first-ever scientific Hong Kong Newt Roadkill Survey Programme. Their findings show that over 1,400 Hong Kong newts were killed by vehicles in two months, accounting for more than 90 per cent of total wildlife carcasses found. The severity of the threat posed to this local species is aggravated after heavy rainfall, and the research team is calling on the government to introduce conservation measures urgently, including eco-friendly road construction, traffic control, and raising public awareness about wildlife conservation.

Phosphorus forms the backbone of DNA, RNA, and cellular membranes. But scientists have struggled to pinpoint the specific conditions under which phosphorus developed in Earth’s younger years. A research group from Tohoku University has recently unearthed evidence pointing to submarine hydrothermal alteration, which released phosphorus from the rocks into the surrounding seawater, enriching early oceans with this essential nutrient.

Geologists from The University of Hong Kong (HKU) have made a breakthrough in understanding how the Earth’s early continents formed during the Archean time, more than 2.5 billion years ago.

Using a global ocean model, researchers from the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, and the Institute of Environmental Radioactivity, Fukushima University, found that short- and long-term contribution of treated water released from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on oceanic tritium concentration beyond the vicinity of the discharge site is negligible, even in climate change scenarios

How halogens uncover the hidden history of lunar crust formation and the striking lunar surface dichotomy.

A new study found that land use (agricultural or forested) and the season (wet or dry) significantly impact groundwater quality, but in different ways.

The Kaiser effect, which is known as a stress memory effect, predicts that seismic events occur only when the previous maximum stress is exceeded. However, the Kaiser effect has only been tested at room temperature in laboratories. Here, we performed deformation experiments on natural olivine at high pressures and high temperatures. We have successfully confirmed a stress memory effect in strongly deformed olivine at high pressures and high temperatures.

Near the eastern coast of Luzon, Philippines is the Benham Bank, an underwater seamount taller than the country's highest peak, Mt. Apo. Researchers from the University of the Philippines' Marine Science Institute discovered that it is a thriving ecosystem full of unique, untouched biodiversity.

Cosmic hide-and-seek, Controlling quantum light, Thinking face robot, Live DNA folding & Menopause-dementia link. Plus latest SciCom Coffee talk. Read all in the latest Editor's Choice.