Discoveries like excavations of prehistoric civilizations, shipwrecks with long-lost treasures, forgotten cities, and ancient tombs and temples, paint a vivid picture of archaeology and human history. Yet understanding how cultures evolved is often a more laborious process focused on prosaic finds; pottery shards, tools, implements, skeletal remains, art, inscriptions, pollen or soil samples, amon ...[Read More]
Hi Ronja and Emily, thank you for agreeing to doing this interview. Could you tell us briefly about your background and how you came to research your field? Emily: I have an environmental science/physical geography background and I have been working with an ice sheet model during and after my PhD to understand how glaciers and ice streams in Greenland and Antarctica may respond to climatic changes ...[Read More]
Thirteen years ago, a roughly 251 km2 chunk of ice (or 97 miles2) broke off Greenland’s Petermann Glacier. This Amsterdam-sized piece of ice was the largest to calve in the Arctic since 1962. The massive iceberg traversed the Nares Strait, which lies between Canada’s Ellesmere Island and Greenland, and into the northern part of Baffin Bay—the northwestern-most arm of the Atlantic Ocean, before eve ...[Read More]
In July 1923, 100 years ago this month, scientists and explorers made an extraordinary discovery that forever changed our view of dinosaurs. An expedition to the Gobi Desert in Mongolia unearthed fossilized dinosaur eggs, in a nest, confirming that dinosaurs laid eggs like the reptiles that scientists at the time thought dinosaurs were. The find was announced in newspapers at the time, to much fan ...[Read More]
Most people associate Tesla with the multi-billion American automotive and clean energy company, and by that extension, with Elon Musk. But with today (July 10th) being Nikola Tesla Day, it gives us a rare opportunity to discover the man behind the name – the Serbian American scientist who contributed to scientific progress and advances in technology that we still heavily rely on today. Tesla is c ...[Read More]
This week on 21st June, governments around the world observed World Hydrography Day to celebrate the role of hydrography in understanding the seas. Though initially thought to be a field limited to the navigation of ships, hydrography is being increasingly recognized for its knowledge contribution to the oceans, seas, coastal areas, lakes and rivers, as well as with predicting their change over ti ...[Read More]
Yesterday (8 June) was globally observed as World Oceans Day. The United Nations announced that it is joining forces with decision-makers, indigenous leaders, scientists, private sector executives, civil society, celebrities, and youth activists to put the ocean first. This year’s theme is “Planet Ocean: tides are changing,” to encourage everyone – whether as individuals or groups – to respect the ...[Read More]
It appears that plastics have well and truly invaded even our most inaccessible environments: the deepest point in the ocean (the Mariana trench) and the highest mountain peak in the world (Mt. Everest) both contain pieces of plastic from human activities miles away. With plastic waste flowing into aquatic ecosystems expected to nearly triple by 2040, it is safe to say that nature is in “emergency ...[Read More]
In 1821, peat cutters discovered a body similar to a mummy, pinned down by two wooden stakes deep in the mud. The body’s face still held red hair and a beard, their teeth were well preserved, and a hoop of willow was wrapped around their throat. But this wasn’t the dry, hot climate of Egypt but a cold and rain-sodden bog of Ireland. Later assessment suggested that these were the remain ...[Read More]
This year, from 6 to 20 November, the United Nation’s COP27 took place in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. The conference hosted several high-level and side events, key negotiations and press conferences, attended by more than 100 Heads of State and Governments and over 35,000 participants who deliberated climate action strategies around the world. I had the chance to speak with Dr Munira Raji about her ...[Read More]