Redefining Martian Hydrology: Surprising Insights About Debris Flows on Mars
Research pushes the presence of water on Mars further into the past. The period that liquid water was present on the surface of Mars may…
Utrecht University News
Prehistoric Puzzle Solved: “Dino” Detective Techniques Reveal Mosasaur Dining Secrets
Researchers from Utrecht University and the Natural History Museum Maastricht discovered dietary preferences among mosasaur species by examining tooth wear marks, using 3D scanning techniques….
Are We Running Out of Water? Scientists Unravel the Global Impact of Droughts and Heatwaves on Water Use
Rising global population and more frequent extreme weather events are putting our water resources at risk. However, there’s a limited understanding of how different sectors…
Surprising Tectonic Discovery: Geologist Unexpectedly Finds Remnants of a Lost Mega-Plate
Utrecht University geologist Suzanna van de Lagemaat has reconstructed a massive and previously unknown tectonic plate that was once one-quarter the size of the Pacific…
Rivers at Risk: How Climate Chaos Is Tainting Our Waters
Climate change and increases in drought and rainstorms pose serious challenges to our water management. Not only the availability of water is under pressure, but…
Microbial “Dark Matter” Yields Gold – New Antibiotic Could Be a Powerful Weapon Against Superbugs
A new powerful antibiotic, isolated from previously unstudied bacteria, shows promise in tackling harmful bacteria, including the multi-resistant ‘superbugs’. Dubbed “Clovibactin,” this antibiotic destroys bacteria…
Tipping the Scales: Did an 11,700-Year-Old Event Seal the Horn of Africa’s Dry Fate?
Recent studies indicate that the Horn of Africa may experience increasing dryness, contrary to the majority of climate models that forecasted more rainfall. For decades,…
Turning the Tables: How Bioplastics Could Transform the Climate Crisis
A circular bioeconomy can dramatically rein in the fast-growing plastic sector’s climate, pollution, and resource consumption impacts. Under current policies, global plastic production will likely…
Scientists Bring the Invisible Water Crisis to Light
Sustainable Development Goal for wastewater treatment is not enough. While achieving the ambitious Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for wastewater treatment would result in significant improvements…
The Somalayas: The Biggest Mountain Range You Will Never See
Every geography schoolbook has them: maps that look like today’s Earth, but not quite, since all continents are merged into a single supercontinent. Those maps…
Can Consciousness Be Explained by Quantum Physics? Fascinating Research Takes Us a Step Closer to Finding Out
One of the most important open questions in science is how our consciousness is established. In the 1990s, long before winning the 2020 Nobel Prize…
Current Climate Model Simulations Significantly Overestimate Future Sea-Level Rise
The melting rate of the Antarctic ice sheet is mainly controlled by the increase of ocean temperatures surrounding Antarctica. Using a new, higher-resolution climate model…
Half of Global Wastewater Untreated – Equivalent to 70 Million Olympic-Sized Swimming Pools Each Year
A new study by scientists at Utrecht University and the United Nations University concludes that about half of global wastewater is treated, rather than the…
Reading Martian Rocks in Unparalleled Detail to Find Ancient Water on Mars
It was already known that there must have been water on Mars, but now the first evidence of rivers in long-term action preserved in exposed…
Antibody Discovered That Blocks Infection by SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19 Coronavirus) in Cells
Initial step towards developing fully human antibody therapeutics and diagnostics for COVID-19. Researchers at Utrecht University, Erasmus Medical Center, and Harbour BioMed (HBM) today reported…