Recent Research Highlights at RSES

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Recent highlights

 

Reading the Sun in the Moon

What’s the chemical make up of the Sun and the proto-planetary soup that gave birth to our solar system? These are burning questions in astrophysics and the earth sciences, and part of the answer is believed to lie in samples of soil collected from the Moon by Neil Armstrong back in 1969.

Painting a picture of the early Earth

A Phd candidate at RSES is investigating the use of crystals of the mineral zircon as a thermometer of the past to reconstruct the conditions of the primeval Earth. Ancient zircon crystals are environmental archives, trapping atoms of elements that give hints on the landscape in which they formed.

Platinum shortage threatens hydrogen economy

The move to get clean, green hydrogen cars on the road will stall unless new reserves of platinum are found fast, according to Dr John Mavrogenes From RSES.

Six easy lessons in Sponges

While not the most attractive of ocean creatures, sea sponges have both a history and a future in scientific research.

Maths helps unlock secrets of early life

Mathematics research at the Australian National University could help answer big questions about the origin of life on Earth.
Stromatolites are still forming in Western Australia's Shark Bay, a World Heritage-listed site and one of the few relics of the dawning of life on Earth.

New 3D model of the earth’s crust may change theories of continental drift:

For decades it has been widely believed that the force of impact between plates drives one plate beneath the other. A new three-dimensional tomographic map of the earths crust developed by Dr Simon Richards and Professors Gordon Lister and Brian Kennet is helping geologists understand the shape and dynamics of subduction zones and how these zones may well define how continents move around the earth.

How wombats are getting their teeth into the climate change debate

By pooling the data from wombat teeth and the various other climate indicators of this study, researchers hope to build up a picture of the climate of the Willandra Lakes region spanning back over 100,000 years. Armed with this data, scientists should be able to refine climate models and better understand how to place in context the changes Australia is currently experiencing.

 

Past Highlights

 

Glacial Cycles and Carbon Dioxide

State of the Art Radiocarbon Dating facility Opens

Probing Earth's Deep Structure

Sticking to the Stars

From purple soup to clear blue seas

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