Placed within a borehole drilled deep through the layers of a landslide, a fiber optic cable captured tiny, periodic stick-slip events that offer a unique glimpse at the complex movements within the landslide’s shear zone. At the Lantai site in northern Taiwan, researchers concluded that the timing and pace of these stick-slip events was linked strongly to typhoon rainfall and earthquake shaking, they reported at the 2026 SSA Annual Meeting.

The recovery of the ozone layer in the Earth's stratosphere could be delayed by several years, according to an international study led by Empa. The cause is persistent emissions of so-called feedstock chemicals, which are still permitted as raw materials in industry. These ozone-depleting substances have so far been excluded from international agreements because, according to the current study, their emissions and use have been significantly underestimated.

Methanol production consumes enormous amounts of energy and generates significant carbon dioxide. New process uses tiny bursts of underwater plasma to convert methane to methanol in just one step. Plasma is a rare form of matter on Earth but makes up 99% of the observable universe. If scaled, new system could convert methane into fuels at the source of leaks.