A newly funded research project led by David Schvartzman will use trailblazing technology to transform understanding of lightning and electrification, helping to improve storm warnings and better assess the risk of structural damage and power outages from thunderstorms.

A new study using multidecade satellite imagery and face-to-face human interviews tracked the environmental and societal impacts of gravel mining in the Lubha River, Northeast Bangladesh. The researchers found that the river had recovered its natural shape within just four years after gravel mining stopped. However, the local economy did not bounce back nearly as quickly.

Researchers led by the University of Iowa have described and named a new crocodile species that roamed a region in Africa more than 3 million years ago. The species is named Lucy’s hunter, because it overlapped with the famed Lucy and her hominin kin and would have hunted them. Results published in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology.

Impossible to study experimentally, and previously thought too complex to model computationally, researchers have successfully simulated the behavior of a fluid containing 100,000 particles, each with mass and volume, as it mixes with a clear fluid on a 3D grid of hundreds of millions of points over millions of steps. This computational breakthrough has already led to the discovery of novel fluid behaviors and lays a new foundation for studying fundamental physics in fields ranging from astronomy to meteorology, and for discovering engineering solutions in chemical refining, environmental protection, wastewater treatment, and beyond. 

A new study demonstrates that agricultural and medicinal plant residues can be transformed into a highly effective material for removing toxic heavy metals from contaminated water and soil while also improving crop productivity. Researchers developed a phosphorus-modified biochar derived from residues of Salvia miltiorrhiza, a widely used medicinal herb, and showed that the material can simultaneously immobilize harmful metals and enhance soil fertility.