EurekAlert! News by Subject: Earth Science

Earth Science

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 23-Oct-2026 06:17 ET (23-Oct-2026 10:17 GMT/UTC)

29-Jul-2026

Early Cambrian fossil discovery sheds light on early cephalopod origin and evolution

Chinese Academy of Sciences Headquarters
Peer-Reviewed Publication

An international research team has discovered the earliest known siphuncle-bearing cephalopod from the early Cambrian of South China, providing new insights into the group’s early origin and evolutionary history.

Journal: Nature

29-Jul-2026

New Gobi fossil rewrites a chapter of mammal evolution

American Museum of Natural History
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A remarkably preserved fossil from Mongolia’s Gobi Desert is reshaping scientists’ understanding of mammal evolution during the age of dinosaurs. The new species reveals that a group of extinct mammals known as zhelestids were not close relatives of modern placental mammals as many researchers thought for decades.

Journal: Nature

29-Jul-2026

Sage’s 10-Year Impact Awards celebrate research with lasting influence

SAGE
Grant and Award Announcement

Sage has awarded its seventh annual 10-Year Impact Awards, recognizing three academic papers that have demonstrated enduring influence over the decade since their publication. This year’s awards honor the most-cited articles published in Sage journals in 2015.

29-Jul-2026

6.5 million Americans live in landslide hazard zones

American Geophysical Union
Peer-Reviewed Publication

New research to be published Wednesday, 29 July in AGU's journal Earth’s Futurehas found 6.5 million Americans live in homes on or near landslide-prone slopes. Although much of the U.S.’s steepest terrain is in the west, the study finds over half of the people exposed to landslides live closer to the east coast, simply due to higher population densities in that region. The researchers also found people in rural areas have less capacity to recover than their urban counterparts.

Journal: Earth's Future

29-Jul-2026

Cambridge scientist builds new holistic scoring system for dietary protein which reveals some disturbing truths for people and planet

Lucy Cavendish College, University of Cambridge
Peer-Reviewed Publication

CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom — Consumers are increasingly confronted with competing claims about which protein sources are healthiest, most sustainable, and best value for money. A new study published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems argues that existing food labels tell only part of the story and introduces a new multidimensional framework designed to evaluate protein sources more holistically.

Journal: Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems

28-Jul-2026

Ancient shipwreck cargo reveals surprising global trade secrets of the 1600s

Curtin University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Using cargo recovered from one of Australia’s most infamous shipwrecks, new Curtin University-led research has revealed how surprisingly sophisticated global supply chains helped source and transport construction materials in the 17th century.

Journal: Journal of Archaeological Science Reports

28-Jul-2026

Earliest Mediterranean long-distance sea journeys were sustained over at least a millennium

University of Liverpool
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The discovery that remote Mediterranean islands were colonised before the invention of agriculture has upended long-standing views about the maritime capabilities of Europe’s last hunter-gatherers.

New evidence from Malta published today (28 July 2026) in PNAS Nexus now shows that these hunter-gatherers were engaging in repeated long-distance sea journeys of at least 100km, likely between Sicily and Malta for at least a millennium.

Journal: PNAS Nexus