Scientists have long sought to explain a key mismatch in Earth’s early history: oxygen-producing photosynthesis evolved hundreds of millions of years before atmospheric oxygen began to rise during the Great Oxidation Event. This delay has been linked to limited phosphorus—a nutrient essential to life—but the specific processes controlling phosphorus availability in the iron-rich oceans of Archean Earth (approximately 3.2–2.5 billion years ago) remained unclear. A study led by the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) has identified a previously overlooked process that may explain this prolonged delay. The research was conducted in collaboration with the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC).

A research team co-led by Professor Yang Lu from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Hong Kong (HKU), and Professor Chengming Li from the Institute for Advanced Materials and Technology at University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB), has successfully fabricated a free-standing ultrahard diamond wafer with a diameter of up to 5 inches, a thickness of 3 mm, and a Vickers hardness exceeding 200 GPa.

The technology used to predict sand and dust storm (SDS) severity has for decades systematically over-estimated when and where sediment is transported across the Earth’s surface, a new study shows.

Microscopic sensors that are as thin as a strand of hair but capable of taking multiple measurements simultaneously could revolutionise the diagnosis and monitoring of diseases like cancer.