Read the latest news about research conducted by investigators in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. Our faculty and students are continually advancing technology, creating solutions and expanding knowledge with new and innovative research.
How understanding neighborhoods can help reduce tobacco use
01/03/2022
01/03/2022
A Penn State researcher testing a new way to assess tobacco use with a neighborhood mapping platform and in-person interviews has found that community engagement is key to addressing risky health behaviors.
Fossil worm dung shows traces of microscopic ‘miners’ in elemental silver
12/17/2021
12/17/2021
When one organism's trash contains traces of human treasure, look for ancient microbial activity, according to researchers who found elemental silver in fossilized worm dung.
Battery metals from mine waste: Potential economic benefits for the commonwealth
12/17/2021
12/17/2021
New findings by a team led by Penn State researchers suggest potential economic opportunities from the domestic production of critial minerals like cobalt and manganese.
Novel model can aid decisions in electricity generation, stream water quality
12/09/2021
12/09/2021
Switching from coal to natural gas in power plants can reduce how much sulfur dioxide, a gas that smells like a freshly struck match, is emitted into the atmosphere and ultimately how much sulfate pollution enters waterways, according to a Penn State-led research team that has developed a model to detect if the recent switch from coal to gas is affecting streams.
Lunar radar data uncovers new clues about moon’s ancient past
12/01/2021
12/01/2021
The dusty surface of the moon -- immortalized in images of Apollo astronauts' lunar footprints -- formed as the result of asteroid impacts and the harsh environment of space breaking down rock over millions of years. An ancient layer of this material, covered by periodic lava flows and now buried under the lunar surface, could provide new insight into the Moon's deep past, according to a team of scientists.
Urbanization not always bad for food and land use diversity
11/19/2021
11/19/2021
Widely accepted myths that urbanization negatively impacts food and land use biodiversity are incorrect, according to a team of researchers who developed a framework for evaluating this intersection. Their results could also affect nutrition and food insecurity in urban areas.
Penn State Breazeale Reactor expands in size and in opportunities
11/18/2021
11/18/2021
Penn State's Radiation Science & Engineering Center and the Ken and Mary Alice Lindquist Department of Nuclear Engineering broke ground on a 10,000-square-foot, $9.5 million expansion of the Breazeale Reactor on Oct. 21.
Climate uncertainty colors flood risk assessment
11/18/2021
11/18/2021
Understanding how climate change will affect the flooding of rivers may become easier with a new framework for assessing flood risk that's been developed by an interdisciplinary team from Penn State.
Can defects turn inert materials into useful, active ones?
11/18/2021
11/18/2021
Demonstrating that a material thought to be always chemically inert, hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), can be turned chemically active holds potential for a new class of catalysts with a wide range of applications, according to an international team of researchers.
Study challenges standard ideas about piezoelectricity in ferroelectric crystals
11/17/2021
11/17/2021
For years, researchers believed that the smaller the domain size in a ferroelectric crystal, the greater the piezoelectric properties of the material. However, recent findings by Penn State researchers have raised questions about this standard rule.