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.
05/11/2022
Upcycling plastic waste into graphite, used in electric vehicles and renewable energy storage, could positively contribute to the global economy, preserving resources, saving energy and reducing carbon dioxide emissions, according to Penn State researchers.
05/06/2022
A novel theory of cross phenomena could be applied to predict whether a new material would be effective for use in various applications from improved medical ultrasounds to more efficient refrigerators, according to a Penn State researcher.
04/26/2022
The first study of leaf fossils conducted in the nation of Brunei on the island of Borneo has revealed that the current dominant tree group, the dipterocarps, has dominated the rainforests for at least four million years, according to an international research team led by Penn State in partnership with Universiti Brunei Darussalam.
04/25/2022
Tiny beetles that feed on fruit from the palm family may have developed their taste for coconuts long ago, according to a Penn State-led team of scientists studying suspected insect damage in a 60-million-year-old fossil.
04/20/2022
A beautiful sunset over the Atlantic off the Florida coast, or an orangey glow in the Texas sky at dusk may be caused by dust from West Africa, according to researchers who are looking at the paths of particulate matter in the skies over the Sahara desert and the semi-arid Sahel.
04/18/2022
The lakes that form on Antarctica's ice shelves can drive vertical cracks deep within the ice, increasing the chance of ice shelf collapse and sea level rise.
04/11/2022
Researchers led by Penn State and the university of California, San Diego have discovered a new 'knob' to control the magnetic behavior of one promising quantum material, and the findings could pave the way toward novel, efficient and ultra-fast devices.
03/31/2022
Dark patches of open sea that appear in the ice-choked water around Helheim Glacier may reveal new clues about how a rapidly changing Greenland glacier loses ice, according to a Penn State-led team of scientists.
03/31/2022
Flavored tobacco products play a large role in leading youth into addiction, and it is estimated that three out of four youth smokers will continue to smoke well into adulthood, according to the U.S. surgeon general.
03/23/2022
Oxygen levels in the atmosphere during the mid-Proterozoic -- about 1.4 billion years ago -- were higher than previously thought, according to an international team of researchers who looked at oxygen combined with sulfur to determine that previous numbers were probably lower limits, not maximums.