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.
Sediment loading key to predicting post-wildfire debris flows 59
The mudslides that follow wildfires in Southern California can be deadly and difficult to predict. New research can help officials identify areas prone to these mudslides and respond before disaster occurs, according to scientists.
Shelter, safest air intake locations during urban pollution events identified
Roofs and the downwind sides of buildings in street canyons have the lowest levels of particulate matter during a single-source pollution event, according to Penn State researchers.
Department of Energy grant powers research on natural-gas vehicle storage tanks
Penn State researchers seek to overcome hurdles in natural-gas vehicle storage by creating a less expensive and more efficient storage system with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy.
Meteorites reveal high carbon dioxide levels on early Earth
Iron micrometeorites found in ancient soils suggest carbon dioxide made up 25 to 50 percent of Earth’s atmosphere 2.7 billion years ago, and that pressure at sea level may have been lower than today, Penn State researchers said.
Method detects defects in 2D materials for future electronics, sensors
A team of researchers has developed a technique to quickly and sensitively characterize defects in 2D materials like those that could be used by the semiconductor industry.
Airborne measurements point to low EPA methane estimates in south central US
Approximately twice as much methane is seeping into the atmosphere than the Environmental Protection Agency estimates from oil and gas facilities in the south central U.S., according to a series of measurements taken by meteorologists using NASA aircraft.
A wearable gas sensor for health and environmental monitoring
A highly sensitive, wearable gas sensor for environmental and human health monitoring may soon become commercially available, according to researchers at Penn State and Northeastern University.
Transparency discovered in crystals with ultrahigh piezoelectricity
Use of an AC rather than a DC electric field can improve the piezoelectric response of a crystal. Now, an international team of researchers say that cycles of AC fields also make the internal crystal domains in some materials bigger and the crystal transparent.
Visiting South African scholar wants to rehabilitate old mines
Is there a way to turn waste into a useful resource and at the same time reduce environmental degradation from closed mines? That’s what visiting South African scholar Nemapate Ndivhuwo wants to find out.
Atlantic and Pacific oscillations lost in the noise
The Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) do not appear to exist, according to a team of meteorologists who believe this has implications for both the validity of previous studies attributing past trends to these hypothetical natural oscillations and for the prospects of decade-scale climate predictability.