Cathodoluminescence images of Jack Hills zircon showing zoned igneous cores and bright metamorphic rims.
CREDIT: Shane K. Houchin
Plate tectonics created the Earth as we know it. Australian zircons some 4 billion years old suggest that mantle convection was established in the Hadean Eon and signs of large-scale plate underthrusting appear in the Archean Eon. In PNAS: https://ow.ly/1cBe50Yq7sX
07.03.2026 00:00
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Senior Scientist / Lab Manager in Spectroscopy for High Pressure/Temperature Experiments
The Institute of Geochemistry and Petrology at ETH Zurich is looking for a Senior Scientist / Lab Manager in Spectroscopy for High Pressure/Temperature Experiments to maintain and develop the spectroscopic and part of the experimental equipment in our labs. #jobalert
www.jobs.ethz.ch/job/view/11375
06.03.2026 09:56
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Interbreeding between Neanderthals and modern humans was strongly sex biased
Sex biases in admixture and other demographic processes are recurrent features throughout human evolution. For admixture between Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans (AMHs), sex bias has been p...
When Neanderthals and ancient modern humans interbred, the pairings were mostly between male Neanderthals and female humans, according to a new Science study.
This finding helps explain why Neanderthal ancestry present in most humans is unevenly distributed. https://scim.ag/4cQYpIL
02.03.2026 22:44
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Postdoctoral Fellow in Volcanology and Magmatic Processes
The Volcanology and Magmatic Petrology group at ETH Zurich is looking for a Postdoctoral Fellow in Volcanology and Magmatic Processes to develop and lead an independent research programme in magmatic petrology, volcanology, and/or geochronology. #postdoc #jobalert
www.jobs.ethz.ch/job/view/11402
27.02.2026 10:28
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When did humanity take its first step? Scientists say they now know.
A new analysis of fossils uncovered in Central Africa offers additional evidence that a human ancestor walked upright 7 million years ago.
A new analysis of fossils uncovered in Central Africa offers additional evidence that a human ancestor walked upright 7 million years ago, pushing back the date at which early hominins stood tall by about a million years.
03.01.2026 13:00
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Thousands buried in 17th century Italian crypt reveal lives of working poor
Remains recovered from beneath a Milan hospital shed light on health, diet, and drug habits during the 1600s
1456, the Duke of Milan established a medical institution dedicated to caring for the cityβs poor and sick on a scale unprecedented in Europe.
Admission was based on lack of income, not religious affiliation.
It was the first secular hospital in Europe..
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www.science.org/content/arti...
11.05.2025 06:17
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Postdoc (or PhD) position in Experimental Geochemistry
The Experimental Planetology Group of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences (D-EAPS) invites applications forΒ a 2-yr post-doctoral position on the experimental determination of liquid ironβ¦
#postdoc (or #phd) #jobalert
The Experimental Planetology research group at @ethzurich.bsky.social is offering a Postdoc in Experimental Geochemistry and on the determination of liquid iron alloy densities with application to the Moon's and other planets core.
17.01.2025 10:32
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Cave folks - here some must-read for your weekend! π#speleothem, #caves, #volcano, #climate - what else you want?! π @pucicu.de @olakwiecien3.bsky.social @cavesandclimate.bsky.social
18.01.2025 09:49
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07.01.2025 19:02
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New study in PNAS: Apollo samples reveal that KREEP, the magma left after the #Moon was >99% solidified, formed 4.43 billion years ago. π This implies the Moon was born no later than ca. 140 My after the solar systemβs birth. π§ͺ βοΈ @eth-eaps.bsky.social
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
06.01.2025 21:58
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So how small are the zircons that we date in the lab? Here's a Fish Canyon Tuff zircon on a $5 bill for comparison!
13.12.2024 18:25
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This wintry scene was captured from southern Poland on the northern hemisphere's long solstice night. Otherwise unseen nebulae hang in the sky, revealed by the camera modified to record red hydrogen-alpha light. The nebulae lie near the edge of the Orion molecular cloud and join the Hunter's familiar belt stars and bright giants Betelgeuse and Rigel. Eye of Taurus the Bull, yellowish Aldebaran anchors the V-shaped Hyades star cluster near top center. Still, near opposition in planet Earth's sky, the Solar System's ruling gas giant Jupiter is the brightest celestial beacon above this horizon's snowy peaks.
Clever composite photo lets you see a side of the universe normally hidden to human vision. A camera tuned to hydrogen-alpha light reveals glorious interstellar clouds swirling around the familiar stars of the constellation Orion.
(Photo: WΕodzimierz Bubak) ππ§ͺ
apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap24122...
06.01.2025 16:31
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