Unravelling the when, where and how of volcanic eruptions

There are about 1,500 potentially active volcanoes worldwide and about 50 eruptions occur each year. But it’s still difficult to predict when and how these eruptions will happen or how they’ll unfold. Now, new insight into the physical processes inside volcanoes are giving scientists a better understanding of their behaviour, which could help protect the 1 billion people … Read more

Preparing for extreme weather

Image credit - FADA CATEC

By Jonathan O’Callaghan  From high winds and heavy rainfall to droughts and plummeting temperatures, people in Europe have already begun to feel the effects of extreme weather. As we get used to this new reality, scientists are investigating how it will affect how we get around and whether our infrastructure can cope. Most scientists predict … Read more

Age and foaming: how to predict when a volcano will erupt

Image credit - Jimmy McIntyre, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

The eruption of a volcano can have devastating consequences – killing people and destroying livelihoods, as well as releasing vast amounts of ash into the sky that disrupts air travel and alters the climate. Knowing what goes on underground, however, would facilitate better warnings for when an eruption will occur – and help save lives while … Read more

‘Big picture’ platforms boost fight against online terror activity

Image credit - Flickr/Takver CC BY SA 2.0

The fight against terrorism-related content and illegal financing online is speeding up thanks to new platforms that join up different internet-scouring technologies to create a comprehensive picture of terrorist activity. The idea is that when an online tool discovers a fragment of information it can be added to a constellation of millions of others – revealing links that … Read more

Why don’t most people become radicalised?

Social scientists say that it is important for young people to critically engage with extremism.

To understand what leads people into violent extremism, scientists are turning the question on its head and asking why it is that most young people don’t become radicalised. It’s part of a wave of research attempting to find ways of combatting extremism, which also includes analysing people’s paths to radicalisation and compiling a database of … Read more

Sherlock Drones – automated investigators tackle toxic crime scenes

Using drones to gather information and samples from a hazardous scene can help incident commanders make critical decisions.

Crimes that involve chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) materials pose a deadly threat not just to the target of the attack but to innocent bystanders and police investigators. Often, these crimes may involve unusual circumstances or they are terrorist-related incidents, such as an assassination attempt or the sending of poisons through the mail. In the … Read more