Popular Science: Early Earth should have been a snowball, but wasn't
Post doctoral scholar Robin Wordsworth and Professor Raymond Pierrehumbert find that nitrogen and hydrogen may have been greenhouse gases that warmed earth to a habitable level.
Exploding star missing from formation of solar system
A new study published by University of Chicago researchers Haolan Tang and Nicolas Dauphas challenges the notion that the force of an exploding star prompted formation of the solar system. Read the article.
GeoSci grad student featured in Inquiry
Geophysical Sciences graduate student Rebecca Fischer is featured in the Fall/Winter 2012 issue of Inquiry, the Physical Sciences Division newsletter. Read the article.
Faculty Positions in Geophysical Sciences
The Department of the Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago seeks applications for one or more faculty positions. We are interested in outstanding scientists who address fundamental questions about the physics, chemistry, biology, and history of Earth and other planetary bodies. Preference will be given to appointments at the Assistant Professor level, but we will consider more senior appointments as well. Candidates must have completed the PhD prior to appointment. Candidates must apply through the University's Academic Careers website. Consideration of applications will begin November 1, 2012. To apply for a position as Assistant Professor, go to: academiccareers.uchicago.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=52463. To apply for a position as Associate Professor, go to academiccareers.uchicago.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=52464. The University of Chicago is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
Titanium paternity test fingers Earth as moon's sole parent
A new chemical analysis of lunar material collected by Apollo astronauts in the 1970s conflicts with the widely held theory that a giant collision between Earth and a Mars-sized object gave birth to the moon 4.5 billion years ago.
In the giant-collision scenario, computer simulations suggest that the moon had two parents: Earth and a hypothetical planetary body that scientists call “Theia.” But a comparative analysis of titanium from the moon, Earth and meteorites, published by Junjun Zhang, graduate student in geophysical sciences at the University of Chicago, and four co-authors indicates the moon’s material came from Earth alone.
