Granular systems, such as sandpiles or rockslides, are all around you − new research will help scientists describe how they work

It’s extremely difficult to see how forces in a pile of sand are distributed between individual grains – a new experimental approach fixes that.

Jacqueline Reber, Associate Professor of Earth, Atmosphere, and Climate, Iowa State University • conversation
April 28, 2025 • ~8 min

How sand mining is eroding rivers, livelihoods and cultures

Sand mining destabilises riverbeds and affects local communities but new hi-tech surveillance can improve the monitoring of extraction and help protect these people.

Julian Leyland, Professor of Physical Geography, University of Southampton • conversation
March 5, 2025 • ~9 min

Dig safely when building sandcastles and tunnels this summer – collapsing sand holes can cause suffocation and even death

Kids love digging and may not realize the dangers a hole in the sand can pose.

Stephen P. Leatherman, Professor of Coastal Science, Florida International University • conversation
July 9, 2024 • ~7 min

I’ve studied sand dunes for 40 years – here’s what people find most surprising

Dunes can preserve a record of historic climate changes and shifting continents.

David Thomas, Professor of Geography, University of Oxford • conversation
March 28, 2024 • ~6 min

What is dirt? There’s a whole wriggling world alive in the ground beneath our feet, as a soil scientist explains

Rock dust is only part of the story of soil. Living creatures, many of them too tiny to see, keep that soil healthy for growing everything from food to forests.

Brian Darby, Associate Professor of Biology, University of North Dakota • conversation
March 25, 2024 • ~7 min

Victims of the green energy boom? The Indonesians facing eviction over a China-backed plan to turn their island into a solar panel 'ecocity'

The international quest for green energy is reliant on ‘sacrificial zones’ in developing countries.

Nikita Sud, Professor of the Politics of Development, University of Oxford • conversation
Oct. 23, 2023 • ~28 min

Sea glass, a treasure formed from trash, is on the decline as single-use plastic takes over

Sea glass, while an eye-catching treasure and a multimillion-dollar industry, exists because of decades of improper waste management.

Lori Weeden, Teaching Professor of Environmental Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, UMass Lowell • conversation
Sept. 28, 2023 • ~7 min

Sandcastle engineering – a geotechnical engineer explains how water, air and sand create solid structures

From capillary forces to sand grain shape, the simple mix of sand and water hides the of complexity within.

Joseph Scalia, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado State University • conversation
Aug. 19, 2022 • ~8 min

Half of world's sandy beaches could disappear due to sea level rise by 2100

Sandy beaches are densely populated and occupy more than one third of the global coastline.

Abiy S. Kebede, Lecturer in Flood and Coastal Engineering, Brunel University London • conversation
March 2, 2020 • ~7 min

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