Hidden clay intensified 2011 Japan megaquake, study confirms

Cornell University

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ITHACA, N.Y. - An international research expedition involving Cornell has uncovered new details as to why a 2011 earthquake northeast of Japan behaved so unusually as it lifted the seafloor and produced a tsunami that devastated coastal communities along with the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Some of the first published data from the expedition was detailed Dec. 18 in the journal Science and finds that at the Japan Trench – the deep ocean boundary where one tectonic plate dives beneath another – the fault zone narrows into a thin, clay-rich layer hidden just beneath the seafloor. That weak layer enabled the 2011 “megathrust” earthquake to rupture all the way to the trench, producing 50 to 70 meters of shallow slip in which large portions of the seafloor were displaced.

“This work helps explain why the 2011 earthquake behaved so differently from what many of our models predicted,” said study co-author Patrick Fulton, associate professor and Croll Sesquicentennial Fellow in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Cornell Engineering. “By seeing exactly how the fault zone is constructed, we can better understand where slip is likely to concentrate and how much tsunami potential a given subduction zone might have.”

In most subduction zone earthquakes, rupture starts deep on the fault and the amount of slip decreases as the rupture travels upward towards the sea floor. But in 2011, the slip grew larger as the rupture neared the surface, a surprising result that geoscientists like Fulton have been trying to explain for more than a decade.

Fulton served as co-chief scientist for International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 405, known as JTRACK, which in 2024 collected the study data by deploying a deep-sea research vessel to drill through the fault and into sediment on the Pacific Plate. The expedition achieved a total drill-pipe length of 7,906 meters beneath the sea surface, recognized by Guinness World Records as the deepest scientific ocean drilling ever conducted.

The record highlights both the technical capabilities of the ship and the close collaboration between the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, industry partners and the international science team, said Fulton, who spent nearly two months on the vessel.

The JTRACK expedition builds upon results from an earlier expedition to the region one year after the earthquake, which first identified the weak nature of the shallow plate boundary fault. Fulton, who was involved with the earlier Japan Trench Fast Drilling Project, said the JTRACK results provide a much more complete picture of how the shallow fault zone and incoming sediments are organized.

The sediment samples recovered from the drilling operation revealed a 30-meter-thick layer of pelagic clay, a very soft and slippery material formed from microscopic particles that slowly settled to the sea floor over millions of years. With stronger layers surrounding it, the clay acted like a natural “tear line” that concentrated the rupture along that surface.

“At the Japan Trench, the geologic layering basically predetermines where the fault will form,” Fulton said. “It becomes an extremely focused, extremely weak surface, which makes it easier for ruptures to propagate all the way to the sea floor.”

Because the pelagic clay layer extends for hundreds of miles along the Japan Trench, Fulton said the region may be more prone to shallow-slip earthquakes than previously recognized.

“Ultimately, our goal is to translate this kind of detailed fault zone knowledge into better assessments of earthquake and tsunami hazards for coastal communities around the world,” Fulton said.

Coinciding with publication of the study is the release of a 30-minute documentary about the expedition. The film follows Fulton and dozens of scientists through 105 days at sea as they plan, drill, recover cores samples and install long-term observatories that reach into the fault zone.

More data from the expedition is set to become publicly available through the International Ocean Discovery Program.

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Journal

Science

DOI

10.1126/science.ady0234 

Article Title

Extreme plate boundary localization promotes shallow earthquake slip at the Japan Trench

Article Publication Date

18-Dec-2025

 

Is talented youth nurtured the wrong way? New study shows: top performers develop differently than assumed

Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität Kaiserslautern-Landau

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Exceptional performers drive innovation and help solve humanity's most pressing problems. Societies have a vital interest in the development of top performers in various fields. A recent review in the journal Science suggests that gifted education and talent programs have been based on false premises. For the first time, an international, interdisciplinary research team has collated the development of world-class performers in science, classical music, chess, and sports.

Traditional research into giftedness and expertise assumes that the key factors to develop outstanding achievements are early performance (e.g., in a school subject, sport, or in concerts) and corresponding abilities (e.g., intelligence, motor skills, musicality) along with many years of intensive training in a discipline. Accordingly, talent programs typically aim to select the top-performing youth and then seek to further accelerate their performance through intensive discipline-specific training. However, this is apparently not the ideal way to promote young talent, as a team led by Arne Güllich, professor of sports science at RPTU University Kaiserslautern-Landau has recently discovered.

The starting point: Until recently, research into giftedness and expertise has focused on young and sub-elite performers. For example, school and college students, young athletes and chess players, or musicians at conservatories. The conclusions drawn from this research have recently been called into question by evidence from adult world-class athletes. “Traditional research into giftedness and expertise did not sufficiently consider the question of how world-class performers at peak performance age developed in their early years,” Arne Güllich summarizes. His research intention in the current Review was, therefore, to investigate the development of these top performers. To this end, an international, interdisciplinary research team has been assembled, including Arne Güllich, Michael Barth, assistant professor of sports economics at the University of Innsbruck, D. Zach Hambrick, professor of psychology at Michigan State University, and Brooke N. Macnamara, professor of psychology at Purdue University. The results are now published in Science.

Pooling the findings from various disciplines

The research team reanalyzed extensive data from many original studies. They examined the development of a total of 34,839 international top performers. These include Nobel Prize winners in the sciences, Olympic medalists, the world's best chess players, and the most renowned classical music composers. In this way, for the first time, the development of world-class performers across various disciplines was synthesized.

The best youths and later world-class performers are different people

A key finding: top performers undergo a different development pattern than previous research assumed. “And a common pattern emerges across the different disciplines,” Arne Güllich emphasizes. He identifies three key findings. The first is that the best at a young age and the best later in life are mostly different individuals. Second, those who reached the world-class level showed rather gradual performance development in their early years and were not yet among the best of their age group. And the third finding is that those who later achieved peak performance did not specialize in a single discipline at an early age, but engaged in various disciplines (e.g., different subjects of study, genres of music, sports, or professions).

Smarter learners with reduced risks

How can these findings, which deviate from the prevailing opinion, be explained? “We propose three explanatory hypotheses for discussion,” says Güllich. The search-and-match hypothesis suggests that experiences with different disciplines improve one's chances of finding an optimal discipline for oneself over the years. The enhanced-learning-capital hypothesis implies that varied learning experiences in different disciplines enhance one’s learning capital, which improves the performer’s subsequent ongoing learning at the highest level in a discipline. And the limited-risks hypothesis suggests that multidisciplinary engagement mitigates risks of career-hampering factors, such as misbalanced work-rest ratios, burnout, being stuck in a discipline one ceases to enjoy, or injuries in psychomotor disciplines (sports, music). Arne Güllich: “Those who find an optimal discipline for themselves, develop enhanced potential for long-term learning, and have reduced risks of career-hampering factors, have improved chances of developing world-class performance.”

Foster the pursuit of various disciplines

Considering the latest findings, what can Arne Güllich recommend today? How should society promote young talented people to develop into future top performers? “Here’s what the evidence suggests: Don't specialize in just one discipline too early. Encourage young people and provide them opportunities to pursue different areas of interest. And promote them in two or three disciplines.” These may be disciplines that are not directly related to on another: language and mathematics, for example, or geography and philosophy. Or just think of Albert Einstein and his violin—one of the most important physicists, who was also passionate about music from an early age.

In light of these new findings, policymakers and program managers can promote change toward evidence-based policies and practices. Arne Güllich concludes: “This may enhance opportunities for the development of world-class performers—in science, sports, music, and other fields.”

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Journal

Science

DOI

10.1126/science.adt7790 

Article Title

Recent discoveries on the acquisition of the highest levels of human performance

Article Publication Date

18-Dec-2025

 

Journal highlights need to transform girls’ mental health care

UC Riverside’s Dr. Lisa Fortuna is an editor of the journal’s special issue

University of California - Riverside

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Image shows Drs. Michelle Porche (left) and Lisa Fortuna holding a copy of a special issue titled “Transforming Systems of Care for Girls.”

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Credit: Ross French, UC Riverside.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- A special issue of the journal Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America seeks to shift how clinicians, educators, and policymakers think about girls’ mental health by focusing on the systems that support — or fail to support — them.

The issue, titled “Transforming Systems of Care for Girls,” grew out of an annual institute hosted by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP). Dr. Lisa Fortuna, co-chair of AACAP’s Systems of Care Committee and professor and chair of psychiatry and neuroscience in the UC Riverside School of Medicine, explained that the journal collaboration was a natural extension of the institute’s focus on how schools, healthcare systems, and community supports interact to influence girls’ mental health outcomes.

“Rather than looking at just individual diagnoses and treatments, we wanted to broaden the conversation to consider how systems respond to girls’ needs,” said Fortuna, who serves as a co-editor of the special issue with two colleagues. “This includes understanding how gender and intersecting identities shape experiences in schools, community settings, and clinical care.”

The special issue features 13 review articles, each summarizing the current literature on a topic related to girls’ mental health and offering clinical recommendations. Contributors include both senior and junior researchers. One of the central themes is intersectionality: exploring how factors such as race, disability, immigration status, and socioeconomic background intersect with gender to affect access to care and mental health outcomes.

“We saw a need to address not just girls in general, but the diversity of girls’ experiences,” said Dr. Michelle Porche, a contributor to the issue and professor in-residence of internal medicine in the UCR School of Medicine. “Systems often overlook how multiple identities influence risk, resilience, and access to services.”

The special issue also tackles timely topics such as the impact of social media on body image, depression, and suicidality. One featured article explores interventions that empower girls to engage with social media in healthier, more intentional ways.

According to Fortuna, the timing of the publication is important. She explained that rates of anxiety, eating disorders, and self-harm among girls reportedly rose during the COVID-19 pandemic, and concerns about their mental health continue to grow. 

“At the same time, discussions about gender — an essential lens for understanding girls’ experiences — face increasing political resistance in some circles,” she said. “Clinicians and researchers can’t ignore the realities girls are living. Even when discussion of gender becomes controversial, the lived experiences of children don’t disappear.”

Fortuna and Porche hope the issue will not only inform clinicians, but also influence broader systems to better meet girls’ unique needs. 

“We want this to be eye-opening,” Porche said. “It’s about recognizing where systems fall short and thinking creatively about how to do better.”

The print issue is officially dated January 2026 and is available through institutional subscriptions, academic libraries, and the journal website. 

All about this issue

In the preface, Fortuna and her co-editors describe a growing mental health crisis among adolescent girls in the United States, characterized by rising rates of anxiety, depression, suicidality, and trauma. They emphasize that girls’ mental health is shaped not only by individual experiences but also by the systems that surround them — including schools, families, health care, and social services. 

The editors argue the special issue calls for a shift away from fragmented approaches toward holistic, collaborative, trauma-informed, and justice-oriented systems of care. They note that the crisis is preventable through informed policy and practice and urge increased investment in community-based supports that center girls’ voices, needs, and strengths.

Porche and co-authors, including Fortuna, open the issue with “Trauma and Girls: Implementing Trauma-Informed Policies and Practices in Systems of Care,” highlighting the disproportionate burden of trauma that many girls bring into schools, courts, clinics, and community programs. They argue for approaches that move beyond being merely trauma-informed to becoming trauma-responsive — intentionally designed to prevent re-traumatization and actively promote healing.

In the closing article, Porche joins another contributor in “The Intersection of Educational and Cognitive Diversity Factors for Girls Impacted by the Carceral System.” This article calls for greater recognition of and support for neurodivergent girls, whose educational and cognitive needs are too often poorly addressed in schools and overlooked within carceral systems.

The University of California, Riverside is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UCR's enrollment is more than 26,000 students. The campus opened a medical school in 2013 and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Center. The campus has an annual impact of more than $2.7 billion on the U.S. economy. To learn more, visit www.ucr.edu.

Image shows the cover of the special issue of the journal Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America. The issue seeks to shift how clinicians, educators, and policymakers think about girls’ mental health.

Credit

Ross French, UC Riveride.

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Journal

Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Transforming Systems of Care for Girls

Article Publication Date

1-Jan-2026

 

Putting the squeeze on dendrites: New strategy addresses persistent problem in next-generation solid-state batteries

Brown University

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Brown University researchers have demonstrated a promising new strategy for combatting dendrite penetration in solid state lithium batteries. By heating one side of a solid electrolyte and cooling the other, the researchers created thermal stress that kept dendrites from penetrating the electrolyte. The result was a 3-fold increase in the cell's critical current density. 

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Credit: Sheldon lab / Brown University

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — New research by Brown University engineers identifies a simple strategy for combatting a major stumbling block in the development of next-generation solid-state lithium batteries.

Solid-state batteries are considered the next frontier in energy storage, particularly for electric vehicles. Compared to current liquid electrolyte batteries, solid-state batteries have the potential for faster charging, longer range and safer operation due to decreased flammability. But there’s been a consistent problem holding back their commercialization: lithium dendrites.

Dendrites are filaments of lithium metal that can grow inside a battery’s electrolyte (the part of the battery that separates the anode from the cathode) during charging at high current. When they grow across the electrolyte, dendrites cause circuits between the battery’s anode and cathode, which destroy the battery. So while solid electrolytes can, in theory, enable faster charging than liquid electrolytes, the dendrite problem is one of the primary limitations that has to date prevented them from reaching that potential.

But in a new study published in the journal Joule, the Brown researchers demonstrate a surprisingly simple method for combatting dendrite growth. They show that mechanical stress created by temperature differences on either side of an electrolyte can significantly suppress dendrite formation, enabling dramatic improvements in dendrite-free charging performance.

“Dendrites are one of the biggest challenges plaguing next-generation solid-state batteries,” said Zikang Yu, a graduate student in Brown’s School of Engineering and the paper’s lead author. “But we show that temperature-induced mechanical stress effectively suppresses them. We can get a three-fold performance improvement in charging performance of the cell with just a 20-degree temperature gradient.”

For the study, the researchers, who are affiliated with Brown’s Initiative for Sustainable Energy, tested battery systems using lithium metal electrodes separated by the solid electrolyte LLZTO (Li₆.₄La₃Zr₁.₅Ta₀.₅O₁₂), a material known for its high ionic conductivity but also its vulnerability to dendrite formation at high charging rates. They heated one side of the electrolyte with a ceramic heating ring and cooled the other side with a copper heat sink.

“When you heat something up it expands,” explained Brian Sheldon, a professor of engineering and the study’s corresponding author. “But if you heat it up more on one side than the other, the expansion is constrained by the cool side, which forces it into compression. That’s the whole trick here.”

Testing showed that the thermal compression markedly reduced dendrite penetration, even in a material that’s prone to them. With compression applied, the LLZTO electrolyte’s critical current density — the maximum charging current it can withstand without failing — increased three-fold.

Yu said he’s hopeful that the work could point toward a practical solution for the dendrite problem in solid-state batteries.

“We think there’s potential to implement this into a practical cell,” Yu said. “Whenever a battery is cycled, heat is generated, and there are thermal management systems to deal with that. We think it may be possible to align that thermal architecture in a way that produces the kinds of gradients we generated in this work.”

Chenjie Gan, an engineering graduate student and study coauthor who worked on the theoretical side of the research, said these promising results have encouraged the team to continue exploring their approach.

“This experiment was a validation of our theoretical work,” Gan said. “We can now think about proposing optimal material properties and loading conditions to fully take advantage of this effect. That’s the future direction with this work.”

The research was supported by the National Science Foundation (DMR 2124775), the Department of Energy and the Office of Naval Research (N00014-21-1-2815 and N00014-23-1-2688).

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Journal

Joule

DOI

10.1016/j.joule.2025.102232 

Article Title

Dendrite suppression in garnet electrolytes via thermally induced compressive stress

Article Publication Date

15-Dec-2025