Solved: New Analysis Of Apollo Moon Samples Finally Settles Debate About Lunar Magnetic Field

From left to right: Associate Professor Claire Nichols, Dr Simon Stephenson, Associate Professor Jon Wade. Credit: Charlie Rex.

 February 27, 2026 

By Eurasia Review

Researchers from the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, have resolved a long-standing debate about the strength of the Moon’s magnetic field. For decades, scientists have argued whether the Moon had a strong or weak magnetic field during its early history (3.5 – 4 billion years ago). Now a new analysis – published today (26 February) in Nature Geoscience – shows that both sides of the debate are effectively correct.

Using samples from the Apollo missions, the researchers found that at times the Moon had an extremely strong magnetic field- even stronger than Earth’s. But these periods were very short and the exception – for most of the time, the Moon had a weak field.

The reason the debate persisted is because the Apollo missions all landed in the same place, with a high concentration of rocks that happened to capture these rare events of strong magnetism.

Lead author Associate Professor Claire Nichols (Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford) said: “Our new study suggests that the Apollo samples are biased to extremely rare events that lasted a few thousand years – but up to now, these have been interpreted as representing 0.5 billion years of lunar history. It now seems that a sampling bias prevented us from realising how short and rare these strong magnetism events were.”

Despite the strong magnetism of the Apollo lunar samples, many scientists believed that the Moon could only have a weak or non-existent magnetic field, arguing that the relatively small size of the Moon’s core (around 1/7th of its radius) prevented it from generating a strong field. However, the new study proposes a mechanism for how a strong field could be temporarily generated and preserved.

The research team analysed the chemical makeup of a type of lunar rock – known as the Mare basalts – and found a new correlation between their titanium content and how strongly magnetised they are. Every lunar sample which had recorded a strong magnetic field also contained large amounts of titanium – and the samples containing less than 6 wt.% titanium were all associated with a weak magnetic field.

This suggests that the formation of high-titanium rocks and the generation of a strong lunar magnetic field are linked. The researchers believe that both were caused by melting of titanium-rich material deep inside the Moon, temporarily generating a very strong magnetic field.

Professor Nichols added: “We now believe that for the vast majority of the Moon’s history, its magnetic field has been weak, which is consistent with our understanding of dynamo theory. But that for very short periods of time – no more than 5,000 years, but possibly as short as a few decades – melting of titanium-rich rocks at the Moon’s core-mantle boundary resulted in the generation of a very strong field.”

Because the Mare basalts were an ideal landing site for the Apollo missions, due to being relatively flat, the astronauts brought back far more of the titanium-rich basalts (containing evidence for a strong magnetic field) than are representative of the lunar surface. As a result, large numbers of these rocks have been analysed by scientists back on Earth, and this was previously interpreted to mean that the lunar magnetic field was strong for long periods of its history.

Models developed as part of this study confirm this bias, and suggest that if a random suite of samples were measured, it would be almost impossible for any of them to have recorded such rare strong magnetic field events.

Co-author Associate Professor Jon Wade (Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford) said: “If we were aliens exploring the Earth, and had landed here just six times, we would probably have a similar sampling bias especially if we were selecting a flat surface to land on. It was only by chance that the Apollo missions focussed so much on the Mare region of the Moon – if they landed somewhere else, we would likely have concluded that the Moon only ever had a weak magnetic field and missed this important part of early lunar history entirely.”

Co-author Dr Simon Stephenson (Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford) added: “We are now able to predict which types of samples will preserve which magnetic field strengths on the Moon. The upcoming Artemis missions offer us an opportunity to test this hypothesis and delve further into the history of the lunar magnetic field.”

Nanobiochar Emerges As A Next Generation Solution For Cleaner Water, Healthier Soils, And Resilient Ecosystems

 Nanobiochar as a multifunctional amendment for coupled water-soil-biota systems: applications in agricultural production, environmental remediation, and arid ecosystem restoration CREDIT: Haytham Salem

 February 27, 2026 

By Eurasia Review

A new scientific review points to nanobiochar, an engineered carbon material derived from biomass, as a promising solution for some of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. By shrinking conventional biochar to the nanoscale, researchers have created a material with dramatically increased surface area, reactivity, and environmental functionality, opening new possibilities for soil improvement, water treatment, and climate resilience.

Biochar has long been used to improve soil quality and capture carbon, but the new analysis shows that nanoscale versions can perform far more efficiently. The authors report that nanobiochar’s enhanced structure allows it to bind pollutants more effectively, retain nutrients in soil, and support beneficial microbial communities that promote plant growth.

“Nanobiochar represents a new generation of carbon-based environmental technologies,” said the study’s author. “By engineering biochar at the nanoscale, we can significantly expand its ability to improve soil health, reduce contamination, and even help restore degraded landscapes.”

In agricultural systems, nanobiochar shows strong potential to increase crop productivity while reducing fertilizer losses. The material can act as a slow-release nutrient carrier, helping plants access nitrogen and other essential elements over longer periods. This function could reduce nutrient runoff into waterways, a major driver of pollution and eutrophication worldwide.

Beyond agriculture, the review highlights nanobiochar’s effectiveness in environmental remediation. Its high density of reactive surface sites allows it to adsorb heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and other harmful pollutants from water and soil. Researchers also note that modified nanobiochar composites, including magnetic variants, may allow treated materials to be recovered and reused, improving the sustainability of water treatment technologies.

Perhaps most striking is the material’s potential role in ecosystem restoration. In dryland regions, where soil degradation and desertification threaten food security and biodiversity, nanobiochar may help stabilize soil surfaces and support the formation of biological soil crusts. These living soil layers play a key role in preventing erosion, retaining moisture, and capturing carbon. The authors suggest that nanobiochar could act as a protective carrier for beneficial microbes, improving their survival and accelerating ecosystem recovery.

“Drylands cover more than forty percent of the Earth’s land surface, yet restoration remains extremely difficult,” the author explained. “Nanobiochar may offer a new pathway to stabilize soils, support microbial life, and enhance long-term carbon storage in these vulnerable environments.”

Despite its promise, the study also emphasizes the need for responsible development. Producing nanobiochar can be energy intensive, and researchers must carefully evaluate its environmental impacts and long-term behavior in soils and water systems. The authors call for further research into scalable production methods, ecological safety, and field performance.

Overall, the review presents nanobiochar as a versatile platform technology that bridges nanotechnology, environmental engineering, and sustainable agriculture. With continued research and careful implementation, the material could contribute to more resilient food systems, cleaner water resources, and restored ecosystems in a changing climate.

The study underscores the growing importance of innovative carbon-based materials in addressing global sustainability challenges and highlights nanobiochar as a promising candidate for future environmental solutions.

From The Late Bronze Age To Today: Old Irish Goat Carries 3,000 Years Of Irish History

Old Irish Goat CREDIT: Old Irish Goat Society

February 27, 2026 
By Eurasia Review


New research has revealed that the Old Irish Goat shares a 3,000-year genetic link with goats living in Ireland during the Late Bronze Age. The findings suggest the rare indigenous breed represents a continuous Irish lineage stretching back millennia.

Led by University College Dublin, in collaboration with Queen’s University Belfast and international partners, the new biomolecular and archaeological study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science reshapes the understanding of Ireland’s agricultural past and supports conservation of the Old Irish Goat as a living link to ancient farming communities.

Oldest goat remains in Ireland

Researchers analysed goat remains from the hillfort at Haughey’s Fort in Co Armagh, dating to around 1100–900 BCE, and the medieval town of Carrickfergus in Co Antrim. Radiocarbon dating, genetic and protein analyses were used to confirm that the Late Bronze Age animals are the oldest goat remains identified in Ireland to date. Genomic comparisons revealed that these ancient animals share their strongest genetic affinity with the critically endangered Old Irish Goat population that survives today.

“Combining genetics, proteomics, and archaeological science has allowed us a glimpse of our animals hundreds and thousands of years ago – and how their descendants likely still live with us, as part of our biocultural heritage,” said co-lead author Assistant Professor Kevin Daly, School of Agriculture and Food Science.

Deeply rooted in Irish folklore

Known historically as an Gabhar Fiáin; – the wild goat – the Old Irish Goat is deeply rooted in Irish Folklore. Surviving today in small wild-roaming (feral) herds. It has long been viewed as a symbol of resilience, wisdom, and marginal rural life, where their hardiness, capacity to survive on marginal land, and nutrient-dense milk made them invaluable to small farmers.

Unlike cattle which dominate Ireland’s ancient myths, goats appear mainly in local traditions, placenames and seasonal customs. The most famous cultural expression of this connection is Puck Fair in Killorglin, Co Kerry, regarded as one of Ireland’s oldest festivals. Traditionally, each August a goat would be captured from the mountains and crowned "King Puck" where it would preside over three days of celebration. Though its exact origins remain debated, the festival reflects the goat’s long-standing association with Ireland’s landscapes and community life.

“Despite thousands of years, changing farming practices, and recent decline, these goats have retained a remarkable genetic connection to their ancestors, and to the island’s agricultural past,” Dr Jolijn Erven, co-lead author of the study.

“Goats tend to get overlooked compared to sheep in the archaeological record because it is notoriously difficult to distinguish between their bones. There is an assumption that sheep would have been more important than goats in the past but historical sources suggest that herds of goats may have been kept to supply a trade in skins from ports such as Carrickfergus,” said co-lead author Professor Eileen Murphy, Queen’s University Belfast.

Studying ancient DNA

To identify definite goats, the team first had to use protein fingerprinting (ZooMS), a technique that identifies species through microscopic traces of preserved collagen.

Ancient DNA was then extracted and sequenced, allowing researchers to compare the genomes of these Late Bronze Age and medieval animals with hundreds of modern goat breeds worldwide.

The study found that both prehistoric and medieval Irish goats share their highest genetic affinity with the still surviving Old Irish Goat, pointing to a remarkable continuity of goat populations on the island over three millennia.

The research also sheds light on more recent changes in the breed. While medieval goats showed varied genetic profiles, Old Irish Goats today display clear signs of inbreeding linked to a dramatic population collapse over recent decades. This hints that today’s genetic bottleneck is a modern phenomenon rather than a long-term feature of Irish goat populations.

“This research is a huge milestone for the Old Irish Goat, and provides powerful scientific validation of what local communities and conservationists have long believed – that the Old Irish Goat represents a living piece of our ancient heritage. It also underscores the urgency of protecting this critically endangered breed, which carries within it a living genetic record of Ireland’s ancient past,” said Sinead Keane, from The Old Irish Goat Society.

“The advancements in biomolecular and genetic analysis are very exciting, and have now opened up a new opportunity to revisit Ireland’s archaeological and archaeogenetic records, which may in time reveal that Ireland’s early goat history is even richer than currently understood.”

Siberia’s ‘Economically Accessible Resources’ Aren’t That Large – OpEd

 February 27, 2026

By Paul Goble

Those who talk about “Siberia’s plentiful resources” are engaged in “wishful thinking,” Dmitry Verkhoturov says, because while the geologically located resources there are in fact great, those that are “economically accessible “aren’t that large, already are being intensively exploited and include primarily energy resources like coal, oil and gas.”

Most people who talk about Siberia confuse the two, the economic journalist says; but in fact, they are very different things, with geological resources including many things that no one can access because they are too deep or process because they are too far from any infrastructure that could allow them to reach markets (sibmix.com/?doc=20000).

A clear example of an economic resource, Verkoturov says, is the Borodinsky open pit coal mine. It produces 24.8 million tons a year and has an estimated reserve of 650 million tons. Not only has it been explored in detail but it is connected to the rest of the world by roads and railways.

An equally clear example of a geological resource is the Tunguska coal basin. It is estimated to contain as much a five trillion tons of coal, but this coal lies beneath 2000 meters of lava; there is no road, railway, or even reliable river pathway to reach them meaning that this enormous reserve can’t be used unless all those things are built.

Given that Siberia’s boosters often include the latter with the former, many may be surprised to learn that the region’s “economically viable resources aren’t all that extensive;” and they aren’t likely to become so anytime soon as building the infrastructure to reach them is prohibitively expensive and difficult.

“If we count the 50-kilometer strips on either side of the railroads where transport infrastructure exists or could be built relatively quickly – and there are approximately 13,000 km of railroads in the Siberian Federal District, then the area containing more or less economically reachable resources amounts to only 1.3 million square kilometers.”

That is slightly less than 30 percent of the total area of the Siberian FD,” Verkhoturov says; and “the rest of the district’s resources are purely geological and economically inaccessible.” Everyone involved must recognize that “Siberia’s resource wealth exists only in the geological sense; but it isn’t yet possible to exploit it” – and likely won’t for decades.

Seattle Begins Installing Anti-Federal Immigration Enforcement Signage

A sign at Jefferson Park in Seattle indicates the property can't be used to enforce civil immigration enforcement. Photo: Randy Diamond / The Center Square

 February 27, 2026 

The Center Square

By Randy Diamond

(The Center Square) – One of the first of an expected 656 signs stating that city property in Seattle cannot be used by federal authorities for civil immigration enforcement efforts has been posted at Jefferson Park in the Beacon Hill neighborhood.

The signs are part of Mayor Katie Wilson’s Jan. 29 executive order to prevent the Trump administration from using city property as part of its campaign to detain and deport illegal immigrants.

Wilson said in the executive order that “appropriate preparation is critical given the unpredictable, chaotic, and violent behavior of the federal government,” a reference to immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis and other U.S. communities that have led to the death of protesters and clashes with federal immigration agents.

A U.S. Department of Justice spokesperson in a statement to The Center Square Thursday said the department “will not tolerate the obstruction of lawful efforts to enforce federal immigration law and has sued several jurisdictions over sanctuary policies that put the American people at risk.”

The statement went on to say, “The department will continue to bring litigation against willful offenders and work overtime to ensure those harmful policies are eradicated across the county.”

The sign at Jefferson Park reads, “This property is owned and controlled by the city of Seattle.

“It shall not be used for civil immigration enforcement staging, operations, or processing.”

Other signs will be more prominently displayed.

The city plans to install 25 signs outside Seattle City Hall and the Seattle Municipal Tower and other city municipal buildings and 20 signs on the Seattle Center campus, home to some of the city’s most iconic attractions, according to a Tuesday memo  from city council staff analyst Greg Doss.

It’s unclear whether signs would be posted outside the Space Needle, because it is under a private lease, or the Climate Pledge Arena, but much of the 74-acre Seattle Center campus is directly controlled by the city.

Another 60 signs are planned for power substations operated by the city-owned power company, Seattle City Light, and for the Ballard Sculpture Garden, which is owned by the power company.

The biggest share of signs, 470, will be posted at parks, community centers, swimming pools and boating ramps, the Doss memo details. 

Multiple city parking garages, according to the memo, will also get signs. 

The memo said the city will spend $45,000 manufacturing the signs and that city departments will be expected to absorb the cost of producing the signs from their existing budgets. 

It did not estimate the cost to install the signs, or how long it will take to install all of the signs.

Andrew Arthur, a fellow at the conservative-leaning Center for Immigration Studies, said he expects the Justice Department to sue Seattle over its anti-ICE policies.

The former immigration judge called Wilson’s order “political pandering” to left-leaning Seattle residents that would not stand up in court.

He maintained that the U.S. Constitution’s 10th Amendment establishes that federal laws and treaties take precedence over conflicting state or local laws. 

Arthur said the city is also spending dollars on the signs that could be used for other city services.

“It’s a complete waste of city money,” he said.

Arthur said the city will also have to spend more money defending “their losing position,” assuming the Justice Department files a lawsuit.

Wilson’s office did not respond to requests for comment from The Center Square.

However, in her executive order, Wilson states that the 10th Amendment prohibits the federal government from commandeering the city’s property and resources. 

In addition to the Wilson executive order, the Seattle City Council’s Public Safety Committee is expected to recommend to the full City Council in late March that it pass an ordinance codifying Wilson’s executive order into city law.

The committee’s chairman, Bob Kettle, said after a committee meeting on Monday that placing the signs on city property is the right thing to do to show immigrants that the city supports them.

“We have a whole lot of refugees coming here from places where it was not safe to turn to local government,” he said. “So, they have little faith.”

In a statement to The Center Square, City Attorney Erika Evans said that Seattle leaders will act with urgency and courage to protect residents.

“As such, my office will fight vigorously to enforce this legislation if it is enacted, including by seeking relief in the courts for any potential violations of the ordinance,” she said.

Both Wilson’s executive order and the proposed ordinance exclude preventing ICE action when immigration agents have the authority to obtain a judicial warrant.

Seattle is one of several cities that have placed signs on city property prohibiting ICE enforcement and staging action. 

Chicago and Providence have passed similar executive orders on signage.

On Monday,  the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against New Jersey and its Gov. Mikie Sherrill over a recent executive order banning ICE from state property without a judicial warrant.

Denmark: PM Calls Snap Election After Greenland Standoff

File photo of Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen with President of the United States Donald Trump during a NATO meeting in London, United Kingdom, December 2019. Photo Credit: The White House, Wikipedia Commons

 February 27, 2026 

By EurActiv

By Magnus Lund Nielsen

(EurActiv) — Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has called for elections to be held on 24 March, triggering an early vote months before the October 2026 deadline.

On Thursday, Frederiksen took the floor in the Danish Parliament for “a remark of a special nature” – the informal signal that a prime minister is calling a general election.

“It will be an important election,” she said, arguing that in the next four years Danes and Europeans must stand on their own, redefine their relations with the United States, rearm to secure peace on the continent, keep Europe united and safeguard the future of the kingdom.

Frederiksen shifted Denmark into campaign mode amid one of the country’s biggest foreign policy crises in decades, after the US threatened to take over Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory within the Danish realm.

The Danish PM saw a modest polling bump after US President Donald Trump’s renewed threatsover Greenland and the ensuing diplomatic push that led European countries – including Germany and France – to deploy troops to the Arctic island.

Elisabet Svane, political analyst at Politiken, told Euractiv earlier this week that the crisis reinforced Frederiksen’s image as a steady crisis manager – much as during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Frederiksen, in office since 2019, has led a rare centrist coalition since 2022 spanning the centre-left Social Democrats, the Moderates and the centre-right Liberals. Polls suggest the alliance could lose its majority in a new parliament.

Currently the third-longest serving EU leader, Frederiksen has broken ranks with Europe’s social democrats by aligning with Italy’s far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on migration.