Articles on Waves
Bianca De Marchi
Hannah Power, University of Newcastle
Australians tend to be fairly relaxed about the tsunami risk. But warnings from authorities to stay away from foreshore areas should not be ignored.
What is the value of a wave? How changes to our coastline could wipe out surfing's benefits
Ana Manero, Australian National University; Alaya Spencer-Cotton, The University of Western Australia; Javier Leon, University of the Sunshine Coast, and Neil Lazarow, CSIRO
Surfing's benefits to well-being aren't often studied in economics terms. This is a major gap in our knowledge we're now trying to fill.
Data map: Tracking COVID-19 waves in Africa
Ahmed Kalebi, University of Nairobi
Tracking the pandemic's waves enables authorities and policy makers to take action to keep new waves at bay.
Hawaiian surfer John John Florence, seen here competing in Portugal, is one of the favorites to win surfing's first Olympic gold. AP Photo/Francisco Seco
Surfing makes its Olympic debut – and the waves should be world-class thanks to wind, sand and a typhoon or two
Sally Warner, Brandeis University
Olympic surfers are coming from around the world to compete in surfing's Olympic debut. But where will the waves come from?
Plastic fragments washed onto Schiavonea beach in Calabria, Italy, in a 2019 storm. Alfonso Di Vincenzo/KONTROLAB /LightRocket via Getty Images
The ocean is full of tiny plastic particles – we found a way to track them with satellites
Christopher Ruf, University of Michigan
New research suggests that an effective way to locate and track large concentrations of microplastics in the ocean could be from high in the sky.
Climate change is making ocean waves more powerful, threatening to erode many coastlines
Thomas Mortlock, Macquarie University; Itxaso Odériz, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM); Nobuhito Mori, Kyoto University, and Rodolfo Silva, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)
New research looked at wave conditions over the past 40 years, and found wave power has increased since at least the 1980s, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere.
Ronnie Robertson/Wikimedia Commons
What are 'internal waves' that possibly sank the Indonesian sub? If you've ever suffered plane turbulence, you've been inside one
Callum Shakespeare, Australian National University
Internal waves can create pretty cloud shapes in the sky, as well as making life unpleasant for passengers on aeroplanes. And in the oceans they can be a deadly hazard to submarines.
Brian Yurasits/Unsplash
Where does plastic pollution go when it enters the ocean?
Bruce Sutherland, University of Alberta; Michelle DiBenedetto, University of Washington, and Ton van den Bremer, Delft University of Technology
Each bit of plastic takes a unique journey once it reaches the ocean. We're trying to spot the patterns.
New mathematics have shown that lines of energy can be used to describe the universe. zf L/Moment via Getty Images
Fragments of energy – not waves or particles – may be the fundamental building blocks of the universe
Larry M. Silverberg, North Carolina State University
Field theory describes the universe as energy flowing along unending lines. With this perspective, it is possible to define a new fundamental building block of matter.
Some places, like Nazaré Canyon in Portugal, produce freakishly huge waves. AP Photo/Armando Franca
What makes the world's biggest surfable waves?
Some beaches in the world tend to consistently produce huge waves. Places like Nazaré Canyon in Portugal and Mavericks in California are famous for their waves because of the shape of the seafloor.
One of Australia's most famous beaches is disappearing, and storms aren't to blame. So what's the problem?
Thomas Murray, Griffith University; Ana Paula da Silva, Griffith University; Darrell Strauss, Griffith University; Guilherme Vieira da Silva, Griffith University, and Rodger Tomlinson, Griffith University
Over the past six months, tourists and locals have been shocked to see Byron's famous Main Beach literally disappearing. Satellite imagery and local knowledge has revealed what's going on.
Daily deaths from COVID-19 have rarely been below 600 in the U.S. since March. Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images
What makes a 'wave' of disease? An epidemiologist explains
Abram L. Wagner, University of Michigan
There's no scientific definition for a wave of disease – and no evidence that the original onslaught of coronavirus in the US has receded much at all.
By the time a wave reaches shore, it may have travelled tens of thousands of kilometres. Ian Mitchinson / Shutterstock
The story of a wave: from wind-blown ripples to breaking on the beach
Shane Keating, UNSW
There's much more to waves than the part you see at the beach.
Waves in Australia's southern coasts are likely to get bigger and faster under a warming climate. AAP Image/City of Gold Coast
Climate change may change the way ocean waves impact 50% of the world's coastlines
Mark Hemer, CSIRO; Ian Young, The University of Melbourne; Joao Morim Nascimento, Griffith University, and Nobuhito Mori, Kyoto University
A warming climate will affect the way waves hit over 50% of the world's coastlines, increasing erosion and the risk of flooding.
Nina Maile Gordon/The Conversation
Curious Kids: why are there waves?
Mark Hemer, CSIRO
Waves occur in all sorts of places, and it's possible that waves you might see breaking at the beach are at the end of a very long journey.
Waves can be generated in lakes and other bodies of water when seismic energy travels through land. Leo Roomets / Unsplash
A 'seiche' wave can outpace a tsunami, and both can be triggered by meteorites and earthquakes
Craig O'Neill, Macquarie University
If you've never heard of a form of wave called a 'seiche' – which can occur in swimming pools during earthquakes – this is your chance to catch up.
Watch out, currents about. Shutterstock.
Curious Kids: how do currents form under water?
Chris Blenkinsopp, University of Bath
It's good to know how currents are formed in the ocean, as they can be quite dangerous!
Hokusai's great wave, woodcut, c.1829-33. Wikipedia Commons
How scientists recreated a monster wave that looks like Hokusai's famous image
Mark McAllister, University of Oxford
Recreating freak waves can tell us a lot about the nature of the sea.
tsbl2000/Flickr.
Curious Kids: is there a place in the middle of the English Channel where the waves change direction?
Claire Earlie, Cardiff University
Waves lap against the shore on the south coast of England and the North coast of France – but the answer to this puzzle is in the wind and the land, not the waves themselves.
Like big waves? Thanks to surf forecasting, you'll know when and where to find them. Shalom Jacobovitz/Wikimedia Commons
Hang ten (decades): Walter Munk, inventor of the surf forecast, turns 100
Paul Spence, UNSW and Shane Keating, UNSW
Walter Munk might be the most under-appreciated man in surfing, but he is a big deal in ocean science. If you've ever checked a surf forecast before paddling out, you have him to thank.
Curious Kids
Mark Hemer
Principal Research Scientist, Oceans and Atmosphere, CSIRO
Jenny Hayward
Research Scientist, Energy Economist, CSIRO
Shane Keating
Senior Lecturer in Mathematics and Oceanography, UNSW
Nobuhito Mori
Professor, Kyoto University
Sally Warner
Assistant Professor of Climate Science, Brandeis University
Michael Hall
Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, Griffith University
Craig O'Neill
Director of the Macquarie Planetary Research Centre/Associate Professor in Geodynamics, Macquarie University
Mark Quigley
Associate Professor of Earthquake Science, The University of Melbourne
Justine Bell-James
Associate Professor, TC Beirne School of Law, The University of Queensland
Senior Research Engineer, CSIRO
Dominique Roche
Postdoctoral Researcher, Australian National University
Andrew Dowdy
Principal Research Scientist, Australian Bureau of Meteorology
Michael Shats
Professor, Australian National University
Hugh Wolgamot
Research Fellow, Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems, The University of Western Australia
Mikis Tsimplis
Professor of law and ocean sciences, University of Southampton