Research

By Prof. Chuan-Chou Shen, Dept. of Geosciences　 Over millions of years, Earth has experienced cycles of ice ages and warm periods. Today, we find ourselves in a warm period heavily influenced by human activities. As greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere rise, global warming intensifies, causing ice sheets to melt rapidly, sea levels to rise, and posing severe threats to global ecosystems and human societies. Understanding the mechanisms behind these warming periods by studying past extreme warm periods is a crucial task for modern scientists. The hottest warm period in…

Since a millennium ago, it is well known that grinding metals yields various colors, presented as the beautiful colored windows in churches or the famous Lycurgus Cup. However, the underlying physics was not elucidated until Gustav Mie developed the corresponding electromagnetic wave scattering theory in the early 20th century. The Mie theory explains how structuring metals to sizes comparable to light wavelengths, not much smaller nor much larger, creates new optical resonances, enhancing absorption/scattering of specific wavelengths, and producing vivid colors. In the 21st century, the nanoscale Mie resonance phenomenon has been…

In a groundbreaking interdisciplinary research effort spanning over three years, a team of talented scientists has unveiled a significant breakthrough. Assistant Research Fellow Dr. Chien-Hsiang Lin from the Biodiversity Research Center at Academia Sinica, along with Assistant Professor Dr. Li Lo from the Department of Geological Sciences at National Taiwan University, and Associate Professor Dr. Chih-Lin Wei and Assistant Professor Dr. Sze Ling Ho from the Institute of Oceanography at National Taiwan University, have made a remarkable discovery. Their findings shed light on the intricate relationship between the structure of…

Chun-Wei Chang and Chih-hao Hsieh Prof. Chih-hao Hsieh from the Institute of Oceanography and Prof. Chun-Wei Chang from the Institute of Fishery Sciences, NTU lead an international team and develop a novel method that successfully anticipates the occurrence and type of a variety of critical transition events. This study, published in Science Advances (Jan 2023), overcomes the long-lasting challenge in revealing a quantitative threshold as well as distinguishing types of critical transition by early warning signals using empirical data collected in real-world systems. The proposed method also provides a powerful…

Europe, even located at the mid-high latitude at 40-70oN, the autumn and winter are mild and comfortable. Such pleasant weather is regulated by the warm and humid westerly winds from the North Atlantic Ocean. During the 15th to 19th century, Europe experienced the coldest winters over the last ten thousand years, known as the “Little Ice Age” (LIA). The LIA was suggested to be caused by volcanic eruptions and low solar activity. However, the detailed climate pattern in Europe remains unclear.Dr. Hsun-Ming Hu, the first author, and Prof. Chuan-Chou Shen,…

Causal networks of phytoplankton diversity and biomass are modulated by environmental context Chun-Wei Chang and Chih-hao Hsieh Postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Chun-Wei Chang, from the National Center for Theoretical Sciences and Prof. Chih-hao Hsieh from the Institute of Oceanography, NTU lead an international research team and analyze aquatic ecosystems (ranging from lake, river to estuary and ocean) around the world to unveil key causal interactions and feedbacks between biodiversity, ecosystem functions, and various environmental factors. This study, published in Nature Communications (March 3, 2022), overcomes the long-lasting challenge in quantifying complex…

Profs. Chun-Mao Tseng and Jen-Chieh Shiao from the Institute of Oceanography, NTU, and the US cooperative colleagues worked together as the mercury research team (referred to Team Mercury (Hg) hereinafter). The research provides them to initiate a new tool of the mercury accumulation rate (MAR) using top predators to examine global patterns in the cycling and pollution of Hg across the world's oceans. It also confirms the unchanging truth of "You are what you eat, and You have what you are" since time began. The results of this study, published…