On a humid morning in Augsburg, Germany, on August 10, 1893, a ten-foot iron cylinder roared to life for the first time. The engine belonged to Sir Rudolf Diesel, and running through its veins was not the petroleum distillate we associate with his name today, but in fact, peanut oil! Diesel’s early experiment proved something revolutionary for the late Industrial Revolution: the engines driving hu ...[Read More]
Thirty years ago, in August 1996, a catastrophic flash flood swept through the Las Nieves campsite on the alluvial fan of the Barranco de Aras near Biescas in the Central Pyrenees of Aragón, Spain. The tragedy claimed 87 lives and injured over 180 people. This makes it one of the most severe weather-related disasters in modern European history. In the decades following the disaster, geoscientists ...[Read More]
Each month we feature specific Divisions of EGU and during the monthly GeoRoundup we put the journals that publish science from those Divisions at the top of the Highlights section. For July, we are featuring the Planetary and Solar System Sciences (PS), Seismology (SM), and Tectonics and Structural Geology (TS). They are represented by the journals Solid Earth (SE), Geoscientific Model Developmen ...[Read More]
On July 20, 1976, a machine of steel and titanium dropped through a thin atmosphere and touched the dirt of Chryse Planitia. Scientists at NASA held their breath, since five years earlier, the Soviet Union’s Mars 3 probe had died less than two minutes after touchdown. To mitigate this nightmare, engineers programmed Viking 1 to scan its own footpad first. If the lander sank into oblivion, hu ...[Read More]
This Sunday, July 26, marks the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem. We are currently experiecing critical crossroads globally, where groundbreaking data on global forest recovery collides with the immediate threats of an escalating climate crisis.El Niño is pushing Pacific sea surface temperatures toward levels that rank among the highest on record, and climate specia ...[Read More]
Welcome to GeoTalk, Trevelayne! Could you introduce yourself to our readers? I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s degree in Cognitive Neuroscience. Throughout my career, I’ve developed and implemented communication strategies that translate scientific knowledge into clear and engaging narratives. Currently, I’m the Project Communications Officer for the MOSMIN (Multiscale Observ ...[Read More]
Beneath the serene landscapes we inhabit, the Earth’s crust is a battleground of constant, immense, and invisible tectonic forces. While humanity typically only notices this deep-seated stress when it violently releases in the form of an earthquake and volcanoes, these forces have always been shaping the structural bedrock of our planet. Understanding this hidden architecture is one of the most vi ...[Read More]
Another General Assembly has come to an end, and perhaps, many would agree on how inspiring and enriching the week was. Yet this year, being inside the EGU bubble felt particularly strange while the world outside is quite literally on fire. Wars, systemic violations of international laws and the acceleration of environmental crises continue to unfold across the globe In this context, geoscientists ...[Read More]
If you recently attended the European Geosciences Union (EGU)’s General Assembly, you may have discovered that EGU is much more than an annual conference. Or perhaps, you recently joined EGU as a member, and are now wondering: How can I become more involved in the EGU community? My name is Josephine Cakuru, and I am the Community Development Assistant of the EGU Executive Office. Building upon my ...[Read More]
Each month we feature specific Divisions of EGU and during the monthly GeoRoundup we put the journals that publish science from those Divisions at the top of the Highlights section. For June, we are featuring the Ocean Science Division (OS). It is represented by the journal Ocean Science. Ocean Science Estuarine mixing – 22 June 2026 This review presents major aspects of estuarine mix ...[Read More]
