Generally, students are taught basic science and given a rudimentary overview of the political system from a young age. I remember learning how to do basic experiments from the age of 7 and learning about the Australian Parliament not long after that. We had specific classes dedicated to various scientific disciplines in high school and when I went onto study environmental science in my Bachelors ...[Read More]
December 2004 saw one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. 228,000 people were killed when an earthquake off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra triggered tsunami waves up to 30 m high. The destruction was extreme as the waves hit 14 different countries around the Indian Ocean. Economic losses totalled over 10 billion US dollars. The tourism industry in particular suff ...[Read More]
It’s not every day that you can peer into a volcano, much less gaze out at the sky from the inside of one. The Algar do Carvão, or “the Cavern of Coal,” is one of the few places on Earth where you can explore the underground reaches of a volcanic site. The volcanic pit is found on the island of Terceira, part of the Azores archipelago. This collection of islands is an autonomous region of Portugal ...[Read More]
Your first time at the General Assembly can be a daunting experience. It’s not easy to navigate the scientific programme and let’s not even mention navigating the building! It becomes even more difficult if you do not know many people in your scientific community yet. Luckily, one of the easiest things to do at EGU is meeting new people. Jyotirmoy Paul, PhD student at the Indian Instit ...[Read More]
In the May issue of the Life of a Scientist we have the pleasure to talk to Prof. Ilya Usoskin from the Univeristy of Oulu, Finland. Among numerous things, he is the head of the Oulu Cosmic Ray station and receipent of this year’s Julius Bartels EGU Medal; a decision that was based: “on his contributions to the understanding of the heliosphere, long-term changes in the solar activity ...[Read More]
What does it take to get a scientific theory accepted? Hard facts? A strong personality? Grit and determination? For many Earth Scientists today it can be hard to imagine the academic landscape before the advent of plate tectonics. But it was only fifty years ago that the theory really became cemented as scientific consensus. And the clinching evidence was found in the oceans. Alfred Wegener had p ...[Read More]
Polarized light photomicrograph of a thin section of a charoite-bearing schist. Charoite is a rare silicate found only at one location in Yakutia, Russia. For its beautiful and uncommon purple color it is used as a semi-precious stone in jewelry. Under the microscope charoite-bearing rocks give an overall feeling of movement, with charoite forming fibrous mats that swirl and fold as a result of de ...[Read More]
Three years ago, an earthquake-induced avalanche and rockfalls buried an entire Nepalese village in ice, stone, and snow. Researchers now think the region’s heavy snowfall from the preceding winter may have intensified the avalanche’s disastrous effect. The Langtang village, just 70 kilometres from Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, is nestled within a valley under the shadow of the Himalayas. The town wa ...[Read More]
Humans rely on antibiotics for survival, but over time they are becoming less effective. So-called ‘superbugs’ are developing resistance to our most important drugs. The key to this global issue may be found in the cryosphere, where extreme microbiologists are hunting for new compounds in the cold that could help us win the war against antimicrobial resistance. Discovering drugs in Earth’s coldest ...[Read More]
At the EGU General Assembly 2018, a new team of Seismology Early Career Scientist representatives was introduced and installed. With more than half of the EGU membership consisting of Early Career Scientists, the team represent an important part of the community and want to be approachable for all. They will be responsible for the Seismology blog, organize the yearly short course “Seismology for n ...[Read More]
