This one was a challenge to write, and a challenge to get my head around, but I was challenged to write it, so challenge accepted and challenge fulfilled! Kaleidoscope of ice Frozen water, mineral ice, a simple structure, orientation concise. A fabric is woven from many crystals intertwined, axes interlocked. C-axes, crystalline kaleidoscopes of greys, blues and whites, reflecting, refracting and ...[Read More]
For this year’s Photo Contest, EGU received scores of amazing images capturing a broad spectrum of the geosciences. After the selection committee whittled the field down to 10 finalists, members have been voting for their favourites throughout the two weeks of vEGU21. We’ve had thousands of votes, but now we are very excited to announce the winners. Congratulations to these superb pho ...[Read More]
With a name like “atmospheric rivers” this subject is an absolute gift to the poetically-inclined! Atmospheric rivers I float high in the sky, higher than the jagged, ice-hewn nunatak peaks I see below me as I peer over the side of my coracle made of clouds. Down there, beneath frayed candifloss, Greenland glows white in bright polar sunlight. My coracle bobs and sways as I go with the ...[Read More]
Concepts accepted in geology always have room for revision. In this case, time itself is revised! This one melted my brain a little. Deep time, deep circulation, deep thinking Plate tectonics, amongst the most evocative subjects in geology. The entire skin of the earth shifting and reorganising continuously, the most profound of motion. So deep and ancient, that humans struggle to understand it. E ...[Read More]
I find the idea of nature-based solutions hugely appealing. Let’s explore what it means! Nature-based harmony Over billions of years, natural ecosystems have co-evolved solutions that prevent their damage and destruction. So why do we think we can do better, with only 10,000 years of innovation? We can restore and reproduce the natural behaviour of ecosystems in the places we inhabit, Nature ...[Read More]
This post is for everyone needing to relax during the conference, specifically written to accompany the Mindfulness Hour pop-up event on Thursday 29th April at 17:00 CEST. Calmscape Amidst the chaos of a conference, it can be hard to find peace, to stop and switch off. If you know where to look, even the hubbub. hustling, bustling corridors of the Austria Center hides a place of calm. Dart through ...[Read More]
The annual EGU Games Day is nearly upon us, Wednesday the 28th April 2021. As usual, we have our science session, Games for Geoscience, kicking off at 2:15pm CEST. Following this, we have our Geoscience Games Night networking session that will begin in a specially designed GatherTown space at 5.30pm CEST. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHLoHQaJIMc During the Geoscience Games Night y ...[Read More]
It all started with a tweet from @NatureNews (the news team of Springer Nature): In general, academics welcome Open Access (OA) initiatives; however, this particular tweet has been met with stiff criticism. Unethical profit-seeking, financial gatekeeping, academic elitism, and straining scientific budgets were commonly raised concerns among the many retweets and replies. Unfortunately, these conce ...[Read More]
Escalating geoscience Whether you approach through the urban greenspace tranquillity of the Donaupark, or trickle down from the platform at Kaisermühlen in the turbulent river of geoscientists that flows through the covered walkway, you arrive at the plaza in front of the triangular ziggurat of the Austria Center. The concrete meadow throngs with all sorts of geoscientists, from all over the world ...[Read More]
This is the first in a series of posts describing my memories and experiences of in-person EGU General Assemblies! Hopefully it’ll give y’all the feel of being in Vienna, for those who have been before to reminisce and all those yet to experience it something to look forward to. White blossom From on the wing, I look out over spring, distant Alpine giants sprinkled with confectioner’s- ...[Read More]
