June 2017

Light years from home – a geologist’s tale

Conor Purcell June 21, 2017

Sunrise seen from space . Illustration inspired by the opening scene of Stanley Kubricks film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Credit: Grafiker61 (Own work), distributed via Wikimedia Commons .

In a departure from the usual posts we feature on the blog, today Conor Purcell (a freelance science writer) brings you a thought provoking science fiction piece. Grab a drink and dive into this geology inspired adventure! “It’s typical geology for a rocky planet” K reported. “Captured beneath the ocean at its northern pole, the core is a mix of metamorphic and sedimentary rock, with sand an ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Airplane views of the Alps

Laura Roberts-Artal June 19, 2017

Alpine massifs above low level haze . Credit: Hans Volkert (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu).

The forward scattering of sunlight, which is caused by a large number of aerosol particles (moist haze) in Alpine valleys, gives the mountain massifs a rather plastic appearance. The hazy area in the foreground lies above the Koenigsee lake; behind it the Watzmann, Hochkalter, Loferer Steinberge and Wilder Kaiser massifs loom up behind one other to the right of the centre line. Behind them is the ...[Read More]

Cartooning science at EGU 2017 with Matthew Partridge (a.k.a Errant Science)

Laura Roberts-Artal June 16, 2017

The Geology Badger. Credit: Matthew Partridge, distributed via Errant Science.

Most researchers are regular conference-goers. Tell a geoscientist you are attending the EGU General Assembly and they will most likely picture rooms full of people listening to a miriad of talks, many an hour chatting to colleagues old and new and you desperately trying to find your way around the maze that is the Austria Centre Vienna (where the conference is held). Describing your experiences t ...[Read More]

Enmeshed in the gears of publishing – lessons from working as a young editor

Robert Emberson June 14, 2017

Robert shares details about what he learned while working as associate editor at Nature Geoscience . Credit: Lum3n.com (distributed via pexels).

Editors of scientific journals play an important role in the process research publication. They act as the midpoint between authors and reviewers, and set the direction of a given journal. However, for an early career scientist like me (I only defended my PhD in early December 2016) the intricacies of editorial work remained somewhat mysterious. Many academic journals tend to appoint established, ...[Read More]