Atmospheric Sciences

Extraordinary iridescent clouds inspire Munch’s ‘The Scream’

Hazel Gibson April 26, 2017

Are the lurid colours and tremulous lines of Munch's 'The Scream', caused by strange and rarer nacreous clouds? L: Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream’ 1893. R: Mother-of-pearl or nacreous clouds. Credit: Svein Fikke.

Edvard Munch’s series of paintings and sketches ‘The Scream’ are some of the most famous works by a Norwegian artist, instantly recognisable and reproduced the world over. But what was the inspiration behind this striking piece of art? The lurid colours and tremulous lines have long been thought to represent Munch’s unstable state of mind; a moment of terror caught in shocking technicolour. At the ...[Read More]

Knowing the ocean’s twists and turns

Conor Purcell April 12, 2017

The ocean’s currents . Credit: Canuckguy (talk) and many others (see File history) derivative work (distributed via Wikimedia Commons )

Navigating the ocean demands a knowledge of its movements. In the past, sailors have used this knowledge to their advantage, following the winds and the ocean currents to bring them on their way. Prior to mutiny in 1789, Captain Bligh – on the HMS Bounty – famously spent a month attempting to pass westward through the Drake Passage, around Patagonia’s Cape Horn. Here the westerly ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Atmospheric gravity waves

Laura Roberts-Artal April 10, 2017

Atmospheric gravity waves . Credit: Jorge Magalhaes and Jose da Silva (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

From the tiny vibrations which travel through air, allowing us to hear music, to the mighty waves which traverse oceans and the powerful oscillations which shake the ground back and forth during an earthquake, waves are an intrinsic part of the world around us. As particles vibrate repeatedly, they create an oscillation, which when accompanied by the transfer of energy, creates a wave. The way in ...[Read More]

GeoTalk: How are clouds born?

Laura Roberts-Artal April 7, 2017

Meet Federico, a researcher based at University of Helsinki, working on understanding how clouds are born. Credit: Federico Bianchi

Geotalk is a regular feature highlighting early career researchers and their work. In this interview we speak to Federico Bianchi, a researcher based at University of Helsinki, working on understanding how clouds are born. Federico’s quest to find out has taken him from laboratory experiments at CERN, through to the high peaks of the Alps and to the clean air of the Himalayan mountains. His innova ...[Read More]