Earth and Space Science Informatics

70 years of tech: Does it serve science or separate us from it? My take as an EGU media professional

Asmae Ourkiya September 4, 2026

When I joined the European Geosciences Union in 2024 as a media professional, my primary mandate felt straightforward: democratising scientific understanding and building durable, trustworthy bridges that connect scientists, researchers, journalists, and public communicators. Now, in my third year at EGU, I find myself looking out over our scientific community with a mixture of reverence and uneas ...[Read More]

ESA’s Green Meridian Information Factory: Why not to miss the workshop this Friday at EGU26

Asmae Ourkiya May 6, 2026

As we immerse ourselves in our 20th Viennese General Assembly EGU26, the volume of climate models and atmospheric projections can be quite overwhelming, to say the least. While our EGU geoscientific community is excellent at observing the planet, a persistent challenge remains in communicating that massive planetary data into tools that a local council, a commercial farmer, or an urban planner can ...[Read More]

Why are NASA scientists holding eggs? The surprising new physics of Jupiter & the latest briefing on Juno’s mission

Asmae Ourkiya and Manuela Gialanella May 6, 2026

The latest NASA Juno briefing was presented at EGU26 yesterday. Speakers introduced unprecedented results that not only deepened our understanding of Jupiter but also invited us to reflect on the future of scientific methodology. Whether you’re a space geek or a tech enthusiast, hop in, as we’re about to take you on an exploratory journey to learn about how neural networks, serendipitous cameras, ...[Read More]

The prize that failed forward: How a 100,000-franc quest for aliens funded a century of astronomy

Asmae Ourkiya December 17, 2025

Today, 17 December, marks 125 years since the formal announcement of one of the most eccentric, ambitious, and ultimately consequential prizes in the history of science: the Prix Pierre Guzman. Announced by the French Académie des Sciences in December 1900, the award promised 100,000 francs, which is the equivalent of hundreds of thousands of dollars today, to the first person who could successful ...[Read More]

The existential modelling crisis – and how to overcome it

Lucia Layritz September 5, 2025

Recently, we had a big name in fire ecology visiting our institute. He had come, among other things, to look for records of a certain fire-adapted shrub in my university’s herbarium. While myself and a colleague helped him go through the stacks of pressed and archived specimens, I asked him why there were so little contributions to the herbarium in recent years. His response was: “People sto ...[Read More]

Io: a spongy world consumed by molten rock

Anna Katsigera April 30, 2025

Jupiter’s moon Io is the most volcanically active world in our solar system, with hundreds of volcanoes that constantly erupt on its ever renewing surface. Although Io always points the same side toward Jupiter in its orbit around the gas giant, two other Galilean moons, Europa and Ganymede, pull Io’s orbit into an irregularly elliptical one. Thus, in its widely varying distances from ...[Read More]

Geo-magicians: The mysterious work of understanding our magnetic Earth

Asmae Ourkiya February 28, 2025

There is a force all around us—unseen, unfelt, and yet profoundly influential. It guides the migration of birds across continents, whispers secrets to ancient rocks, and shields us from cosmic storms. This force is as mysterious as it is essential, shaping our world in ways that most of us never think about. Imagine a sailor centuries ago, staring at a compass that always points north. What guides ...[Read More]

Space debris: Borrowing the planet from our children- Why we need to mitigate space desecration

Asmae Ourkiya January 17, 2025

On December 11, 2024, while taking part in AGU’s 2024 Annual Meeting, I attended a press conference hosted by experts from the University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Michigan that focuses on the serious risks posed by space debris in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). As we are heading towards an increasingly crowded space environment, the question on everyone’s mind is: What can we do to ...[Read More]

Hera: A journey to Mars kicks off Earth’s latest defence plan

Asmae Ourkiya November 26, 2024

And what if we could prevent a catastrophe as old as the dinosaurs?… As Hera’s mission launched last month, this blog post aims to give you insights into this mission and why it matters. Continue reading and find out! One of humans’ biggest rebellious acts against insignificance is staring at the sky and wondering what else is out there, then thinking “We can definitely fin ...[Read More]

Was that a meteor or a re-entry ? The final frontier for satellites when their mission ends

Asmae Ourkiya November 15, 2024

Like humans, satellites have a lifespan. These machines orbiting high above Earth serve various critical purposes that range from monitoring weather systems and tracking greenhouse gases to studying the cosmos. But even the most advanced satellites reach a point when their electronics wear out, their fuel depletes, and their missions come to an end. When their time is up, what becomes of these tir ...[Read More]