EGU Scientific Divisions

More than just a cat: How Schrödinger invented modern Earth science

Asmae Ourkiya January 5, 2026

Image by Luku Muffin. Source: Unsplash

Did you know that yesterday, Sunday, January 4, 2026, marked 65 years since Erwin Schrödinger passed away? While the internet loves him for his cat in a box thought experiment, Geoscientists love him for something much more practical: the equation. Many of us have spent decades debating the health of a hypothetical feline in a box (I remember watching this episode of the Bing Bang Theory and think ...[Read More]

Discovery to recovery: how international collaboration solved the ozone crisis

Hazel Gibson December 26, 2025

Early morning light at Manchester surface radiation monitoring station. Credit: Andy Smedley (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu). This is the optical dome of the ozone and spectral UV instrument at the monitoring station, Brewer spectrophotometer 172.

38 years ago, representatives from 46 countries around the globe came together to find a solution to the climate crisis. Alerted to an issue discovered by scientists 13 years previously, the representatives of these nations worked together swiftly and with purpose to create an international treaty to combat a major environmental issue. The treaty was signed by all 46 participant nations and would ...[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

Photo by Leo Visions. Source: Unsplash

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]

Rethinking Europe’s historical climate leadership in a ‘Time of Transition’

Zsanett Gréta Papp and Simon Clark December 10, 2025

The Think2030 Dialogue Denmark was held in crucial times, since once the uncontested frontrunner in global climate governance, Europe now faces the dual challenge of renewing its leadership and maintaining competitiveness amid a shifting geopolitical and technological landscape, alongside a constantly changing multilateral world order. At a time when global competition over clean technologies, res ...[Read More]