Muons are penetrating particles generated by cosmic rays. Muon radiography – or muography – is the large-scale equivalent of using x-rays to generate images. Except, instead of using x-rays to take a closer look at your broken arm, we can use showers of muons to take a look inside large geological structures – we’re talking …[Read More]
Planetary and Solar System Sciences
GeoCinema Online: Making Measurements
Making measurements from the space and looking to the skies has hugely enhanced our understanding of the Earth, it’s surface processes and its movement in space. This short episode of GeoCinema Online takes you through some of the great technological developments in the Earth and planetary sciences! Looking Down a Well: A Brief History of …[Read More]
GeoCinema Online: Space & Planetary Science
If you were at our General Assembly, you probably spotted GeoCinema, or took a moment to catch your breath between sessions and relax with a geological film. But with all the science to be heard and discussions to join, watching the full programme would have been impossible. How do we get around this? By bringing …[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Spying on the Arctic
This week’s Imaggeo on Mondays is brought to you by the photographer himself, Fabien Darrouzet who captured the beautiful glacial landscape during a summer expedition to the Arctic. This picture was taken in Svalbard (78° lat.) in June 2012. I was there for one week in order to observe the transit of the planet Venus in …[Read More]
GeoTalk: Alexis Rouillard
GeoTalk is a regular feature highlighting early career researchers and their work. Following the EGU General Assembly, we spoke to Alexis Rouillard, an Arne Richter Outstanding Young Scientist awardee and a brilliant space scientist. First, could you introduce yourself and let us know a bit about your current work at the French National Centre for Scientific Research? …[Read More]
GeoTalk: Dr Aikaterini Radioti
GeoTalk, featuring short interviews with geoscientists about their research, continues this month with a Q&A with Dr Aikaterini Radioti (University of Liège) who tells us about her work on auroras in Jupiter and Saturn. If you’d like to suggest a scientist for an interview, please contact Bárbara Ferreira. First, could you introduce yourself and let us …[Read More]
If Only We Had Been Taller: The Mars Curiosity mission
Today we feature a guest post by Mona Behl, a Visiting Fellow at the American Meteorological Society. Mona provides a review of the current Mars mission, including an overview of the revolutionary instruments featured aboard the Curiosity rover. “The fence we walked between the years did balance us serene. It was a place half in the …[Read More]
The fate of Earth observations, science and services
Today GeoLog features a guest post by Mona Behl, a Visiting Fellow at the American Meteorological Society. Mona explains why Earth observation satellites are so important and why the future of Earth observations, sciences and services might be at risk. The year 1957 marked the birth of Sputnik I, the world’s first artificial satellite to be launched …[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Hurricane season, from above
From space, planet Earth resembles a glassy blue marble, a term that was first used to describe a photograph of the Earth taken by the Apollo 17 crew on their way to the moon in 1972. Aside from providing stunning views of our planet, images of the Earth taken from above can also be used …[Read More]
Geosciences Column: Promise and challenges of space elevators for tourism
From Star Trek to Arthur C. Clarke, machines that carry humans into space inside a cable-driven chamber – space elevators – have remained in the realm of science fiction. However, recently a Japanese construction company revealed it has aspirations to actually build such a device, claiming it could be operational as early as 2050. Despite …[Read More]