We’re drinking an enormous amount of coffee in Vienna this week, but the residues at the bottom of the cafetière usually end up in the bin. Kalliopo Fotopoulou, from the University of Patras in Greece, has found a way to transform that residue into something far more useful. Baking coffee residues in an oven changes them into a carbon rich “biochar”, which can be added to soils t ...[Read More]
#EGU2014: Bright Sparks in Dirty Thunderclouds
Lightning bolts formed in dirty thunderclouds could help geologists to detect explosive volcanic eruptions. Volcanic lightning is very poorly understood, but Corrado Cimarelli, from the University of München, has been able to reproduce the phenomena in his laboratory. Volcanic lightning is broadly similar to lightning in thunderclouds, but the addition of ash makes the process more complex. Volcan ...[Read More]
#EGU2014: Google Research
Earth Engine is a tool produced by the developers at Google to help scientists process the numerous satellite images taken of the Earth over the past thirty years. Short videos are available online to give you some idea how this tool could be used. One shows the expansion of Las Vegas, and the accompanying drop in nearby lake levels, another the effects of coal mining in Wyoming. But you can zoo ...[Read More]
#EGU2014: The leaning towers of Shenzen
Flood events in coastal cities are on the increase. The trend is usually blamed on rising sea levels and extreme weather events, caused by anthropogenic climate change. While water levels are rising, some cities are also sinking. And human activity may partly be to blame. Urban subsidence can be caused by soil drainage, construction projects, or the extraction of groundwater, oil, gas and coal. Su ...[Read More]