The Apocalypse – a Geoscientific View

Today is a fun day. Some New Age guys decided that an ending calendar of an ancient culture can only have one meaning: The world is going to end. Homer Simpson on the end Copyright Matt Groening Now this happens quite often and some people will always tell you that this world is going to […]

A Global Lithological Map

It’s colorful, it’s huge and it’s a hundred times more detailed than its predecessors. <span class=”removed_link” title=”http://www.vis.klimacampus.de/2270.html&L=1″>http://www.vis.klimacampus.de/2270.html?&L=1</span> It’s a new lithological map of the worldHartmann, J., & Moosdorf, N. (2012). The new global lithological map database GLiM: A representation of rock properties at the Earth surface Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, 13 DOI: 10.1029/2012GC004370. The map is […]

The l’Aquila trial: Getting the big picture

In April 2009 a devastating earthquake hit the town l’Aquila in Italy. Destroyed buildings leave 308 persons dead and over 22 thousand have to flee to government funded shelters. This as it is, is a tragedy on many levels, but this week the aftermath pushes l’Aquila back into the media and leaves the world wondering […]

Amazing fluid dynamics

Fluid dynamics is just boring equations, right? Well have a look at this video and think again! Food-dye is always fun, especially when you get to mix it and get some colourful joy. But this is just amazing how this liquid creates “laminar flow”. If there were turbulences in the fluid while turning, you would […]

The three virtues

Don’t forget the three virtues of a Geophysicist, namely: True Love, True Friendship, True Amplitudes. ~ M. Tygel This happens to be my favorite quote about geophysics. A fellow writer asked me, what this quote was all about. So I began to elaborate on this. The part about “True Love” appears to be the easiest […]

Did you see it?

Did you see it? We do a big deal in presenting the most stunning and interesting places around the world and explain the science behind it. We always try to go that little extra and get the story complete. In the beginning, of this year’s summer, the U.S. Geological Survey called for you to complete […]

Gotland and van Gogh [Landsat Week]

Today we have reached the final picture of Landsat week. I am starting to ask myself if someone at NASA is trying to follow in van Gogh’s footsteps. We have featured a video on ocean currents visualized in a van Gogh’esque fashion. This picture seems very much like the masterpiece ?The Starry Night?. This picture […]

Fractal Art at the Yukon River Delta [Landsat Week]

Today's Landsat week post brings to you: art! I really don't know how to better describe this wonderful picture. But I will do my very best to try. While on first sight this could be many things, even biologically grown structures, this shows a river delta. To be exact it's the Yukon River Delta in […]

Erg Iguidi [Landsat Week]

Today’s Landsat post leads us to Algeria. The yellow streaks crossing this picture show us Erg Iguidi. This erg is part of the Sahara. If you direct your view on the fascinating background, you can distinguish between black sandstone in the middle and sand plains as seen on the lower left. Take a really close […]

Lake Eyre [Landsat Week]

Landsat Week! First of all, I have to admit that this picture kind of creeps me out. It just looks like a huge deranged face. It shows lake Eyre in northern South Australia. Although it is a lake, in its usual state Lake Eyre is a huge salt crust covering most of the lakes bed […]