Every December , geoscientists descend on San Francisco for the American Geophysical Union annual meeting . It ’s the prison term for announcementsbigandsmallover a intimidating diversity of topics . summarize the largeness of enquiry is an workout in futility , so instead , here ’s a tiny taste of what was shared .
Seismometers are being used to supervise the structural integrity of aesthetically pleasing but geologically touchy erosion features in internal parks .
With upwards of25,000 geoscientistsin attendance the AGU Fall Meeting is epic in the breadth of research crammed into just five days . The timing is also hilariously tremendous : squeezed between last examination and the vacation season , it ’s the perfect situation for fascinating discovery and works - in - progression to slip between the cracks . Thescientific programme this year included 1,700 sessions , each with stories to explore . This is by no means a summary of everything demo , or even the most notable discoveries , but instead is a near - random sample of the types of inquiry hash out in 2014 :
Although we knewthunderstorms produce gamma rays , thenewest earth - based datais picking up far more than anticipated from premature blank space - found measurements .
aery photo over Antarctica from the forties and 1950sare being fastidiously aligned and located to value volume and aggregated - balance changes in the glacier .
Moider Glacier methamphetamine loss ( red ) and gain ( green ) between 1957 and 2013 .
Although the inquiry is still in - onward motion , initial determination are that as the glacier retreat with thin - to - disappearing toe , the glacier head actually inspissate .
CrowdMagwants to crowdsource magnetic data collection using digital gaussmeter in smartphones . Their Bob Hope is to map out dissonance source and watch real - time alteration , if only they can overcome low instrument sensitiveness and high transeunt environmental noise while convince people touse the ego - surveillance engineering science of smartphones for skill .
Shellfish are excellent at filtering and elucidate H2O , but Modern enquiry looks to also utilize them to supervise water character .
Sensors tag both nerve rate and curtain raising times of this mussel . mental image credit entry : Lee Hauser
By snitch sensing element up to track the heart rate of mussels , researcher are hop-skip to use the creatures at biological sensing element track nitrogen horizontal surface .
We have a new disk - breaking brute : a Pisces native to the Mariana Trench now holds the book as thedeepest fish , a fish live at depths we only expected to find mollusk and crustaceans .
Multimedia producer for Stanford ’s School of Earth SciencesMiles Traerwent cruise the encounter with sketchbook in - deal , taking cartoon - promissory note on recent discovery . He occur to the actualization that Philae was n’t just the first automaton to land on a comet :
Philae : comet - lander andinterplanetary sauna robot . Image credit : Miles Traer
Of course , Rosetta and Philea were everywhere at the conference , with an flood room to the literal way . Unfortunately , quite a few of the images are still restricted , even from scientists working with other instruments on the robot . When Philae landed , it knocked a slice oflarge , fluffy dust off the comet , and Rosetta catch it .
Initial data from MIDAS , the dust - catcher on Rosetta . Image credit : ESA / Mark Bentley
Exemplifying the constant top side / downside of geoengineering to extenuate clime change , modifying ship locomotive engine to produce small , brighter bubbleswould reverberate more sunlight , but may also increase localized rainfall .
The mission scientists from MAVEN , thenewest NASA artificial satellite around Mars , were pose theirinitial findingsoncharacterizing atmosphere lossfrom the red major planet .
researcher from the Mars Reconnoissance Orbiter were also attending to present Modern event from their not - so - new satellite .
Image credit : NASA / JPL / University of Arizona
Instead of rolling boulder or flowing piddle , the current model forhow these beautiful Martian gully formis that they ’re cut by tumbling , sublimating dry ice that later evaporates .
Now the meeting is over and both scientist and journalists are staggering home base , we can expect more word to seep out of what the cutting border of Earth and planetary scientific discipline look like this year . At least , as soon as they get over jetlag , decipher their notes , and survive the holiday time of year .
Were you attending or follow along with the livestreams from a distance ? What research caught your heart ?
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