Satellite image of Saturn, its rings, and tiny moon Mimas
This gorgeous image of Saturn, its razor-thin rings, and tiny moon Mimas was processed from a 2007 Cassini image. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI/CICLOPS/Kevin M. Gill, CC BY 2.0

Cassini.

Wow. Oh, wow. If you thought you were done marveling at the beauty of Saturn just because the Cassini mission is over, think again.

—Kimberly Cartier, Staff Writer

“Rosalind Franklin” Mars Rover Assembly Completed. Construction of the rover named for the DNA pioneer, a collaboration between the European Space Agency and Roscosmos, was completed on Tuesday. It travels next from the Airbus facility in the United Kingdom to another in France for testing, before being launched in July 2020. The Franklin rover will be able to dig as deep as 2 meters into the Martian ground to search for signs of life.
—Heather Goss, Editor in Chief

How Should We Talk About What’s Happening to Our Planet? An interesting take on how to talk about climate change.
—Randy Showstack, Staff Writer

Is the Threat of “Fake Science” Real? Well, yes. Fake science includes not only outright fraud and state- and industry-sanctioned nudges but also the unintended consequences of innovation and academic policies. Great think piece.
—Caryl-Sue, Managing Editor

Peer Reviewers Need a Code of Conduct Too.  Ask around and you’ll find that many current and former academics have been bullied by peer reviewers, usually early in their careers. It happened to me, too. Anonymous peer review is not a license to bully, haze, or terrorize other academics. Constructive criticism of science should do just that: build people up and help them become better scientists.
—Kimberly Cartier, Staff Writer

“Coral in Volcanic Ash”; Medium: Carbonate and Silicate; Artist: Nature.

This mass of ancient coral surrounded by volcanic ash on Oahu is striking and almost mind-blowing, until you realize there’s a perfectly reasonable geologic explanation. Actually, even then it’s pretty mind-blowing—and even more striking.
—Timothy Oleson, Science Editor

“Painting” the Ghost Forests of the Mid-Atlantic Coast. Rising sea levels are bringing saltwater farther inland, killing trees, and the resulting ghost forests are growing at an increasing rate. A photographer used an unusual process to explore the issue, producing haunting, evocative images.
—Faith Ishii, Production Manager

No, This Island of Pumice Will Not Help Save the Great Barrier Reef.

Satellite image of a huge raft of floating grey rocks in the ocean
This Manhattan-sized raft of floating rock was ejected by an undersea volcano in the waters surrounding the South Pacific island nation of Tonga. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory

Climate change wins again. Despite some recent news stories indicating that a huge chunk of pumice could bring new life to the Great Barrier Reef, others explain that these pumice rafts are nothing new and won’t counteract rising temperatures.
—Tshawna Byerly, Copy Editor

Ousted Head of Science Agency Criticizes Brazil’s Denial of Deforestation Data and Plants Could Remove Six Years of Carbon Dioxide Emissions—If We Protect Them.

The current increase in deforestation of the Amazon rain forest is unconscionable given the strikingly clear forecast of creating a degraded savanna with continued clear-cutting and new research showing just how efficiently trees remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
—Liz Castenson, Editorial and Production Coordinator

New Elevation Measure Shows Climate Change Could Quickly Swamp the Mekong Delta. As great as global satellite data are, ground truthing those data whenever possible is imperative, as this research shows. “The ground-truthed projection more than doubles the number of Vietnamese living in low-lying areas that will be inundated by encroaching seas, with some underwater in only a few decades.”
—Timothy Oleson, Science Editor

Global Warming Is Conquering the Vikings.

Photo and map of an icy coastal archaeological site.
Climate change is putting organic artifacts, such as those found at kitchen middens like these at Qajaa, Greenland, at risk. Credit: Joergen Hollesen, CC BY-4.0

A wealth of information may be lost forever as up to 70% of archaeological remains in the Arctic will likely decompose in the next 80 years. Such a shame.
—Faith Ishii, Production Manager

Researchers Reproduce Processes Behind Astrophysical Shocks.

Image of the Sun with bright solar flares
Researchers in the lab have reproduced the process behind shock waves driven by solar flares and coronal mass ejections. Credit: NASA/SDO

We just got a little closer to understanding the astrophysical shocks that come from solar flares and coronal mass ejections! Interestingly enough, the results didn’t come from space, but from the lab. An intriguing study.
—Jenessa Duncombe, Staff Writer

Taking a Breath of the Wild: Are Geoscientists More Effective Than Non-geoscientists in Determining Whether Video Game World Landscapes Are Realistic?

YouTube video

Good news, everyone! It is OK to learn geology from your video game, so play on.
—Liz Castenson, Editorial and Production Coordinator

Citation:

(2019), Saturnalia revisited, Rosalind Franklin, and other recommendations, Eos, 100, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019EO131873. Published on 29 August 2019.

Text © 2019. AGU. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
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