JpGU-AGU Joint Meeting 2026

convener:Ichiro Kumagai(School of Science and Engineering, Meisei University), Ayako I Suzuki(Toyo University), SHIMOKAWA MICHIKO(Nara Womens University), Kei Kurita(Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology)

"Kitchen Earth Science" aims to understand a natural phenomenon in earth and planetary sciences through analogue experiments using goods and tools in our daily life. Analogue experiments have a function of revealing the fundamental physics governing the phenomenon. At the same time, they inherently contain uncertainties, so that unexpected results are often obtained, which have a potential for surprising discoveries. These findings also provide a good opportunity for deep thinking and raise new questions to be explored. Such experiences are valuable not only for young researchers in earth and planetary sciences, but also non-experts who survive the unexpected global environmental changes. In this session, we focus on the importance of the (maybe) useless researches that stimulate our intellectual curiosity as discussed in Abraham Flexner's "The usefulness of useless knowledge" (1939). This time, we will invite a variety of speakers who report experiments on "Kitchen Earth Science" and introduce hands-on analogue experiments that provide diverse goals. We welcome all the participants who are interested in "Kitchen Earth Science" to stimulate your brain by hands-on analogue experiments.