An aerial view of the OASIS project container at ESO’s Paranal Observatory

In this image, the container comprising the OASIS project sits neatly within the large U-bend in the road leading to the Very Large Telescope at ESO’s Paranal Observatory. Although it looks small, this project, operated by the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), is an exciting first in atmospheric research, aiming to monitor earthquakes on the seafloor by detecting their effect on turbulence in the mid-atmosphere. The project wants to demonstrate that this technology could eventually provide early warnings for tsunamis.