The German Town That's Literally Breaking Apart

Tom Scott has ended his tour of America and is back in Europe, finding places with interesting stories to tell us about. The picturesque town of Staufen, Germany, is one such place. A geothermal drilling operation in 2007 has caused the ground to swell up under the downtown area, and the buildings are cracking. When the foundation underneath has moved, there's not a lot you can do for the buildings on top. Those buildings stood firm for hundreds of years, but in the last ten, they are crumbling. The problem is explained in depth in this article from the journal Geothermal Energy. (via reddit)