January 2017

How Salt Crystals Destroy Stone Buildings

Salt crystals Salt crystals are often responsible when buildings start to show signs of ageing. Researchers from…

Fossilized Tree and Ice Cores Help Date Huge Volcanic Eruption

An international team of researchers has managed to pinpoint, to within three months, a medieval volcanic eruption in e…

Scientists Create A New Kind Of Matter: Time Crystals

Hoarfrost is a kind of ice crystal made of water. Researchers discovered time crystals, which are repetitive patterns…

Answering the Mystery of Turquoise Provenance

Turquoise has had cultural significance for Native American peoples in the southwestern United States and Mexico for mo…

Scientists Have Finally Created Metallic Hydrogen

Diamond anvils being used to put pressure on hydrogen sample Lab-Made 'Metallic Hydrogen' Could Revolutionize…

Scientists Discover 'Alien' Insect in Amber From 100 Million Years Ago

Introducing Aethiocarenus burmanicus. (image: George Poinar, Jr.) Around 100 million years ago, an alien-looking inse…

Alaska volcano erupts for 2nd day in a row; planes warned

Pavlof Volcano in Alaska sends a plume of volcanic ash into the air on Sunday. It has had 40 known eruptions. Photo: AP …

Exceptionally Preserved Jurassic Sea Life Found in New Fossil Site

A fossilized mantle of a vampyropod, a relative to the modern vampire squid (pictured on bottom right). The ink sack is t…

187.7ct Foxfire Diamond Discovered in Sub-arctic Ice

The Foxfire diamond is the largest known uncut, gem-quality diamond mined in North America.  (Smithsonian Museum of Natur…

Fiery eruption of Mexico's Colima volcano sends ash 2 km into air

Mexico's 'fire' volcano has blasted its top again. Dramatic video showed Colima spewing incandescent materi…

Did an earthquake shrink Mount Everest?

Mount Everest from an aerial view taken over Nepal on Oct. 21, 2005. According to India's surveyor-general, a schoo…

Bogoslof sends ash over Unalaska; Takawangha rumbles

Bogoslof Volcano could send ash cloud to Unalaska following eruption The latest eruption of Bogoslof volcano Tuesday mor…

The Largest Rough Ruby Crystal in the World

This unique specimen is one of the world’s largest known rough ruby gemstones. This unique single natural ruby crystal …

Are we ready for another massive volcanic eruption?

Are we ready for another massive volcanic eruption? An enormous volcanic eruption would not necessarily plunge the wo…

Understanding New Evidence of the Impact of Climate Change in the Early Jurassic Period

This shows Early Jurassic ammonite. Credit: Plymouth University Geochemical and biological research offers academics a…

Meteorite Identification: How to Identify Meteorites in 7 Steps

Have you ever stumbled upon a strange rock and wondered if it could be a meteorite, a piece of our solar system's past? …

Tsunami Warning for Us West Coast After Magnitude-7.9 Earthquake Off Alaska

A magnitude-7.9 earthquake detected in the Gulf of Alaska has triggered tsunami warnings in Alaska and tsunami watche…

Aventurescence: Shimmering Magic

Aventurescence describes a captivating optical phenomenon found in certain gemstones, characterized by a sparkling, glittery…

Conditions Right for Complex Life Come and Go?

This is a 1.9-billion-year-old stromatolite -- or mound made by microbes that lived in shallow water -- called the Gunfli…