September 2018

Zirconia: The World’s Hottest Rock

Zirconia: The World’s Hottest Rock Zirconia is a mineral with a crystal structure made from the elements zirconium (Zr)…

Scientists Have Been Drilling Into the Ocean Floor for 50 Years

Ocean Floor photo: By David Shukman It's stunning but true that we know more about the surface of the moon than ab…

Japan's Largest Complete Dinosaur Skeleton Comes to Life

The bones of the dinosaur Mukawaryu which have been cleaned so far. These likely represent more than half of the bones th…

World's Oldest Known Animal Identified After Decades-long Mystery

This is a Dickinsonia fossil. The oldest known animal in the geological record has been identified, in a discovery th…

Subducting Slabs of the Earth's Crust May Generate Unusual Features

Nearly 1,800 miles below the earth's surface, there are large odd structures lurking at the base of the mantle, sit…

Scientists Identified Three Reasons Responsible for Earth’s Spin Axis Drift

The observed direction of polar motion, shown as a light blue line, compared with the sum (pink line) of the influence of…

Thawing Permafrost May Release More CO2 Than Previously Thought

Pictured here is a permafrost thaw slump that is exposing sediment- and ice-rich permafrost on the Peel Plateau in Canada…

Geoscientists Find Unexpected 'Deep Creep' Near San Andreas, San Jacinto Faults

A cartoon showing how anomalous earthquakes near the San Andreas and San Jacinto faults in southern California work in re…

Lava Flow Seen on Restless Alaska Volcano

Veniaminof volcano Mount Veniaminof, 772 kilometres southwest of Anchorage, is one of the state's most acti…

Study: Kidney Stones Have Distinct Geological Histories

A human kidney stones from Mayo Clinic. A geologist, a microscopist and a doctor walk into a lab and, with their coll…

Geologists Reveal Ancient Connection Between England and France

This graphic shows how the ancient land masses of Laurentia, Avalonia and Armorica would have collided to create the coun…

Elephant Bird Mystery Solved? Discovery May Explain Demise of World's Largest-ever Birds

Aepyornis maximus. Analysis of bones, from what was once the world's largest bird, has revealed that humans arrive…

Michigan Man Discovers Glowing, Fluorescent Rocks Called "Yooperlites"

Yooperlites are a type of fluorescent rock that is found in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, specifically along the shores o…

Gold 'Mother Lode' Unearthed Underground in Australia Delivers $15 Million

These gold-covered rocks weigh in at 90kg and 60kg respectively. Workers at the Beta Hunt mine near the small town of…

Scientists Discover a Volcanic Heat Source Beneath Antarctic's Most Vulnerable Glacier

Active volcano discovered beneath Antarctic ice sheet could be contributing to rapidly melting glacier A researcher …

M5.9 Earthquake Detected Off Oregon Coast

A strong earthquake has hit the off coast region of Oregon on Thursday morning, according to United States Geological …

Researchers Report the First Natural Example of a Fossilised Earthquake

Serpentinite Photo: James St. John The first natural example of a fossilised earthquake in serpentinite (type of rock…