Crinoids: The Fossils That Inspired 'Alien'
Crinoids are commonly known as sea lilies due to their "flower-like" appearance , though they are animals, not pl…
September 2019
What Percent of Earth is Water
The Earth is often compared to a majestic blue marble, especially by those privileged few who have gazed upon it from orbit.…
Kimberlites: Enigmatic Origin of Diamond-bearing Rocks Revealed
Tiny inclusions in diamonds, such as this garnet, are evidence that they formed deep in the mantle. Credit: Anetta Banas/…
New Evidence of the Sahara's Age
Sahara Desert The Sahara Desert is vast, generously dusty, and surprisingly shy about its age. New research looking in…
Geochemists Measure New Composition of Earth's Mantle
Peridot crystals. Photos: right: pegmatite, left: Federico Barlocher What is the chemical composition of the Earth&#…
Lapis Lazuli: Gemstone, Uses, Properties
Lapis Lazuli is a beautiful, deep blue gemstone with flecks of gold pyrite and white calcite. It's been prized for centu…
Gigantic Masses in Earth’s Mantle Untouched for More Than 4 Billion Years
This image shows the divisions between Earth’s layers. The ancient, continent-sized rock regions encircle the liquid oute…
Scientist Discovers Unusual New Mineral Inside a Diamond
Scientist Discovers Unusual New Mineral Inside a Diamond A Ph.D. student at the University of Alberta has discovered a …
What Happens When Magnetic North and True North Align?
The lines of the Earth’s magnetic field come vertically out of the Earth at the south magnetic pole and go vertically dow…
Scientists Uncover 550 Million-Year-Old Fossils of Bug Trails
A fossil of Yilingia spiciformis and the track it left as it moved. (Z. Chen et al. / Nature) A 550-million-year-old …
There's a Lost Continent Hiding Beneath Europe
Photo: The Sun Researchers uncovered traces of a lost continent that disappeared under what is today Europe about 120…
Rocks at Asteroid Impact Site Record First Day of Dinosaur Extinction
Asteroid as Powerful as 10 Billion World War II Atomic Bombs May Have Wiped Out the Dinosaurs When the asteroid that …
Pyrite: Facts About Pyrite "Fool's Gold"
Pyrite is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula FeS 2 (iron(II) disulfide). Pyrite is considered the most common of t…
