May 2020

World's Oldest Bug is Fossil Millipede From Scotland

UT Austin scientists found that the fossil millipede Kampecaris obanensis was 425 million years old. Credit: British Geol…

The Largest Bug of All Time

The crown for the largest bug of all time goes to the Arthropleura , an extinct genus of millipedes that roamed the Earth d…

Hawaiian Volcano Puhahonu is Earth’s Biggest and Hottest Shield Volcano

Gardner Pinnacles. Image credit: Andy Collins, NOAA. With two barren peaks that rise only about 170 feet above sea le…

New Clues to Deep Earthquake Mystery

Subduction zones occur where one tectonic plate dives under another. A new understanding of our planet's deepest…

Rare, Mysterious Diamond Found in West Virginia

Jones diamond, photographed at Rich Creek Bank in Peterstown, 1968 Diamonds don't exist naturally in West Virgin…

Thunder egg: Ordinary Rocks With Crystal Surprise Inside!

A thunderegg (or thunder egg) is a nodule-like rock, similar to a filled geode, that is formed within rhyolitic volcanic ash…

Giant Tectonic Plate Under Indian Ocean is Breaking in Two

This map shows the seafloor topography and deformation below it at a fracture in the Wharton Basin. This fracture likely …

20-Million-Year-Old Bat Fly Fossil Found with Malaria

Bat fly fossil from 20 million years ago the first of its kind, study says. The first known fossil of a rare bloodsucker cal…

Dumortierite Quartz: Rare Blue Quartz

Dumortierite quartz is blue colored quartz containing abundant dumortierite inclusions . Dumortierite quartz is one of the …

Fossils of 10m-long Dinosaur Found in Argentina

Photo: Raffaele Sergi Paleontologists from the Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences said on Monday they found the 70…

Pineapple Quartz

Pineapple quartz, also known as celestial quartz or candle quartz, is a type of quartz with a unique appearance. It is char…

First Animal 'Buckyballs' Discovered in 80-million-year-old Sea Lillies

Uintacrinus socialis from the Niobrara Formation, Kansas, United States. Image credit: James St. John / CC BY 2.0. Sc…

Electric-blue Veszelyite Crystals

Electric-blue Veszelyite Crystals. Laochang Mine, Gejiu County, Yunnan Province, China Credit: Christian Rewitzer Veszelyite…

New Lake Larger Than 5 Football Fields Forms in Hawaiian Volcano

Image: Joshua Stevens (NASA Earth Observatory) NASA has released images that document the growth of a water lake insi…

Fascinating Utahite with Xocolatlite Crystals

Intense blue utahite groups on baryte with minor dagenaisite and red xocolatlite. Associated with xocolatlite is svanbergite…

Hundreds of Towering Hydrothermal Chimneys Discovered on Seafloor Off Washington

At the Endeavour Segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge, about 350 kilometers (220 miles) northwest of Washington State, the…