July 2021

World's Largest Sapphire Cluster 'Accidentally' Found

(Image Credits: Shutterstock)   Pale blue stone, named 'Serendipity Sapphire' weighs 510kg or 2.5million carats A st…

Geologists Take Earth's Inner Temperature Using Erupted Sea Glass

A map of the World Ocean Floor. Credit: Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division   If the Earth’s oceans were drained…

Continuous Activity of Small Earthquakes Makes Mountains Grow

In the time between mega-earthquakes, smaller earthquakes continuously occur between oceanic and continental plates (backgro…

Rock Crystals From the Deep Give Microscopic Clues to Earthquake Ground Movements

Chunks of exotic green rocks from the mantle erupted from the San Carlos Volcanic Field, Arizona. Credit: James St John   Mi…

Watermelon Tourmaline: What Is Watermelon Tourmaline

Watermelon Tourmaline is a variety of tourmaline that is characterized by its pink or red center and green exterior. It is …

Ancient 15,000-Year-Old Viruses Identified in Melting Tibetan Glaciers

Bacteriophages on a bacterium. (Graham Beards/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 3.0)   Scientists who study glacier ice have found …

Rare Diamonds Show Life-Giving Elements Present on Earth Soon After It Formed

One of the 2.7 billion year-old diamonds used in this work. Credit: Michael Broadley   Earth's atmosphere was primed for…

“Invisible” Gold – Fool’s Gold Actually Contains Real Gold

“Invisible” Gold – Fool’s Gold Actually Contains Real Gold. Pyrite with Quartz - Huanzala Mine, Huallanca District, Dos de M…

World’s First Nuclear Bomb Test Created Rare, Otherworldly Crystal

Newly Discovered Quasicrystal – “Magnificent in Its Complexity” – Was Created by the First Nuclear Explosion at Trinity Site…

'Icelandia': Is Iceland the Tip of a Vast, Sunken Continent?

Academics believe they have identified a remarkable geological secret: A sunken continent hidden under Iceland and the sur…

Researchers Discover Why Gold Is Concentrated Alongside Arsenic

Why are gold deposits found at all? Gold is famously unreactive, and there seems to be little reason why gold should be co…

This Tiny, 120-Million-Year-Old Fossil Has a T. Rex-Like Skull on a Bird Body

The new bird fossil. (Min Wang)   A tiny, 120 million-year-old fossil, discovered in northeast China, is neither bird nor di…