Minerals are geologic time capsules of the environments in which they form. With the right approach, their mysteries can be cracked open to reveal key features of the ancient Earth or other planets.

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Robert Hazen was attending a Christmas party, one December night in ...

Scientists at the American Museum of Natural History and the University of Chicago have explained how a globe-encircling residue formed in the aftermath of the asteroid impact that triggered the ...

Geology reference texts define mineral species based on chemical composition and crystal structure. But mineral samples collected in the field often contain trace elements and structural defects that ...

Interactions between iron, water, oxygen and ions quickly become complex. MTU scientists developed a more precise method to observe how iron minerals like rust form. One can easily see with the naked ...

While some scientists are hard at work investigating phenomena beyond Earth, others are still making new discoveries on our ...

Two minerals never seen on Earth before were discovered in a gigantic meteorite weighing 16.5 tons, offering researchers possible clues about how the space rocks are formed. The new minerals were ...

The Dom Pedro Aquamarine is one of the largest mineral crystals found inside Earth’s rocks. Abigail Eisenstadt Dom Pedro aquamarine was cut from a 100-pound crystal that was mined in the late 1980s.

A bright fireball streaked across the sky above mountains, glaciers and spruce forest near the town of Revelstoke in British Columbia, Canada, on the evening of March 31, 1965. Fragments of this ...

Researchers say they are one step closer to finding out if life ever existed on Mars. An international team has found “compelling evidence” of multiple mineral-forming events just below the planet’s ...