New mineral classification system captures Earth’s complex past
The first minerals to form in the universe were nanocrystalline diamonds, which condensed from gases ejected when the first generation of stars exploded.
Diamonds that...
Your diamond most likely made of recycled ocean floor
The diamond on your finger is most likely made of recycled seabed cooked deep in the Earth.
Traces of salt trapped in many diamonds show...
Thai dinosaur is a cousin of Tyrannosaurus rex, says new study
Scientists from the University of Bonn and the Sirindhorn Museum in Thailand have identified two new dinosaur species.
They analyzed fossil finds that were already...
This prehistoric burial mound re-used for 2,000 years
Researchers have found evidence that an unremarkable prehistoric burial mound near Bordeaux, in southwest France, was re-used by locals for around 2,000 years.
The researchers...
Comets might have brought water to our planet billions of years ago
The mystery of why Earth has so much water, allowing our "blue marble" to support an astounding array of life, is clearer with new...
Scientists discover ancient seawater preserved from the last Ice Age
Twenty thousand years ago, in the thick of an Ice Age, Earth looked very different.
Because water was locked up in glaciers hundreds of feet...
Scientists find the oldest meteorite collection on Earth
Earth is bombarded every year by rocky debris, but the rate of incoming meteorites can change over time.
Finding enough meteorites scattered on the planet's...
New findings could help better understand inner Earth and other planets
High pressure deep inside the young Earth may have driven vast stores of carbon into the planet’s core while also setting the stage for...
How the Earth became a habitable planet
The Earth is unique in our solar system.
It is the only terrestrial planet with a large amount of water and a relatively large moon,...
How Earth’s mantle is like a Jackson Pollock painting
In countless grade-school science textbooks, the Earth's mantle is a yellow-to-orange gradient, a nebulously defined layer between the crust and the core.
To geologists, the...