CATEGORIES

This News is for the Birds

The amazing range of the would-be birds!

CALIFORNIA MAGNESITE PLASMA AGATE

California magnesite plasma agate is a kaleidoscope of minerals. Much like its neighbor from Clear Creek, it contains chalcedony, serpentine, jadeite and chromite.

HOW TO CREATE A CABBING MATERIAL

Even though Mother Nature creates almost unbounded types and numbers of beautiful materials for cabbing, often I struggle to find a slab that will work for the project that I want to do.

PINWHEEL - VIET GEMS 149

I am frequently asked what my favorite gemstone designs are and where to find them. After my trip to the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, I updated my list of favorites to include gemstone designer, Phan Thanh Trung.

Copper Minerals: My Favorite

I have lived in the “Copper State” of Arizona for 65 years so it should not surprise readers that copper minerals are among my favorites to collect.

OPPENHEIMER, TRINITY SITE AND TRINITITE

The widely acclaimed, 2023 Hollywood biographical movie Oppenheimer recently won seven Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actor (Cillian Murphy).

Clearing ,Smudging & Setting Intentions for Stones

Why do you believe what you believe? Are your beliefs true because you choose to believe them? Whether it is religion, science or the metaphysical, your belief and faith make it real to you in mind, body and soul.

Rhode Island's Hobbit Stone Age

Rhode Island may be 22nd out of 30 states in miles of total coastline but when you compare coastline length to land acres, it ranks second only to Maryland.

Black Range Amethyst

Amethyst in Southwest New Mexico

EQUINE Bling!

How an Oklahoma Saddle Maker Uses Moissanite, Gold, Silver Turquoise tc to Adorn Saddles Jewelry

Exploring Copper and Iron Country

Mines, Museums Minerals of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

Flint: Our Rock of Ages

Used Since the Dawn of Humanity

MORGAN HILL POPPY JASPER

In California, there are very few places to collect semi-precious stones. Many locations from the past have been either exhausted of the material or the land has been developed.

THE ACORN

The briolette gemstone has the same design attributes of a regular gemstone, however, the pavilion is elongated and the crown is usually domed. This is perfect for an elegant pendant, earrings or a pendulum.

HOW TO PUT A PROTECTIVE CAP ON A CAB

To protect a specimen cab, often a cap is needed. In my case, I had a slab with the because of the color of the background and the pattern. This background had a more silicified consistency than most sandstones. It had no graininess like most sandstone, so I'm inclined to compare it to a jasper. The pattern was typical of a dendrite.

The Resilient Revival of Anne Brontë & Her Stones

For the first time, the Anne Brontë rock collection underwent complete description and identification, and along with Professor Hazel Hutchison of Leeds University and Dr. Enrique Lozano Diz at ELODIZ (a company specializing in spectroscopy analysis), an analysis of that collaboration, Anne Brontë and Geology: A Study of her Collection of Stones, was published in April 2022 in Volume 47, Issue 2 of the peer-reviewed journal, Brontë Studies & Gazette.\"

Amazing Women with Rock-Solid Careers

Explorers, Geologists, Educators & Jewelry Makers...

The Case of the Bleeding Glacier

It's a gory sight called Blood Falls. Ever since British geologist Thomas Griffith Taylor first noted it in 1911, it has been a mystery.

Asteroid Samples Are Said to Hold Invaluable Secrets

If Only Scientists Can Pop the Lid!

Paleontologists Embrace a New Method for Seeing Fossils within Rock

Fossil bone can be delicate. Attempts to remove it from a hard rock matrix by picking and scratching or etching with acids can be time-consuming and/or may end up obliterating that which you hope to study.

Need a Map of the Ocean Floor?

Call in the Seals!

A Step Closer to Hydrogen, the "Climate-Friendly Fuel"

As I reported last June, the world is racing to find sustainably renewable, nonpolluting sources of energy to replace our carbon-based reserves of coal, oil and gas.

Subduction Goes Back-Way, Way Back!

Long in the making, the concept of plate tectonics coalesced in the 1960s. The Earth's squishy mantle churns. Above it rides immense crustal plates-some oceanic, others continental.

Embracing AI for Earthquake Prediction

Seismologists Swap Conventional Methods for \"Deep-Learning\" Models

Earth, the Desert Planet

Things Look Grim 250 Million Years From Now!

The Planet Lurking within our Planet

When Theia Kissed Earth

Volcanoes or Asteroids?

The Debates on Dino Doom Never End!

Early Birds Emerge All Around

Australia Provides the Latest Example

Ice Moons Beckon

Compounds Hint of Conditions for Life Elsewhere in our Solar System

Beyond Minerals

I hope mineral collectors realize the acquisition of mineral specimens is just one facet of our hobby. If you look beyond the specimens in your collection, you discover a vast and fascinating world of people and history.