CATEGORIES

ULTIMATE Gift Guide FOR ROCKHOUNDS

What to Buy for the Rock Lover in Your Life

The Webb Space Telescope It's Not Just for the Stars!

Fanfare surrounding the new Webb Space Telescope focuses on spectacular images from the far reaches of the universe. But Webb also has provided revealing looks at the sister planets within our own solar system.

The Chimeric Dream to Forecast Volcanic Eruptions

It has been a dream to accurately forecast a violent volcanic eruption long in advance. To some, it's a chimeric dream that will never produce concrete results.

When Did We Become Warm-Blooded?

A New Technique Explores the Question

A New Member of the Human Family Tree?

Although beginning with a common ancestor, humans and chimps parted ways long ago, with humans walking upright and chimps remaining as knuckle-walkers.

Whither the Koh-i-Noor Diamond?

It's the stuff of legend! The 105-carat Koh-i-Noor is an oval diamond so big and brilliant its Persian name translates as \"Mountain of Light.\"

Detecting Earthquakes from Above Both Here - and on Venus?

When we think of earthquake monitoring, we think of ground-based networks of seismometers, ground-hugging fiber-optic cables, and similar ground-based systems. After all, if trying to detect rumblings within the ground, shouldn't we hug the ground? Well, not necessarily per an article in Geophysical Research Letters.

AFRICA’S OLDEST DINO

The skeleton is nearly complete and, depending on the report, it's been described as the size of a collie dog, an emu, or a Shetland pony at about three feet tall and six feet long. Say hello to Africa's oldest dinosaur, Mbiresaurus raathi!

Did Dinos Die From a One-Two-Three Punch?

It has been widely accepted that a giant asteroid from space struck the area of Chicxulub on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and unleashed worldwide chaos that ultimately doomed the nonavian dinosaurs to extinction. Now it appears that asteroid had a sister-or two.

Earth’s Crust and the Milky Way

In attempting to explain earthly phenomena, geologists tend to look downward at Earth itself. It now appears they need to shift their gaze skyward.

Want a Dino? Search Your Own Backyard!

When a man in Monte Agudo, Pombal in Portugal dug into his backyard garden in 2017, he found much more than a soup bone buried by the dog. He stumbled across giant ribs of what is believed to be a brachiosaurid.

Using Deep Learning to View the Rich Data of Seismology

Seismology is a data-rich science. Vast arrays employing thousands of sensors continuously sample and monitor for seismic waves and motion. Sampling rates can involve 100 points per second.

“THE SPANISH STONEHENGE” RESURFACES And a New One Is Found!

The Iberian Peninsula is in severe drought, drier than it's been for 1,200 years. Although that is bad news, it has been a boon for scientists. As a reservoir has shrunk to record low levels, a prehistoric monument of about 100 rocks has resurfaced, rocks arranged in a stone circle not so different from England's famed Stonehenge.

DON'T GET Fooled While Gold PANNING

A Guide to Know What's What

CHOOSING THE RIGHT Crystal FOR YOUR Sun Sign

Although they come from the earth, many believe there is a connection between crystals and the stars.

HALITE: PASS THE SALT

We've all said "pass the salt" at the dinner table.

Desert Animals

I've lived most of my life in the Arizona Desert, a wonderful place for a rock hound to enjoy his hobby.

THE OTHER STONEHENGES...

Stonehenge, arguably the most famous deliberately, yet mysteriously, placed arrangement of stones, has been a source of awe throughout recorded history.

ROCK & GEM BUSINESS PROFILE: DOWN TO EARTH OPALS

It's hard to think of opals without thinking of Australia.

SERAPHINITE

Seraphinite is a form of clinochlore, a member of the S chlorite group.

Memento Mori

HERKIMER DIAMONDS & CRYSTAL HEAD VODKA

DIGGING FOR DINOSAURS

Exploring Montana's Dinosaur Trail

HANDLE with CARE!

Radioactive Rocks and Minerals

Easy Pickins' at Australia's Agate Creek

As a member of a few Australian Facebook fossicking (rockhounding) groups, I had been seeing photos of an amazing variety of cut and polished agates posted by people who had found them at Agate Creek.

Shakespeare's Gemstones

Elizabethan Gems; Literal and Literary

MINERALS TO BEWARE OF Myrickite

Some venomous snakes and stinging wasps and bees advertise their dangerous nature with bold red, yellow, and orange colors that seem to say, “Stay away!”

Hell's Canyon Petrified Wood

WHAT TO CUT

NEPTUNITE

Benitoite’s Uncommon Partner

Nafplio Archeological Museum

Bronze Age Jewelry Rival Contemporary Designs

A Different Decoration From the Back

BENCHTIPS