Minerals

A Treasure Trove of Key Minerals Is Being Wasted in the U.S., Study Claims

There’s enough lithium in one year of U.S. mine waste to power 10 million electric vehicles.

Energy Tik Root, Grist

Hey Nerds: It’s Time for the Annual Mineral Cup

Every autumn, minerals are pitted against each other on Twitter for the chance to be crowned the best.

Earth Science Kevin Hurler

Image: T. Matsui et al./Meteorit. Planet. Sci.

King Tut’s Meteorite Dagger Has a Mystery Origin Story

Based on the dagger's chemistry and a 3,400-year-old tablet, scientists don’t think it’s from Egypt.

Human History Isaac Schultz

Ancient Comet May Have Turned Chilean Desert Into Glass

Exploding with such intensity over the Earth, a comet made some soil fuse into silicates.

Space & Spaceflight Isaac Schultz

Fool’s Gold Is Hiding ‘Invisible’ Real Gold, Scientists Find

Pyrite has fooled us again. An atom probe found actual gold inside the common mineral.

Physics & Chemistry Isaac Schultz

The American Museum of Natural History’s Gems and Minerals Halls Get a Dazzling Upgrade

If you love things that sparkle with all the colors of the rainbow, glow in the dark, and seem to defy any definition of the term rock, you’ve got to visit the new Halls of Gems and Minerals at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. I recently got a preview of…

Science Isaac Schultz

Johnson & Johnson Forced to Pay $2.1 Billion in Baby Powder Cancer Case After Supreme Court Denial

Johnson & Johnson will not be getting out of its obligation to pay up for losing a civil court case over its baby powder products that allegedly contained asbestos. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court announced it would not hear the company’s appeal of a $2.1 billion verdict from a 2018 trial in Missouri involving women…

Health Ed Cara

New Culture War Just Dropped: World’s Largest Jeweler Pivots to Lab-Grown Diamonds

If you can bring yourself to wear a diamond that doesn’t represent a shaved-down bit of the planet’s finite supply, but is chemically identical to the original product and denies warlords funding—then Pandora is your shop. The world’s largest jeweler (in sheer volume of product), known for charm bracelets, has announced that it will only…

Tech News Whitney Kimball

Don’t Get Too Excited Over Japan’s New ‘Semi-Infinite’ Rare Earth Stash

Modern technology wouldn’t work without trace amounts of bizarrely-named metals that occupy obscure positions on the periodic table. They’re called rare earths, but there’s a near-limitless supply on the ocean floor—if only we could access it. This week, Japanese scientists are reigniting hopes that we’ll be able to soon, but major hurdles remain. In 2013, deep…

Earth Science Maddie Stone

Ice Crystals in Diamonds Reveal Pockets of Water Deep in Earth’s Mantle

Diamonds, the super-strong and brilliant crystals of carbon atoms produced under the Earth’s crushing pressures, are typically valued for their beauty and durability. But scientists also value them for another reason: They contain all kinds of hidden messages about the Earth’s mantle. You just need the right tools to read them. An international team of…

Tech News Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Massive Diamond Discovered in Lesotho Is World’s Fifth Largest

Workers at Lesotho’s Letšeng mine have discovered an absolute whopper of a diamond, rated at 910-carats. Roughly the size of two golf balls, the precious gem has an estimated value of $40 million. The rock, uncovered in the landlocked southern African country of Lesotho, is a 910-carat, D-color Type IIa diamond. This type of diamond…

Tech News George Dvorsky

Science Reveals the Secret to Ancient Rome’s Indestructible Concrete

Roman concrete is famous for its durability, lasting for thousands of years and seemingly stronger with each passing year. New research has uncovered the chemical processes responsible for the sturdiness of this ancient building material—a finding that could inspire modern engineers to revive this forgotten technique. If this news about ancient Roman concrete sounds familiar,…

Tech News George Dvorsky

Miner Finds Enormous 706-Carat Diamond, Promptly Hands It Over to the Government

A pastor and independent miner in Sierra Leone has unearthed an uncut 706-carat diamond estimated to be worth tens of millions of dollars. The pastor turned the diamond over to the government in hopes that the proceeds from its sale will help the impoverished country. But given the history of this former “blood-diamond” nation, what…

Tech News George Dvorsky

How to Find Platinum on the Side of the Road

Platinum is one of the rarest and most useful metals on the planet. A new video from Cody’s Lab explains why a significant amount of this precious element exists in the dirt and dust by the roadside—and how it can be extracted. Mining for precious metals on the side of a highway is a different…

Tech News George Dvorsky

These are the Minerals That Give Fireworks Their Colors

If you want beautiful fireworks bursting in the sky, you’re going to need to mine the Earth first. Here’s the geology of the minerals that give fireworks their vibrant colours. Fireworks get their colour from metal salts. A salt is a chemical compound formed when an acid and base neutralize each other, resulting in a…

Tech News Mika McKinnon

This Is Not A Crater, So What Is It?

Circular landforms are intriguing. This is a naturally occurring feature, but was formed neither by a volcano nor a meteor. What is it? Top image: Satellite image draped over a topographic model of Kondyor Massif, Russia. Credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team This landform is just about as perfectly circular as a naturally-occurring landform…

Tech News Mika McKinnon

Curiosity Has Stumbled Upon A Unique Mineral Patch

NASA’s Curiosity Rover has spent the better part of a year scooting from a low lying area called Yellowknife Bay to the base of Mount Sharp. As a recent chemical analysis performed by the robotic explorer shows, this region is distinctly different from that found within Gale Crater — which is exactly what NASA scientists…

io9 George Dvorsky

The 9 Deadliest Minerals We’ve Ever Mined

Precious minerals make the modern world go ’round—they’re used in everything from circuit boards to tableware. They’re also some of the most toxic materials known to science, and excavating them has proved so dangerous over the years, some have been phased out of industrial production altogether. Here are the nine most toxic minerals we’ve ever…

Health Andrew Tarantola

This alien world is not a frame from Guardians of the Galaxy

This isn’t a Cassini photo of a Saturn moon against an asteroids field or a frame from Guardians of the Galaxy. This beautiful alien landscape is right here on Earth, a microscopic world hidden inside a gemstone, photographed by Danny J. Sanchez. He told me about the process behind his work here. I’m definitely a…

Sploid Jesus Diaz

This Week in Space

It’s time for weekly space-links of astronomy and planetary science stories that we didn’t cover on Space this week. New mineral Kuratite confirmed in a 1979 meteorite The fluid dynamics of a supernova type II core collapse is gorgeous. Anniversary of the first test flight for the Avro Arrow, Canada’s big hope and crushing disappointment…

Tech News Mika McKinnon

Minerals

A Treasure Trove of Key Minerals Is Being Wasted in the U.S., Study Claims

Hey Nerds: It’s Time for the Annual Mineral Cup

King Tut’s Meteorite Dagger Has a Mystery Origin Story

Ancient Comet May Have Turned Chilean Desert Into Glass

Fool’s Gold Is Hiding ‘Invisible’ Real Gold, Scientists Find

The American Museum of Natural History’s Gems and Minerals Halls Get a Dazzling Upgrade

Johnson & Johnson Forced to Pay $2.1 Billion in Baby Powder Cancer Case After Supreme Court Denial

New Culture War Just Dropped: World’s Largest Jeweler Pivots to Lab-Grown Diamonds

Don’t Get Too Excited Over Japan’s New ‘Semi-Infinite’ Rare Earth Stash

Ice Crystals in Diamonds Reveal Pockets of Water Deep in Earth’s Mantle

Massive Diamond Discovered in Lesotho Is World’s Fifth Largest

Science Reveals the Secret to Ancient Rome’s Indestructible Concrete

Miner Finds Enormous 706-Carat Diamond, Promptly Hands It Over to the Government

How to Find Platinum on the Side of the Road

These are the Minerals That Give Fireworks Their Colors

This Is Not A Crater, So What Is It?

Curiosity Has Stumbled Upon A Unique Mineral Patch

The 9 Deadliest Minerals We’ve Ever Mined

This alien world is not a frame from Guardians of the Galaxy

This Week in Space

Pixel Buds Pro 2 Hit Record Low as Google Continues Its Clearance-Like Price Cuts Following Smartphone Deals

DJI Now Has a Cheaper 360 Drone Than Insta360, but the U.S. Won’t Get It

Amazon Clears Out Apple Watch Series 9 With Silver Stainless Steel Case at 48% Off During Spring Sale

What Do You Mean Fox McCloud Is in the ‘Super Mario Galaxy’ Movie

Apple iPad With A16 Chip Is Now as Cheap as It Gets, With Stock Moving Quickly in Amazon’s Tablet Deals

Amazon Echo Spot Is Running at Its All-Time Low, Likely the Last Chance Before Prime Day Arrives in a Few Months

Diablo Cody Has Big Plans for the ‘Jennifer’s Body’ Sequel

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

Nintendo’s Talking Flower Is Annoying as Hell. I Love It

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets

Apple Studio Display XDR Review: It Looks So Good, I Wish It Were an iMac

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