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Geology

An artist's rendering of Chicxulub, the asteroid believed to have wiped out large dinosaurs and reshaped parts of the world.

Journey to the Center of Earth

We Finally Know How Much the Dino-Killing Asteroid Reshaped Earth

The impact that wiped out large dinosaurs also dumped hundreds of feet of debris in the ocean off the Yucatán peninsula

Meteorites embedded in ice sheets that run into the Transantarctic mountains can work their way to the surface, making it easier for scientists to collect these fragmented space rocks.

Journey to the Center of Earth

Iron Meteorites Play Hide-and-Seek Under Antarctic Ice

Meteorites give scientists a glimpse into our early solar system, but the sun’s rays and melting ice may make these extraterestrial crumbs harder to find

Journey to the Center of Earth

Journey to the Center of Earth

Drill deep into the mysteries of our home planet, from the surface all the way down to the core

New Research

Are We Living in the Plastic Age?

Scientists argue that this material may best define our current period within the Anthropocene

Fossilized microbial mats, or stromatolites are one of the oldest fossils found on Earth. This one lurked in shallow waters 3.4 billion years ago.

Life and Rocks May Have Co-Evolved on Earth

A Carnegie geologist makes the case that minerals have evolved over time and may have helped spark life

A meteorite discovered in the Australian ouback on New Year's Eve.

Cool Finds

4.5 Billion-Year-Old Meteorite Found in the Australian Desert

This 3.7 pound rock could help scientists learn about Earth’s origins

A mushroom cloud rises in the sky during an atomic weapons test in the 1950s.

Age of Humans

The Atomic Age Ushered In the Anthropocene, Scientists Say

Geoscientists have concluded that the Age of Humans officially began at the start of the nuclear age.

New Research

China’s Lunar Rover Discovered a New Kind of Moon Rock

The Yutu Rover has discovered a type of basalt unlike anything else ever found on the moon

Smithsonite, or zinc spar, is a carbon zinc ore.This mineral was named in 1832 after English chemist and mineralogist James Smithson (founding donor of the Smithsonian Institution).

We Are Missing At Least 145 Carbon-Bearing Minerals, and You Can Help Find Them

The Carbon Mineral Challenge is asking rock enthusiasts around the world to hunt for the undiscovered forms of this common element

Stanford Scientists Create an Algorithm That Is the “Shazam” For Earthquakes

The popular song-identifying app has inspired a technique for identifying microquakes in the hopes of predicting major ones

Cool Finds

Is Stonehenge a Hand-Me-Down Monument?

New research suggests the monument was first built in Wales then dragged 180 miles to its current location

Though the new method can't produce these large sparklers yet, it may be an important part of future diamond production.

New Research

Weird New Type of Carbon Is Harder (and Brighter) Than Diamond

Dubbed Q-carbon, the material is magnetic, emits a soft glow and can be used to grow diamonds faster and cheaper than ever before

The trailhead to Supai Village, part of the vast Grand Canyon area. Supai is the only the human settlement within the Grand Canyon.

Visit the Only Village Inside the Grand Canyon

Supai is so remote, mail is delivered by mule train

The rapidly moving Mount Baldy dune has consumed everything in its sandy wake, including fungus-ridden black oak trees that are thought to be the source of the mysterious tunnels.

New Research

New Insights Behind the Sand Dunes That Swallowed a Boy

Scientists have confirmed that fungus-ridden trees are to blame

“If I go look for dinosaurs, I will find them, because there’s tons of them out there,” says Kirk Johnson, the director of the National Museum of Natural History and the star of a new Nova series "Making North America."

Smithsonian’s Kirk Johnson Steps Up to Be the Rock Star of Geology

The new PBS science series “Making North America” features the director of the National Museum of Natural History

Cool Finds

Wyoming Has a Crack Problem (And It’s Not What You Think)

A mysterious tear in the ground is the state’s new social media star and a testament to the fast fury of Mother Nature

New Research

Did Life on Earth Really Start 4.1 Billion Years Ago? Not So Fast

Don’t rewrite the Earth’s history just yet

A person stands in front of a fault in Utah. Better understanding how rocks behave under stress and along faults like this could help geologists more accurately identify places at risk of earthquakes.

Big Quakes Can Trigger Other Shakes Thousands of Miles Away

According to new research, when a big one strikes, more than aftershocks can follow

New Research

Earth’s Gravity Is Reshaping the Moon

Leaving cracks on the surface as it slowly contracts

Turkey’s ‘Fairy Chimneys’ Were Millions of Years in the Making

Nature built them, but humans made them their own

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