Researchers used a miniaturized laser mass spectrometer to identify signs of fossils in a gypsum quarry in Algeria. They suggest the same tool could find early fossils on Mars.

Scientists Hope This Tool Could Identify Tiny Fossils on Mars, Revealing Hints to Potential Early Life on the Planet

If Mars ever hosted microorganisms in its bygone oceans, their fossils might still be preserved in minerals—and now, we have a new potential way to find them

Ice calves off the Breidamerkurjokull, a glacier in Iceland. Some scientists suggest prehistoric glaciers hold the answers to how life evolved on Earth.

How Enormous Glaciers on the Frozen ‘Snowball Earth’ Might Have Bulldozed the Path to Complex Life on Our Planet

A new study suggests glaciers carved metals out from the Earth’s surface 700 million years ago, leading to chemical reactions in the oceans that set the stage for early animal evolution

Mars, known as the red planet, might have gotten its hue from a different mineral than scientists once thought.

The Red Dust on Mars Might Be a Different Mineral Than Scientists Thought, Shedding Light on the Planet’s Past

A new study suggests the iron oxide responsible for the red planet’s distinctive hue is ferrihydrite, pointing to the bygone presence of water, an important ingredient for life

Parts of the deep Pacific Ocean are covered in metallic lumps known as polymetallic nodules. A study published last year suggested they produce oxygen without sunlight.

Scientists Who Found Mysterious ‘Dark Oxygen’ on the Ocean Floor Plan a New Expedition, Hoping to Settle Disputes

Last year, the team made headlines when it published a paper describing how metal lumps at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean seemed to produce oxygen without sunlight

Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula is known for its extinct and active volcanoes.

New Research

Extinct Volcanoes May Be an Untapped Source of Rare Metals

Unexplored iron-rich magma could help power current and future technologies

This "everlasting" crystal contains the entire human genome, recorded using ultra-fast lasers, and is meant to instruct future species on how to create humans.

In Case Humans Go Extinct, This Memory Crystal Will Store Our Genome for Billions of Years

Scientists have created “a form of information immortality” meant to instruct future species on how to recreate humans. But who, or what, will find it?

When earthquakes squeeze quartz crystals, the mineral generates electricity that attracts gold particles.

How Large Gold Nuggets Form in Quartz Crystals During Earthquakes

Quartz, which can generate electricity, attracts large chunks of gold when stressed and squeezed by seismic shaking, according to a new study

An artist's rendition of a magma ocean on a volcanic planet. Scientists have theorized that our moon was covered in a magma ocean for millions of years after it formed.

Our Moon Was Likely Covered in a Magma Ocean Long Ago, and New Data From India’s Lunar Rover Supports That Theory

Soil composition measurements from the Chandrayaan-3 mission reveal white rock called ferroan anorthosite, which would have floated to the surface in an ocean of magma

Rembrandt van Rijn completed The Night Watch, a group portrait of Amsterdam's local militia, in 1642.

New Research

What Is the Secret Ingredient Behind Rembrandt’s Golden Glow?

Scientists found arsenic sulfide pigments in “The Night Watch,” arguably the artist’s most famous painting

NASA's Perseverance rover took this selfie next to "Cheyava Falls," the rock in the center of the photo that might hold evidence of ancient life on Mars.

Cool Finds

Mars Rover Finds Three Possible Signs of Ancient Life on a Single Rock

Scientists were cautiously optimistic about Perseverance’s discovery, though they indicated further research is needed before drawing definitive conclusions

Speleologists in metallurgical “cooling suits” emerge from the extreme heat of a lava tube formed by the eruption in 2021 of Mount Fagradalsfjall.

Journey Into the Fiery Depths of Earth’s Youngest Caves

What Iceland’s volcanoes are revealing about early life on our planet

An anonymous dentist recognized the jawbone, because it looked similar to the CT scans he reviews every day at work.

Dentist Discovers Human-Like Jawbone and Teeth in a Floor Tile at His Parents’ Home

Scientists are planning to study the specimen, embedded in travertine from western Turkey, in hopes of dating and identifying it

Cinnabar powder covered the remains of 20 people, mostly women, in this megalithic tomb at the site of Valencina, Spain.

Ancient Iberians Ingested Red Dust Loaded With Mind-Altering Mercury

Bones in Spain suggest a mercury-rich mineral used for art and hallucinogenic trips poisoned a community 5,000 years ago

The ancient red pigment was held in an intricately decorated chlorite vial.

New Research

Tube of Ancient Red Lipstick Unearthed in Iran

New research suggests the nearly 4,000-year-old cosmetic may be among the oldest discoveries of its kind

The 7.46-carat brown diamond is about the size of a gumdrop.

French Tourist Finds 7.46-Carat Diamond at Arkansas State Park

Julien Navas plans to have the brown gem split into two pieces so he can give half to his fiancée and half to his daughter

Pink diamonds form when the gems' crystalline structure gets bent under intense pressure.

Geologists Unravel the Mysteries of Australia’s Rare Pink Diamonds

The dazzling, blush-colored gems likely emerged from Earth’s mantle some 1.3 billion years ago, when a supercontinent named Nuna broke up, study suggests

Aspen Brown unearthed the golden-brown diamond while visiting Crater of Diamonds State Park with her family.

Cool Finds

Girl Celebrating 7th Birthday Finds 2.95-Carat Diamond

Aspen Brown stumbled upon the pea-sized, golden-brown gem while visiting an Arkansas park

"Cellphone: Unseen Connections" at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History walks through every aspect of the technology.

How Cellphones Connect Us All

A new Natural History Museum exhibition explores how the devices link us to Earth and to a network of people worldwide involved in their supply chain

Interest in gold prospecting is growing across the country as the value of gold rises.

Five Places Where You Can Still Find Gold in the United States

Lucky for you, these gold rush hot spots have not yet run their mining course

Red ocher has served many history, from painting cave walls to tanning hides.

Cool Finds

This 12,000-Year-Old Wyoming Quarry Could Be North America’s Oldest Mine

The state’s archaeologists believe people quarried red ocher at Powars II starting 12,840 years ago

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