Experiments test how easy life itself might be

On a lab benchtop, a handful of glass vials taped to a rocker gently sway back and forth. Inside the vials, a mixture of organic chemicals and tiny particles of fool's gold are begging a question seemingly beyond their humble ...

Fool's gold catches eye of solar energy researchers

Iron pyrite - also known as fool's gold - may be worthless to treasure hunters, but it could become a bonanza to the solar industry. The mineral, among the most abundant in the earth's crust, is usually discarded by coal ...

Unique Uranium Source in Naturally Bioreduced Sediment

(PhysOrg.com) -- A recently published Pacific Northwest National Laboratory study of a naturally bioreduced sediment sample from a former uranium mill tailings site reveals insights that enhance understanding of the long-term ...

New marine sulfur cycle model after the Snowball Earth glaciation

The Sturtian Snowball Earth glaciation (~717-660 million years ago) represents the most severe icehouse climate in Earth's history. Geological evidence indicates that, during this glaciation, ice sheets extended to low latitudes, ...

Asteroid impact enriches certain elements in seawater

Asteroid strikes upset the environment and provide clues via the elements they leave behind. Now, University of Tsukuba researchers have linked elements that are enriched in the Cretaceous–Paleogene (KPg) boundary clays ...

The shelf life of pyrite

The last 2.6 million years are characterized by glacial cycles, a regular alternation of cold and warm periods. It is widely accepted that changes in the concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the ...

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