It’ll be a snap to identify gemstones once Robert Downs finishes his library of spectral fingerprints for all the Earth’s minerals. Downs is almost halfway there. So far, the associate professor of ...

Major Funding by the Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation and Idaho National Laboratory. Additional Funding by the Friends of Idaho Public Television and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Science ...

Today's activities will focus on the physical properties of minerals and you will use physical properties to identify 11 common rock-forming and ore minerals. In class you will be using the mineral ...

Scientists have discovered that the mineral jarosite breaks down organic compounds when it is flash-heated, with implications for Mars research. Jarosite is an iron sulphate and it is one of several ...

With 25+ years of experience, Brendon Grunewald is executive director of the Critical Minerals Institute and managing ...

Minerals are naturally occurring, non-living compounds of elements. They are the building blocks of rocks. Geologists are greatly interested in minerals because they can reveal an enormous amount ...

Researchers are developing a handheld instrument, much like a tricorder from the "Star Trek" television show, that will allow almost instant identification of minerals. The pocket-sized instrument ...