Environmental Science

Tanzanite is so rare, it is sourced from just an 8-square-mile (20-square-kilometer) area in Tanzania. It was first discovered in the late 1960s and it burst onto the jewelry scene thanks to Tiffany & Co.

By Carrie Whitney, Ph.D. & Austin Henderson

The Mohs hardness scale is used by geologists and gemologists as a way to help identify minerals using a hardness test. How does it work?

By Carrie Whitney, Ph.D.

Not all deserts have sand and they're certainly not all hot. They're just extremely dry and have little vegetation. That means deserts are located all over the planet, including at super-high elevations.

By Sharise Cunningham

The Southern Ocean has finally been officially recognized, though scientists have known about it for over a century.

By Jesslyn Shields

Not all diamonds are found on dry land. Many turn up in sediments below the ocean's surface. You just have to know where to look.

By Mark Mancini

Researchers have been asking this question for almost a century and now we're a little closer to the answer. Something else to ponder: Every 27.5 million years there is usually a mass extinction.

By Valerie Stimac

This beautiful pink quartz is found in numerous places throughout the world and is thought to be associated with unconditional love.

By Carrie Whitney, Ph.D.

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC, plays an essential role in regulating ocean temperatures, but it looks as if it may be collapsing. What happens next?

By Joanna Thompson

In the lead-up to U.N. Climate Change Conference, the Swedish activist talked about Biden's climate plan, the media's responsibility and what gives her hope.

By Mark Hertsgaard

A lot of the times when people think of ancient artifacts, they picture Greek or Roman tools and relics. Things like oxidized copper trinkets, ivory statues, or maybe a bit of gold jewelry. But once you start thinking in archeological terms, a whole world of possibilities open up that pre date recorded history. Now we [...] The post 12 Of The Oldest Objects Ever Discovered appeared first on Goliath.

By Wes Walcott

Archaeologists discovered what they believe to be ruins of the Roman city of Neapolis - underwater near Tunisia.

By Michelle Konstantinovsky

The autumnal equinox is the day Earth is perfectly angled to the sun, so the day and night are of equal length. Well, almost.

By Kathryn Whitbourne

Will Amazon's age of home delivery bury the environment in extra boxes? You might be surprised by the answer.

By Laurie L. Dove

Researchers discovered that everyone's favorite prehistoric cat had some seriously big bones - even as a youngster.

By Robert Lamb

Hair trimmings from salons and personal donations can be repurposed as mats that soak up oil spills and help protect the environment.

By Patrick J. Kiger

The element lithium is one of just three created during the Big Bang and has been used for mental health care for decades. But now it's in higher demand than ever before.

By Allison Troutner

Does searching through the mud of a riverbank for treasures of old sound like a fun way to spend a day? If so, you may just be a true mudlarker at heart.

By Jennifer Walker-Journey

Forest-fire prevention has been a touchstone of American consciousness since the creation of Smokey the Bear in the 1940s. But now, environmental experts believe that some amount of fire is good for the forest too.

By Laurie L. Dove

From the Hope diamond to the shiny bits in instant coffee, crystals have always held the power to fascinate us humans. Are they more than just a bunch of pretty facets?

By Nicholas Gerbis

People all over the world are working on turning this very ancient power source into an even more important modern one. And that means a lot more than dams.

By John Perritano

The oceans are rising, and they're threatening to take down some of the world's brightest cultural gems. Here are 10 of the most notable spots endangered by climate change.

By Chris Opfer

As far back as 1500 B.C.E., people were trying to purify water to make it drinkable. And we're still at it. Today inventors use tools as simple as clay and as sophisticated as carbon nanotubes to bring clean water to the world.

By Patrick J. Kiger

You likely heard that paleontologists uncovered a cache of dinosaur embryos, bone fragments and eggshells in China. You also may recall that we've made crazy leaps forward in genetics and genomics. Can we put the two together and create a dinosaur?

By Nicholas Gerbis

We argue that living well requires wine and cheese, but what does living at all require? You might be surprised to find out that there's no single definition.

By Kate Kershner

To say geologic time moves at a snail's pace is an insult to snails. Our planet's continents are always in flux: Could a new ocean grow amid those incredibly slow changes?

By Laurie L. Dove