Rock&Gem Magazine
President Lincoln AND THE MAD STONES
More terrifying than any werewolf to 19th-century America was its real-life counterpart: hydrophobia. Rabies.
6 min |
October 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
The Minerals of Transylvania
Whether you're in it for science, beauty, spooky stories, or all of it, Transylvania's minerals offer a little something for every rockhound. Deep in the heart of Romania, the Carpathian Mountains are known for gothic lore and vampire legends. In this land of Dracula, Transylvania's rugged geology, shaped by volcanic activity, has made it one of Europe's most mineral-rich areas.
2 min |
October 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
PENNSYLVANIA'S FOSSIL FOREST
Some 300 million years ago, near the town of St. Clair, Pennsylvania, the land was covered by lush green forests with a wide variety of plants and trees.
3 min |
October 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
THE GEOLOGY OF GRAVESTONES
Along with black cats, witches and jack-o'-lanterns, cemeteries are iconic symbols of Halloween—and for good reason. Shrouded in mystery, superstition and folklore, they can elicit feelings of foreboding and fear.
4 min |
October 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Eternal Brilliance
The 71-Million-Year Journey of Ancient Ammonites
6 min |
October 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Monitoring Offshore Trenches in Quake-Prone Japan
Residing as it does smack on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where oceanic crust plunges into the mantle, Japan sees more than its share of major earthquakes and tsunamis.
1 min |
October 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
The World's Oldest Rock Where is it, really?
It sounds like something a politician would spout. The U.S. is best! It sports the “World’s Oldest Rock!” Don't believe it? Why, it says so in bold brass print on a sign near Granite Falls, Minnesota. Said rock is called the Morton Gneiss and supposedly clocks in at 3.8 billion years old. But is it truly the oldest?
1 min |
October 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Kissed by a Visitor from Deep, Deep Space
It was first spotted as a dot in July. It's an ice-rich body. It originates from far outside our Solar System. And it’s believed to be 7 billion years old—3 billion years older than the Sun! Say hello to 3I/ATLAS, the oldest comet ever observed by human eyes.
1 min |
October 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Earthquake Generation
It's not always location, location, location!
1 min |
October 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
The Best Archaeopteryx Yet
Archaeopteryx has been an icon in the world of paleontology ever since the first one was uncovered in 1861.
1 min |
October 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Stalactite Mineral Specimens
A Fragile & Fascinating Way to Build a Collection
6 min |
October 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
CRYSTAL SKULLS
A Tale of Fascinating Fakes
7 min |
October 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
HOW TO NAME A DINOSAUR
Learn all about it-then coin a name of your own!
5 min |
October 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
The Black Prince's Ruby and Other Cursed Gems
Submitted for your consideration: A collection of gems whose acquisition has often been synonymous with terrible loss but whose sparkle still holds fatal attraction. Meet some of the most cursed and feared - gems in history.
7 min |
October 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Ancient Proteins Survive Much Longer than Expected and offer new insights into rhino evolution
In paleontology, the old days of pick-and-shovel and drawing evolutionary relationships based on anatomy alone may not be long gone, but they’re certainly being overshadowed by advances in the lab.
1 min |
October 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Unraveling the Evolutionary History of Squids with "Digital Fossil-Mining"
Squids are squiggly soft-bodied creatures able to dart quickly in the ocean. But soft bodies present a problem for paleontologists. With rare exceptions in so-called Lagerstätte deposits, they seldom fossilize.
1 min |
October 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
New Appreciation for a 35 Million-Year-Old Tsunami
Mention death and destruction by bolides, and all eyes turn to the Chicxulub impactor that took out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.
1 min |
October 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Details of the Sea Floor Emerge from the Deep
As I reported in August, less than 0.001% of the deep sea floor has been seen by direct visual observation, either by human eyes or cameras in research submersibles.
1 min |
October 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Is Earth's Magnetic Field Linked to Atmospheric Oxygen?
The scientists making the observation were surprised. A time series analysis of geological records over the past 540 million years of Earth history seems to show a highly correlated link between oxygen levels in the Earth's atmosphere and the strength of the planet's magnetic field, and both seem to be slowly increasing in sync.
1 min |
October 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
FROM THE FIRES OF HELL
Sulfur: A Natural History
6 min |
October 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
From Waste to Rock in No Time Flat!
Ever wonder how long it takes for rock to form? It could be as little as minutes when molten lava hits ice-cold water beneath the sea to instantly form igneous basalt.
1 min |
October 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Maribel CAVES & HOTEL...
Haunted Ruins With 'New Hope' For Caves
7 min |
October 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Birds Embraced the Arctic Almost Since Birds Began!
Many birds migrate to Arctic nesting grounds while others settle in year-round. As many as 280 species either visit or claim the Arctic as home.
1 min |
September 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Is Earth Leaking from the Middle?
Traditional wisdom holds that material contained within Earth's core is somewhat fixed and stays deep down.
1 min |
September 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
June: The Season for Weddings—and Volcanoes?
While geologists insist Earth is experiencing no more volcanic activity than usual, you wouldn't know it if examining headlines last June. In addition to prospects of an eruption off the Oregon coast, here are a few other headlines clipped from newspapers worldwide.
1 min |
September 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
A Fossil Mollusk? Sponge?
Just what IS this weird creature??
1 min |
September 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Red Amber
One valuable doorstop!
1 min |
September 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
DUNCAN POPPY JASPER
Every year comes the chance to find something new, whether in the field or the marketplace. This year, a new type of jasper appeared in the rockhound community on Facebook, catching quick attention for its bright variety of colored poppy jasper.
2 min |
September 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
SALAR DE UYUNI
While relatively few people have ever visited the immense salt flat known as Salar de Uyuni (sa-LAR day ooh-yooni), millions have seen it on the big screen. In the 2017 movie Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Salar de Uyuni was the filming location for the fictional Crait, a small planet where white salt covers bright-red, mineral-rich soil, and the Resistance fought the First Order in a climactic battle.
3 min |
September 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
SPACE ROCKS
Exploring the Asteroid Belt's Ancient Rocks
5 min |