Hobbies-Craft
Rock&Gem Magazine
An Iron Deposit of a Whole New Scale
A discovery in Australia is one for the history books!
1 min |
August 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Swallowed from Below!
What's going on deep beneath the American Midwest?
1 min |
August 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
When BROKEN Is Good
Understanding Breaks in Gemstones
6 min |
August 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
WALRUS TEETH
This Faceting Focus column is a bit different this time in two ways. First, this project does not have a design and is faceted freehand. Second, the material used is not transparent. Instead, the material is opaque, and this example is made using a fossilized walrus tooth from Alaska.
4 min |
August 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Viewing the Deep Sea Floor
It's a rare event!
1 min |
August 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
ROCK & GEM FIELD GUIDE: Peridot
Peridot is the bright green gem-quality variety of the mineral forsterite, a magnesium silicate.
2 min |
August 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Crystal Twinning
Examining The Types of Twin Forms
6 min |
August 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Promoting an Educational Outreach Program
Most amateur rock clubs are 501(c)(3) nonprofits. This requires a dedicated mission usually including charitable offerings.
6 min |
August 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
MAW SIT SIT
Maw Sit Sit is a rare, electrifying green stone only found in the surrounding region of the village of Tawmaw, north of Myanmar. Sometimes called “Chrome Jade,” many believe this stone to be a type of jade or jadeite.
2 min |
August 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Earth's Oldest Impact Crater Yet
Scientists estimate the age of Earth at 4.543 billion years.
1 min |
July 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
To Create New Species, Raise High the Mountains
It seems like plain old common sense. Increase the complexity and diversity of topography and you'll increase biodiversity. But now we have strong data to support that hypothesis.
1 min |
July 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
A Moon as Old as Earth? Almost!
Earth is estimated to be 4.543 billion years old, and it's believed our Moon was born from a violent collision between the newly formed Earth and another young Mars-sized protoplanet dubbed Theia not long thereafter. But how long was \"not long?\"
1 min |
July 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
ROCK & GEM FIELD GUIDES
Emerald is the green variety of beryl, colored by trace amounts of chromium and sometimes also vanadium.
2 min |
July 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
POLISH FLINT
Flint has often been used throughout history and is thought to be as old as 160 million years.
2 min |
July 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Pterosaurs Are Flying High!
Pterosaurs were remarkable flying reptiles soaring the skies above dinosaurs.
1 min |
July 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
SUNSET PEAR
By day, Julia DeLo works as an engineer in the aerospace industry and by night, she pursues her passion for cutting gemstones, applying her analytical and mechanical skills to optimize and simplify designs.
2 min |
July 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same
Eucalyptus trees have been bugged for 52 million years!
1 min |
July 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Not All Gold Is Created EQUAL
Understanding the Differences Between Colors & Alloys
6 min |
July 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
HARDROCK GAMES
The Enduring Appeal of Mine-Drilling Contests
8 min |
July 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Finding the Phosphorus Feeding Early Life
The biomolecules fueling life on Earth are heavily dependent on phosphorus. In fact, phosphates are said to be the second-most abundant mineral in the human body.
1 min |
July 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
The Color of Early Mammals
Pretty dull!
1 min |
July 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Jolted Alive by Microlightning?
Ancient asteroids hold all the right organic compounds for life, and those same compounds were likely present on early planet Earth-or delivered here by impacting asteroids.
1 min |
July 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Deep Aquifers Aren't Easily Recharged
Recent times have seen severe drought conditions and increased reliance on groundwater aquifers to draw fresh water to meet the needs of ever-expanding populations.
1 min |
July 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
THE GEOLOGY OF WINE
At wine tastings today you're likely to find “flinty” sauvignon blancs, “chalky” Rieslings, and syrahs that “express the essence of limestone soil.”
4 min |
July 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Is Earth’s Mantle More Interesting than Imagined?
Earth has been described as a layered onion with an inner core, an outer core, a mantle and a crust.
1 min |
July 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
The New Moons of Saturn But are they really moons?
If you'd been asked just a couple months ago, “How many moons circle Saturn,” you would have confidently answered, “Why, 146, of course!” Well, try 274!
1 min |
July 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
What Really Caused the Biggest Extinctions
As long as there's been life on Earth, there has been extinction.
1 min |
July 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Exploring Oregon Beach Fossils
There's an old saying that finding fossils in Oregon is not about where to look, but where not to look.
6 min |
July 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
State Rocks, Minerals & Gemstones
A Collective Look at our Geosymbols
8 min |
July 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
THE FIREWORKS INSIDE AN OPAL
Forget waiting for the Fourth of July.
4 min |