Topic description and stories

Saxifraga sempervivum, an alpine plant species discovered to produce "pure vaterite".

Rare mineral discovered in plants for first time

05 Mar 2018

A rare mineral with potential industrial and medical applications has been discovered on alpine plants at Cambridge University Botanic Garden.

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A Treatise on Diamonds and Precious Stones, 1813, by John Mawe

Going underground: Cambridge digs into the history of geology with landmark exhibition

24 Nov 2017

A box full of diamonds, volcanic rock from Mount Vesuvius, and the geology guide that Darwin packed for his epic voyage on the Beagle will go on...

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Fingerprinting rare earth elements from the air

01 Jul 2016

Vital to many modern technologies yet mined in few places, the ‘rare earth elements’ are in fact not that rare – they are just difficult to find in...

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Diamonds

Opinion: Harder than diamond: have scientists really found something tougher than nature’s invincible material?

19 Jan 2016

Paul Coxon (Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy) discusses the materials that have each been heralded as the new “world’s hardest material...

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The Star of Adam

Opinion: What science can tell us about the ‘world’s largest sapphire’

06 Jan 2016

Simon Redfern (Department of Earth Sciences) discusses how the "Star of Adam" sapphire was formed in the highlands of Sri Lanka.

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Thin section of igneous rock photographed under a polarising microscope

Magma arta

06 May 2014

Study of a unique rock collection – and its astonishingly beautiful microscopic crystal structures – could change our understanding of how the Earth...

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CO2 fingers - Strong chemical reactions between dissolved carbon dioxide and porous rock (top) may stop CO2 fingers from spreading from the top throughout an aquifer’s depth, in contrast to systems with no reaction (bottom).

Chemistry curbs spreading of carbon dioxide

06 May 2011

The presence of even a simple chemical reaction can delay or prevent the spreading of stored carbon dioxide in underground aquifers, new research...

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