Clay Minerals

New research suggests that Mars' missing atmosphere may have been absorbed by minerals in the planet's clays, in a process similar to geological reactions on Earth. It may explain Mars' loss of its atmosphere and potential to support life, with methane possibly still present and usable as an energy ...

"Fool's gold" (pyrite) is nice to look at, but not especially useful. That could change if the findings of a small study hold up. Unexpectedly higher levels of lithium - an element that is in enormous demand - were found in pyrite. This could be both beneficial environmentally and economically. Plus, a gratuitous shot at crystal healers, just for yuks.

The rover will spend months exploring the Gediz Vallis channel, which could contain clues to the history of liquid water on Mars

Would you like to see a pristine sample of asteroid Bennu? Small fragments are now on display in Arizona, Texas and D.C. Learn more here. The post Pieces of asteroid Bennu now on display for YOU! first appeared on EarthSky.

Was there an ancient lake on Mars? New research confirms that there is a presence of lake sediments.

The space agency worked for months to develop tools capable of opening stubborn fasteners that had trapped material collected from the near-Earth asteroid...

On September 24 this year, a NASA capsule parachuted down to Earth carrying a precious cache of material grabbed from an asteroid. The space agency has now revealed images and a preliminary analysis of the space rocks it found after lifting the lid off that capsule.

Scientists said they got more material than expected from the Osiris-Rex mission during its seven-year journey to the asteroid Bennu.

NASA scientists revealed the sample collected by the OSIRIS-REx mission from near-Earth asteroid Bennu for the first time Wednesday.

NASA said during a live stream Wednesday that Bennu asteroid samples collected by the OSIRIS-Rex mission contain water, carbon and organic molecules - the building blocks of life.

Ancient black dust and chunks are from asteroid named Bennu, almost 60m miles away and collected three years ago

An area known as Thacker Pass on the Nevada-Oregon border is home to clay that contain tens of millions of tons of lithium.

Global warming's ever-increasing toll on the planet has been a focus of mitigation strategies in recent years, with carbon sequestration projects playing a more prominent role in drawing carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere to store in solid or liquid form and therefore decrease the abundance of this greenhouse gas. By doing so, this reduces the trapping of solar radiation on Earth and thus aids a decline in the…

Could blending of crushed rock with arable soil lower global temperatures? Researchers of Mainz University have studied global warming events from 40 and 56 million years ago to find answers. Their research paper has recently been published in Nature Geoscience.

But organics can be produced by geological processes as well as biological ones.

We'll start with concrete made out of lunar soil, and we'll probably 3D print the road.

Dopamine is best known as a neurotransmitter. What is rather unknown, however, is that the underwater glue used by mussels contains large amounts of L-Dopa molecules, an analog of dopamine.

In the not-too-distant future, a planetary scientist will open up a tube of rocks that came from Mars.

NASA takes us on a video tour of the Martian landscape in all its glorious details.

Resource pulses, i.e., occasional episodes of ephemeral resource superabundance, represent a fundamental mechanism by which energy, nutrients, and biomass are transported across ecotones. They are widespread in extant ecosystems; however, little is known about their deep-time record.