In The News: Department of Geoscience
A minuscule bit of material in you car's exhaust system is attracting thieves, causing big headaches and costing victims thousands in repair bills.
As proof, social media users shared a video showing several people inspecting a small, shiny rock. One of the individuals connects two ends of what appears to be a wire to the rock, which activates a light on the wire. “Electrically charged stones discovered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” one Twitter user who shared the video wrote Saturday. The tweet was shared over 27,000 times.
Our modern lives depend on rare earth elements, and someday soon we may not have enough to meet growing demand. Because of their special properties, these 17 metallic elements are crucial ingredients in computer screens, cell phones and other electronics, compact fluorescent lamps, medical imaging machines, lasers, fiber optics, pigments, polishing powders, industrial catalysts – the list goes on and on. Notably rare earths are an essential part of the high-powered magnets and rechargeable batteries in the electric vehicles and renewable energy technologies needed to get the world to a low- or zero-carbon future.
Spread between Nevada and Arizona—Lake Mead, the largest man-made reservoir in the U.S.—is best known for its rapidly declining water levels due to the ongoing megadrought gripping the western states. The lake is integral to surrounding communities, as it is also formed by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River—which generates electricity for thousands of people. If the water levels continue to decline, the consequences could be catastrophic.
Scientists have identified two minerals never before seen on Earth in a meteorite weighing 15.2 metric tons (33,510 pounds). The minerals came from a 70-gram (nearly 2.5-ounce) slice of the meteorite, which was discovered in Somalia in 2020 and is the ninth-largest meteorite ever found, according to a news release from the University of Alberta.
On the heels of announcing rate increases next year for Southern Nevadans, NV Energy is proposing a more than $800 million plan to advance the state’s energy independence.
Exploring Mars might be a dream for students interested in careers in space. For Libby Hausrath, it’s an exciting point on a career path she chose years ago.
Dr. Simon Jowitt, associate professor of Economic Geology at the University Of Nevada, Las Vegas, joins the "ROI" group to discuss how ending mining would change the world.
Researchers from the University of Nevada Las Vegas have published findings in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, highlighting how by looking at marine food web fossils, we can get a glimpse into the future of climate change effects.
To find evidence of prehistoric microbial life and to better understand the processes that formed the surface of Mars, scientists wish to analyze Martian samples with high-tech lab equipment on Earth. The majority of the samples will be made up of rock. Still, scientists are also interested in studying regolith, or broken rock and dust, not only for what it can reveal about Mars’ geological processes and environment but also help astronauts prepare for some of the difficulties they will encounter. Regolith is fascinating to scientists and engineers because it can impact everything from solar panels to spacesuits.
NASA’s Perseverance rover snagged two new samples from the Martian surface on Dec. 2 and 6. But unlike the 15 rock cores collected to date, these newest samples came from a pile of wind-blown sand and dust similar to but smaller than a dune. Now contained in special metal collection tubes, one of these two samples will be considered for deposit on the Martian surface sometime this month as part of the Mars Sample Return campaign.
More than a year and a half after its first flight on Mars, the Ingenuity helicopter has set a new record.