Rare mineral discovered in plants for first time
05 March 2018A rare mineral with potential industrial and medical applications has been discovered on alpine plants at Cambridge University Botanic Garden.
Going underground: Cambridge digs into the history of geology with landmark exhibition
24 November 2017A 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 display in Cambridge this week as part of the first major exhibition to celebrate geological map-making.
Fingerprinting rare earth elements from the air
01 July 2016Vital 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 concentrations that make them economic to mine. Researchers from Cambridge University and the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) are investigating whether the remarkable properties of these materials can be used to track them down from the air.
Opinion: Harder than diamond: have scientists really found something tougher than nature’s invincible material?
19 January 2016Paul Coxon (Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy) discusses the materials that have each been heralded as the new “world’s hardest material”.
Opinion: What science can tell us about the ‘world’s largest sapphire’
06 January 2016Simon Redfern (Department of Earth Sciences) discusses how the "Star of Adam" sapphire was formed in the highlands of Sri Lanka.
Chemistry curbs spreading of carbon dioxide
06 May 2011The presence of even a simple chemical reaction can delay or prevent the spreading of stored carbon dioxide in underground aquifers, new research from the University of Cambridge has revealed.
