The effect is similar to how players in the popular digital game Tetris rotate, align and translate pieces to form a solid plane of uniform blocks. In the game, players rotate a piece so it lines up ...

Two new minerals have been discovered in lunar dust, revealing secrets about the Moon's formation and internal evolution.

Dolomite has been notoriously impossible to replicate in a lab because of recurring defects in mineral layers—but not anymore ...

From the atomic dance of silicate frameworks to the surprising ways minerals form and dissolve, new research is reshaping our understanding of Earth’s building blocks. Scientists are uncovering ...

An international research team involving scientists from the University of Vienna, the Faculty of Physics of the University of Warsaw and Univeristy of Edinburgh has described the process of growing ...

Silicon dioxide, or silica, is one of Earth’s most common chemical compounds. It makes up more than 60 percent of the planet’s crust. The substance is also one of nature’s most diverse. Its atoms ...