A new origins-based system for classifying minerals reveals the huge geochemical imprint that life has left on Earth. It could help us identify other worlds with life too. The impact of Earth’s ...

Minerals are geologic time capsules of the environments in which they form. With the right approach, their mysteries can be cracked open to reveal key features of the ancient Earth or other planets.

Quartz, diamond, calcite, and pyrite are a few of the most famous mineral “species,” according to traditional systems of classification. Yet, two papers published in American Mineralogist have ...