Trapped in the rigid structure of diamonds formed deep in the Earth's crust, scientists have discovered a form of water ice that was not previously known to occur naturally on our planet.

A team of researchers from the U.S., China and Canada has found evidence in diamonds of free-flowing water in the boundary between Earth's upper and lower mantle. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes analyzing inclusions in diamonds spewed from volcanoes and what they found.

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2018-03-diamond-inclusions-free-boundary-upper.ht…

The Curiosity rover made big news in late 2014 when it first detected organic matter on Mars. But in detailed studies of the sites in Gale Crater studied by Curiosity, called Yellowknife Bay and Sheepbed Mudstone, the concentration of organic molecules were much lower than scientists had expected.

Motorists will be able to cruise a brand-new section of Interstate 11 next Tuesday. It's the Railroad Pass interchange and it will be open for business Feb. 20.

The ice age treasures of Tule Springs are back home in Las Vegas after a decades-long detour to Southern California.

Coming out of the last glacial period, there was a sudden climate reversal observed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the Earth. The cause of these changes during this interval so enigmatic, so much so, the interval was informally referred to as the “Mystery Interval.” Many large shifts in climates in the past seem to be synchronized with climate in the poles as expressed in ice core records.

“Is this something we’ve seen before?” We asked Dr. Josh Bonde. He grinned. “No, this is going to be something new.”

Sabertooth cats once roamed Las Vegas, mammoths towered over the valley, and now, you can see them.

A new study shows that even low doses of asbestos fibers found around the Lake Mead area make mice sick. The study was conducted to understand whether rocks in Boulder City are toxic and cause negative health effects.

More than 80 percent of land in Nevada is publicly owned. This wealth of open space is a treasure trove for paleontologists. Their digs into the dirt can teach us about what our world was and hint at issues we might have to confront tomorrow.

Conservation groups hoped a new national monument would halt mining, but President Obama passed on the proposal.

Timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, the book “Conserving America’s National Parks” by local author Scott R. Abella tells the story of challenges and successes in conservation efforts in the United States’ more than 400 national parks. Illustrated with 247 photos, maps and sketches, the book explores topics such as the return of wolves and panthers to parks, the removal of dams to restore salmon runs, efforts to save trees infected by pests and adaptation to changes brought on by drought, contamination and climate change. Of local interest are sections on Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument and the drought’s impact on Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Visit sites.google.com/site/conservingnationalparks.