Evolution isn’t just for living organisms. Scientists at the Carnegie Institution have found that the mineral kingdom co-evolved with life, and that up to two thirds of the more than 4,000 known types of minerals on Earth can be directly or indirectly linked to biological activity. The finding, published in American Mineralogist*, could aid scientists in the search for life on other planets.

Video Interview with Robert Hazen
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Scientists, including Global Ecology’s Joe Berry, may have overcome a major hurdle to calculating how much carbon dioxide is absorbed and released by plants, vital information for determining the amount of carbon that can be safely emitted by human activities. The problem is that ecosystems simultaneously take up and release CO₂. The key finding is that the compound carbonyl sulfide, which plants consume in tandem with CO₂, can be used to quantify gas flow into the plants during photosynthesis.

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The key to understanding Earth’s evolution, including our atmosphere and how volcanoes and earthquakes form, is to look into the lower mantle—a region some 400 to 1,800 miles below the surface. Researchers at the Geophysical Laboratory discovered that the concentration of highly oxidized iron in the two major mantle minerals is key to moving heat in that region and affects material movement throughout the planet. more »