See also stories tagged with Biomineralization
The ubiquity of mineral nanoparticles in natural waters, the atmosphere, and in soils and their intriguing properties provide Earth scientists with another dimension in which to understand our planet.
The rise of oxygen and the oxidation of deep oceans between 635 and 551 million years ago may have had an impact on the increase and spread of the earliest complex life, including animals, according to a study reported in ...
While the shiny material of pearls and abalone shells has long been prized for its iridescence and aesthetic value in jewelry and decorations, scientists admire mother-of-pearl for other physical properties as well.
Here’s a pollution-control tip from nature: Deep inside a flooded mine in Wisconsin, scientists from several institutions including the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have discovered ...
It may sound counterintuitive to use a microbial protein to improve water quality.
The single-celled Spirostomum is a tiny brown worm that can contract its 500-micrometer-long body to 25% of its length in a millisecond, making this protozoan the fastest-contracting microorganism known. Scientists think ...
The idea started with an eggshell and ended with a new understanding of how minerals form to build exceptionally strong structures in the bodies of humans and other organisms. Biomineralization, the process by which organisms ...
From gemstones to transistors, crystals are everywhere in our daily lives. Crystals also make up the mineralized skeletons of all organisms, including seashells and our own teeth and bones. Perhaps the most widely used biominerals ...
Some of the hardest and sturdiest materials aren’t made in the factory; they’re made inside the bodies of animals. Biominerals are commonly used for support and protection, forming in teeth, bones, and shells in animals ...
Scientists from Max Planck Institute (Germany) and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility have just discovered the way deformation at the nanoscale takes place in a bone by studying it with the synchrotron X-rays. This ...
