Ever wonder how Earth scientists examine rocks? We cut them up and throw them under a microscope ... and then everything ...

The solid basalt rock is gray, the clay minerals are orange, and the bacterial cells are green spheres. Credit Suzuki et al. 2020, DOI: 10.1038/s42003-020-0860-1, CC BY 4.0 ...

Aa Aa Aa Imagine being able to look back into the distant past through a "time-portal ... and gypsum bedrock — rock that was formed from the remains of saltwater seas that once covered the ...