California is a place of magnificent tectonic forces that lift mountains only for them to be constantly eroded by glaciers, wind and rain, ground down to one of the most basic commodities on Earth: ...

The first time Sumaira Abdulali tangoed with the sand mafia, it was 2004. She was 43 years old and enjoying time with her husband and two kids at the family’s holiday home on the western coast of ...

If you haven’t done it already, it's time to add dust storms to your long list of the worst environmental crises of the 21st century that we are not prepared for. Sand and dust storms occur when ...

Sand underpins everything from skyscrapers to smartphones. Sharp sand (as opposed to rounded desert sand) is the key ingredient in concrete, while high-purity silica sand is essential for making the ...

While millions of Americans vacation on beaches every year to seek out sun, sand and the sea, many might not realize how dangerous digging holes in the sand can be. In February 2024, a 7-year-old girl ...

Stanford researchers have developed an artificial intelligence-based tool – dubbed SandAI – that can reveal the history of quartz sand grains going back hundreds of millions of years. With SandAI, ...