News

Latest news and announcements from the Rice Northwest Rock and Mineral Museum.

Thunder-Egg-Stravaganza April 4, 2015

Events, News /

On Saturday, April 4, come to the museum for our thunderegg hunt! Find whole thundereggs and plastic eggs to redeem for prizes. We will have free thunderegg cutting all day so you can discover what lies inside your find! Additionally, come see a talk on Thundereggs of the Pacific Northwest at 11 AM or 1 PM, as well as our regular museum tour at 2 PM. Event details: Saturday, April 4, from 10 AM – 5 PM $5 admission (children 4 and under are free) We will cut up to two thundereggs per visitor. Please no outside eggs.

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Villarrica Volcano Eruption

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Chile’s Villarrica volcano erupted recently with dramatic lightning strikes and lava shooting into the night sky causing approximately 3,000 people to evacuate the area, and others to rush to study the dramatic volcanic eruption. The eruption is predicted to last several days and possibly several weeks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q56ZhwVSHs Villarrica is one of the most active and dangerous volcanoes in Chile among more than 2,000 volcanoes in the Andes cordillera. About 90 volcanoes remain active. Considered one of the most active volcanoes in the Andean Mountains, natives call the volcano Rucapillán which means “House of the Spirit.”

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Mt. Hood Rock Club Show

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The Mt. Hood Rock Club Show is Friday-Saturday, April 24-26, 2015, at the Kiever Memorial National Guard Armory on 10000 NE 33rd Drive, Portland, Oregon, west of PDX Airport. Admission is free, and each child attending receives a free rock. Over 24 vendors selling rocks, minerals, fossils, jewelry, beads, and equipment are featured, along with many activities for adults and children especially children including a kids corner with games and door prizes. Special exhibits will include lapidary work and minerals from around the world and local discoveries. This year, they will be tracking the schools the of the attending children. The school with the highest student attendance will win a selection of rocks and minerals for display in their school.

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Tualatin Valley Rock and Gem Club 57th Annual Rock and Mineral Show

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The Tualatin Valley Rock and Gem Club will be hosting the 57th Annual Rock and Mineral Show on March 13-15, 2015, Friday – Sunday, at the Washington Country Fairplex in Hillsboro, Oregon, near the Hillsboro Airport. The show features a wide range of rocks, minerals, gems, jewelry, fossils, dealers, and supplies, with exhibits, demonstrations, door prizes, and a kid’s corner. The rock show is open to families with general admission $1, children under 12 free with adult.

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Rice Museum wins Educational Award at 2015 Tucson Gem & Mineral Show

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The national organization Friends of Mineralogy awarded the Rice Museum with a top honors for “Best Educational Exhibit by an Institution” at the 2015 Tucson Gem and Mineral Show® (TGMS) for our display, “Lead Minerals.” The Tucson Gem and Mineral Show®, the World’s largest such show, draws an estimated 50,000 visitors each year. The show invites museums, private collectors, and clubs from around the world to create display cases with their best specimens related to the annual theme. The TGMS began as a club show housed in a local elementary school in 1954, and today is a premiere international event that gives visitors a chance to view specimens from some of the world’s finest mineral collections. This year’s show theme was “Minerals of Western Europe.” Mineral science as we know it today has its roots in European scholarship and mining development, and this theme inspired many displays focused on historical collections and famous European localities. The Rice Museum display combined superb mineral specimens from well-known localities with mineral science education. The display theme, minerals containing the element lead, was chosen to demonstrate how useful and beautiful lead minerals can be. The vibrant green pyromorphite, yellow mimetite, and lustrous red wulfenite on display contrast with the popular notion of lead as nothing but a dull metal. The display also discussed how the crystal structures in some lead minerals contribute to their crystal shapes, and the importance of lead ores and mining in ancient history. Tying in with the show theme, European specimens in the display included a green pyromorphite plate from Les Farges Mine, France (center); green and brown pyromorphite from Friedrichssegen Mine, Germany; green pyromorphite from Chaillac Mine, France; vitreous white anglesite from Monteponi Mine, Italy; and one of the world’s largest phosgenite crystals, also from Monteponi Mine, Italy. Education is at the heart of all that we do at the Rice Museum, and we are thrilled to be recognized for our efforts at the 2015 TGMS.

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30,000 Diamonds

News, Science /

A rare diamondiferous peridotite has been found in the Udachny Diamond Mine. The Russian mine is one of the 10 deepest open-pit mines on Earth. A chunk the size of a golf ball has geologists counting the micro-diamonds imbedded within the rock. In addition to diamonds, the 10.5 g rock contains specks of red and green garnet and other minerals. Prof Taylor and his colleagues examined it using a giant X-ray machine to study the diamonds and their relationships with associated materials. They also beamed electrons at the materials inside the diamonds to study the chemicals trapped inside. This created 2D and 3D images which revealed a relationship between minerals. …The images also showed abnormal carbon isotopes for this type of rock, indicating it was originally formed as part of the crust of the Earth, withdrawn by tectonic shifts and transformed into the shimmery rock scientists see today. Along with the 30,000 diamonds fused into the peridotite are red and green garnets making for a beautiful and unusual specimen.

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January 21 is #MuseumSelfie Day

Events, News /

Wednesday January 21 is an unofficial holiday, #MuseumSelfie Day. This event is a fun and lighthearted way to celebrate your favorite museum, which of course is the Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals. Visit the Rice NW Museum Wednesday and take a selfie with your favorite rock, fossil, gem, museum sign, exhibit case, or gallery. Post your pictures with #MuseumSelfie and follow @RiceNWMuseum and @MuseumSelfieDay. More instructions, suggestions, and ideas are on Cultural Themes.

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Earthquake Swarm

News /

The State of Connecticut has been experiencing earthquakes the recently. The phenomenon is referred to as a swarm, and has residents on edge. A similar recorded incident in this area of the United States happened in 2006-2007 in the State of Maine and reported a swarm of 40 earthquakes. The east coast has been relatively quiet since then. It is still too early to tell if this new swarm will continue. A full story can be read at NBC Connecticut.

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New Ichthyosaur Found in Rare Fossils

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New findings in Scotland show ichthyosaurs are unique to the warm shallow waters of what is now Scotland during Jurassic period, 117-169 million years ago. A team of paleontologists headed by Dr. Steve Brusatte of National Museums Scotland and the University of Edinburgh has discovered a new genus and species of ichthyosaur in rare fossils. “During the time of dinosaurs, the waters of Scotland were prowled by big reptiles the size of motor boats. Their fossils are very rare, and only now, for the first time we’ve found a new species that was uniquely Scottish,” said Dr Brusatte, who is the first author of a paper published in the Scottish Journal of Geology. The newfound species, named Dearcmhara shawcrossi, was a 4-meter long aquatic dolphin-like reptile. It was near the top of the food chain and preyed on fish and other reptiles.

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