Trapped in the rigid structure of diamonds formed deep in the Earth’s crust, scientists have discovered a form of water ice that was not known to occur naturally on our planet.

Diamonds, the super-strong and brilliant crystals of carbon atoms produced under the Earth's crushing pressures, are typically valued for their beauty and durability. But scientists also value them for another reason: They contain all kinds of hidden messages about the Earth's mantle. You just need the right tools to read them.

A UNLV scientist has discovered the first direct evidence that fluid water pockets may exist as far as 500 miles deep into the Earth's mantle.

Supervolcanoes have the power to cough up enough ash to coat entire continents. They emit waves of hot gas, rocks and ash that flow down their slopes at speeds so great they strip away vegetation and kill anyone in their path. And they carve vast depressions in the planet, leaving permanent scars.

Imagine a year in Africa that summer never arrives. The sky takes on a gray hue during the day and glows red at night. Flowers do not bloom. Trees die in the winter. Large mammals like antelope become thin, starve and provide little fat to the predators (carnivores and human hunters) that depend on them. Then, this same disheartening cycle repeats itself, year after year. This is a picture of life on earth after the eruption of the super-volcano, Mount Toba in Indonesia, about 74,000 years ago. In a paper published this week in Nature, scientists show that early modern humans on the coast of South Africa thrived through this event.

A new type of competition is emerging in Las Vegas and its expanding to the collegiate world.

Diamonds, the super-strong and brilliant crystals of carbon atoms produced under the Earth’s crushing pressures, are typically valued for their beauty and durability. But scientists also value them for another reason: They contain all kinds of hidden messages about the Earth’s mantle. You just need the right tools to read them.

Those in town for the Mountain West Basketball Championships will also get to see another college sport taking the country by storm at the Cox Pavilion near Thomas & Mack.

This weekend UNLV is hosting the first ever Mountain West Esports Showdown. Gamers from UNLV will compete against Boise State.

Trapped in the rigid structure of diamonds formed deep in the Earth's crust, scientists have discovered a form of water ice that was not previously known to occur naturally on our planet.

A team of researchers from the U.S., China and Canada has found evidence in diamonds of free-flowing water in the boundary between Earth's upper and lower mantle. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes analyzing inclusions in diamonds spewed from volcanoes and what they found.

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2018-03-diamond-inclusions-free-boundary-upper.ht…

In recognition of "Problem Gambling Awareness Month", Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) is holding Responsible Gaming Ambassador trainings in Las Vegas March 6-8 that will train more than 80 Team Members on the front lines to identify problem behavior and get help to compulsive gamblers.