According to the Lucara Diamond Corporation, this diamond is so big (pictured above) that it did not fit into the onsite scanners, and had to be sent to Belgium for assessment. This gem, named the Lucara diamond, weighs in at 1 111 karats and is almost entirely devoid of impurities. Since it was recovered in Botswana (South Central Africa), the country will make a 10% royalty on the diamond, and collect 10% in export taxes when the diamond’s value is decided. As of yet, the company has no idea what the diamond is worth, though some have estimated a value above $65 million.
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Plastic may be with us a lot longer than we thought! A new type of rock made from plastic, volcanic rock, sand, seashells, and corals has begun forming on the shores of Hawaii. The discovery adds to the debate about whether humanity’s heavy hand in natural processes warrants the formal declaration of a new epoch of Earth history.

Otherwise known as the Door to Hell and the Darvaza gas crater, the crater is found in Turkmenistan and is 60 metres wide and 20 metres deep. The hole was created when a Soviet drilling rig accidentally tapped into a massive underground natural gas cavern, causing the ground to collapse and the drilling rig to fall in. To prevent poisonous fumes from escaping into the atmosphere, the Soviet geologists decided to set the pit on fire, hoping the fire would use up its fuel in a few days.