State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

History of Science

  • Photo Essay: The Mystery of North American Diamonds

    Photo Essay: The Mystery of North American Diamonds

    People have been finding loose diamonds across the United States and Canada since the early 1800s, but for the most part, no one knows where they came from. It was not until the 1990s that geologists tracked down the first commercial deposits, on the remote tundra of Canada’s Northwest Territories. Yaakov Weiss, a geochemist at…

  • Press-Ewing Seismograph on Jeopardy!

    Press-Ewing Seismograph on Jeopardy!

    An important piece of earthquake-science history popped up a few weeks ago on Jeopardy!: “The Press-Ewing was an early seismograph, recording waves from these events. If you didn’t know a Press-Ewing from a French press, you were in luck. For $200, all you needed to know to formulate the question is what a seismograph measures.…

Banner with collage of ecosystems and the Empire State Building with text "Climate Week NYC: Columbia Climate School."

Columbia Climate School is bringing bold ideas, leading experts, and groundbreaking research to Climate Week NYC. Explore our events, stories, and updates as we help shape the conversation on climate action across New York City.

  • Photo Essay: The Mystery of North American Diamonds

    Photo Essay: The Mystery of North American Diamonds

    People have been finding loose diamonds across the United States and Canada since the early 1800s, but for the most part, no one knows where they came from. It was not until the 1990s that geologists tracked down the first commercial deposits, on the remote tundra of Canada’s Northwest Territories. Yaakov Weiss, a geochemist at…

  • Press-Ewing Seismograph on Jeopardy!

    Press-Ewing Seismograph on Jeopardy!

    An important piece of earthquake-science history popped up a few weeks ago on Jeopardy!: “The Press-Ewing was an early seismograph, recording waves from these events. If you didn’t know a Press-Ewing from a French press, you were in luck. For $200, all you needed to know to formulate the question is what a seismograph measures.…