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Fossilized Cicada Entombed In Opal Reveals Precious Gems Can Contain Ancient Life Rachael Funnell, IFL_Science, October 7, 2023 https://www.iflscience.com/fossilized-cicada-entombed-in-opal-reveals-precious-gems-can-contain-ancient-life-57413 Rare Fossil Reveals Cicada Entombed in Opal An insect trapped in a precious gem points to new places to search for ancient life Carolyn Wilke, Scientific American https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/rare-fossil-reveals-cicada-entombed-in-opal1/ The open accesspaper is: Chauviré, B., Houadria, M., Donini, A. et al. Arthropod entombment in weathering-formed opal: new horizons for recording life in rocks. Sci Rep 10, 10575 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-67412-9 Yours, Paul H.

Hey gang, I was hoping to head east to get a few specimens of Brood X periodic cicadas for my collection this season. However my schedule has become packed to the point I am not going to be able to get out that way. Brood X is one of the few I don’t have specimens from. I missed the last time they were up and about! If you live in the area and are willing to grab three each of males and females, shoot me a PM. I’ll provide all shipping materials and labels, and will throw in some fun stuff in trade!

Hi all, As well as being a great fossil enthusiast, I also love finding modern remains of life and nature. Like a few of you already know, I am also quite fond of seashells (fossil seashells are one of my favorite things). Minerals also interest me, though I don't know much about them. And anything else to do with nature will get me interested. I just came back yesterday from some fantastic holidays in Greece, and didn't come back empty-handed! At first, we stayed for a few days at one of our friend's house on the Greek island Paros. Then, we spent one night in Athens to visit the famous Acropolis, before spending a few days at Gerolimenas, a small village at the tip of the Mani peninsula (Peloponnese). Finally we stayed two nights in Nafplio, in the north of the Peloponnese, and then returned to the cold and rainy Netherlands. Surely holidays to remember! Of course, I was constantly looking around for fossils, seashells, and other things, enjoying the slightly nerdy activities we all here enjoy so much. Though no fossils were found, I did find a few other things. Here are my different hauls! Chapter 1: Paros Paros is a lovely, typically Greek island, in the Aegean sea. The first few days here, having visited several different beaches, I found nearly nothing. Then one day, after having eaten a delicious grilled squid, I strolled on the beach, and bingo! Seashells everywhere! I quickly grabbed a plastic bag and filled it up with little treasures. I was really stunned by the beautiful Noah's Ark shells. That was the only beach where I made finds, but the finds were so great that it was enough to leave the place with good memories and happy hands. Total haul (things on top are not seashells, but other miscellaneous things): Some of my favorites: A small Diodora graeca: A very nice Haliotis mykonosensis: A beautiful Neverita josephina: A touch-looking crab claw: Some cool pink-red urchin spines: A small but stunning Arca noae: