If companies are going to mine the seafloor, they might want to pay close attention to a recently published study in Scientific Reports that was recently detailed on the United States Geological Survey website, and for good reason, as it is a particular kind of rock that can be out there that could possibly spontaneously combust when exposed to air.
According to the USGS-led investigation, in the mad rush to extract valuable metals like copper, zinc, gold, and silver, mining operations might encounter the same kind of hydrothermal rock samples researchers found from the Escanaba Trough off the Oregon-California border in 2022.
When researchers tried to freeze-dry and crush the metal sulfide samples in a lab, they broke apart as intended, quickly oxidized, and then spontaneously caught fire, reaching temperatures above 100 degrees Celsius (212 degrees F). That part was unintended.
Some Rocks From the Seafloor Can Spontaneously Combust, a New Study Finds
This bit of rock owes its spontaneous combustibility to nanocrystalline marcasite, an unstable form of iron sulfide that hates oxygen and turns processing into a potentially explosive prospect.
When these deep-sea rocks were pulled up from the crushing pressure of the ocean floor and came into contact with oxygen, heat, and grinding machinery that caused tons of friction, they can trigger rapid exothermic self-heating, a.k.a. an explosion. An all-natural, self-igniting campfire waiting to happen.
Not every rock pulled up from the seafloor will spontaneously catch fire, but the study shows that massive sulfide deposits behave quite differently from the land-based materials most mining teams will encounter on the surface. If the burgeoning seafloor-mining industry wants to make the billions of dollars it envisions, it’ll have to be mindful of the exploding rocks.
As I wrote back in July, a brand-new expedition led by researchers from Purdue University and the Archaeological Legacy Institute is headed toward an extremely small island in the middle of the Pacific called Nikumaroro Island to finally investigate the long-held hypothesis that pilot Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan were shooting for Howland Island back on their fateful voyage in 1937 and instead landed and were stranded on Nikumaroro.
The 17-person team finally reached the uninhabited island on October 12, 2026, hoping to investigate the “Taraia Object,” a weird thing researchers spotted on Apple Maps that might be Amelia Earhart’s downed Lockheed Electra 10E…or it could be a fallen tree. No one knows for sure, but they went there to find out.
It all sounds like the setup for a B science fiction movie, and we haven’t even gotten to the story’s horrifying monster, because there actually is one. Several, in fact: giant meat-eating crabs.
Amelia Earhart Search Team Flees Remote Island Nightly Due to Giant Flesh-Eating Crabs
Giant coconut crabs are enormous, land-dwelling crustaceans with three-foot leg spans and claws capable of crushing objects with 3300 newtons of force. Run-of-the-mill crabs eat random bits of ocean fodder like worms, snails, clams, and shrimp. Small stuff that any animal can tangle with.
Giant coconut crabs hunt live birds and rats. These monster crabs are also the stars of a popular, if slightly silly and intriguing, theory that suggests Earhart survived the crash landing but was killed and eaten by swarms of bloodthirsty giant crabs.
It sounds absurd, but it has a bit of scientific logic. Popular Mechanics notes that researchers tested the theory years back by tossing a pig carcass onto the island. Within days, the crabs tore the flesh to shreds and scattered the bones several feet away. Maybe Earhart and Noonan suffered a similar grisly fate?
We’ll see what the Purdue team uncovers as it sweeps the island with sonar and dredges the water during the day before retreating to safety at night.
From Earth, the Moon looks like it’s covered in holes, but those are really dents—impact craters from space rocks hitting it over billions of years. The Moon does have actual holes that could be caves and might one day shelter astronauts. NASA has recently approved a new mission that hopes to explore that exact possibility.
According to research from the Planetary Science Institute, NASA’s Payloads and Research Investigations on the Surface of the Moon (PRISM) program selected a mission called GIMLI (named after your favorite surly Lord of the Rings dwarf) to inspect the Marius Hills Pit, a hole in our moon that’s nearly 300 feet across.
It’s believed to be a “skylight,” the collapsed roof of an ancient, massive subterranean lava tube.
A Giant Hole in the Moon Could Lead to a Future Astronaut Hideout
A lot of billionaires with space on their minds dream of building some kind of habitat on the moon, but since the lunar surface is an inhospitable wasteland that’s constantly being bombarded with deadly cosmic radiation and experiences extreme temperature swings ranging from 200 degrees Fahrenheit down to -208 degrees Fahrenheit, that dream is, for now, nearly an impossibility.
But those underground lava tubes might offer a natural, climate-controlled bit of insulation, since Mare Tranquillitatis pit temperatures are known to be a much cozier 63 degrees Fahrenheit, putting it on par with the average annual temperature of lovely Laguna Beach, California, though I don’t think the views on the moon will be quite as beachy.
To make sure the pit opens into an actual cavern, GIMLI’s lander and rover will deploy ground-penetrating radar and seismic probes to send back as much information to Earth as possible. If there is a cool cave system, sound waves and gravitational mapping will reveal its true size. And even if we don’t find a habitable underground lair, possibly already inhabited by moon people, we’ll at least learn a little more about how ancient volcanic eruptions helped form the lunar crust.
Hollywood has given us all sorts of aliens over the years, from the little guy who wanted to phone home to the ones who vaporized the White House. But one of the few humans who’s actually walked on the moon has another explanation for what’s flying around up there, and it involves Satan.
Charlie Duke, the Apollo 16 astronaut who became the youngest person to walk on the moon at 36, is now 91 and convinced UFOs are the work of the devil. “The Lord says what we’re seeing is real, but the devil can appear as an angel of light, the Bible says,” he told the Christian Broadcasting Network.
And he’s been trying to convince people of this for years, with mixed results.
Duke recalled discussing his theory at Rotary Club events, where “people were laughing me off the stage.” Eventually, he asked God to confirm it. His request was oddly detailed: If a businessman friend who never discussed UFOs brought them up the next morning, Duke would consider that proof.
An Apollo Astronaut Thinks Satan Is Behind UFOs. Here’s His Explanation.
According to Duke, that’s exactly what happened. His friend brought up UFOs over breakfast, and Duke took it as the answer he’d been looking for. He also cites 2 Corinthians 11:14, the biblical passage warning that Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light.
Duke has said, however, he never saw a UFO while he was in space. He did notice some strange flashes, but those have been attributed to cosmic particles. For a man who’s actually walked on the moon, it’s funny that his strongest evidence for demonic UFOs comes from a conversation with a businessman over breakfast.
And this is a man who helped make history. During Apollo 11, Duke was the voice in Mission Control who famously told Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin they had “a bunch of guys about to turn blue” while waiting for confirmation that they’d landed safely.
He’s also got some company in the demon theory department.
Vice President JD Vance told podcaster Benny Johnson in March that he believes UFOs are demons. Meanwhile, Monsignor Stephen Rossetti, an exorcist with the Archdiocese of Washington, was removed from that position in June after claiming that many UFO sightings were demonic. Catholic officials weren’t thrilled with his public comments.
Religion scholar Diana Walsh Pasulka sees a fascinating connection between the growing interest in UFOs and people’s religious beliefs. “Belief in UFOs is really one of the best things that’s happened to religion in a long time,” she told the Associated Press.
For Duke, though, the question seems settled. “You can laugh at me if you want to, but that’s what God showed me, and I’m sticking to it,” he said.
And considering he’s been laughed off actual stages for saying this, I doubt another round of skepticism is going to change his mind.
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