Smithsonian geologist reads corals and gems for ocean clues

What BBN said about it

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   Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentA Smithsonian geologist is questioning corals, gemstones and other minerals about what the oceans used to be like, and the minerals are cooperating.

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   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorHer name is Gabriela Farfan, she's the curator of gems and minerals at the National Museum of Natural History, and Science News profiled her.

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   Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentSo she runs the vault. Is it secure? Are the witnesses safe?

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   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorThey're rocks, Kenji. They're in a museum. Mostly they sit there.

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   Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentSitting there is exactly what a witness does.

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   Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentCorals build layers of calcium carbonate that trap chemical signatures from the ocean, so every layer is a diary entry.

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   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorLike tree rings. Okay, that one's good, and I'm annoyed.

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   Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentAnd she interrogates them with X-ray and Raman spectroscopies, bouncing beams off the samples until they talk.

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   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorNobody's hurt. She shines a light and reads what it shows her.

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    Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentShe says minerals are actual natural history objects, and honestly the rocks have been talking for ages.

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    Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentShe's just the first one who bothered to listen.