skip to main content

Each Grain of Sand a Tiny Work of Art

Microscopic photos of sand show that it's a lot more than just little tan rocks.

| 1 min read
Follow on GoogleGoogle News Preferred Source
Placeholder image

Newsletter

Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news

Sign Up
Placeholder image showing Earth from space with an alert icon and the message ‘This image is no longer available.’

Placeholder image showing Earth from space with an alert icon and the message ‘This image is no longer available.’

Placeholder image showing Earth from space with an alert icon and the message ‘This image is no longer available.’

Placeholder image showing Earth from space with an alert icon and the message ‘This image is no longer available.’

Placeholder image showing Earth from space with an alert icon and the message ‘This image is no longer available.’

Placeholder image showing Earth from space with an alert icon and the message ‘This image is no longer available.’

Placeholder image showing Earth from space with an alert icon and the message ‘This image is no longer available.’

Placeholder image showing Earth from space with an alert icon and the message ‘This image is no longer available.’

Placeholder image showing Earth from space with an alert icon and the message ‘This image is no longer available.’

Related Topics

More on Discover
Tomiyamichthys oriens new fish species

Fish Exporter Helps Reveal New Species Barely Over an Inch Long, With Yellow Flecks and Bright Orange Blotches

Sperm whales

Sleeping Sperm Whales Release Bubbles Up to 36 Times to Keep From Floating to the Surface

Two orcas above water

Orcas Make a Dead Sunfish Explode With a Coordinated Body Slam, Possibly to Feed Juveniles or Just Have Fun

Iridescent Arctic bobtail squid

Rare Arctic Bobtail Squid Filmed With Eggs in Remote Greenland Waters for the First Time

How do whales die? Single whale tail slipping beneath the waves during sunset

How Whales Die — and the Remarkable Life Their Bodies Support Afterward

Deep sea hydrothermal vents

Seafloor Spreading Event Caught in Real Time, Starting with a Swarm of Earthquakes and an Outpouring of Lava

H. Dudgeonae on a reef

A New Walking Shark Species Has Brown Freckles, White Dashes, and an Uncertain Future

A swimming crab trapped inside a plastic bottle found drifting in the Pacific Ocean off Okinawa, Japan.

A Crab Survived Two Months Trapped in a Plastic Bottle in the Pacific After Growing Too Big to Escape

bright and frilly Siphonophore underwater

31 New Species Found off Brazil Reveal a Fragile World in the Ocean’s Midwater

A humpback whale jumping out of the water

These Humpback Whales Rarely Leave Oman — One Just Made a Surprising Trip to India

Venomous box jellyfish swimming in the water

Box Jellyfish Venom Punctures Cells, Disrupts the Heart, and Can Kill Within Minutes

University of South Florida researcher collecting samples in Antarctica underwater

A Tiny Antarctic Sea Squirt Hosts a Bacterium That Could Kill Melanoma Cells and Help Develop Cancer Treatments

Stay Curious

JoinOur List

Sign up for our weekly science updates

View our Privacy Policy

SubscribeTo The Magazine

Save up to 40% off the cover price when you subscribe to Discover magazine.

Subscribe