A mysterious crater 30 cm in diameter opened in July on the Siberian peninsula of Yamal. Its probable provenance is an explosion of methane gas. Nature Magazine presumes that permafrost thawing as a result of global warming is the trigger (Video, 1, 2).

Doorknobs or switches made of natural stone are the specialty of German-based Stonetouch Company (German).

At the Boston 9/11 memorial the names of the victims are being washed away due to damages in the Stony Creek granite, the Boston Globe reports.

The Marble Institute of America (MIA) has released Stones of North America Version 3. It is a comprehensive iPad app that gives design and construction professionals quick, easy access to detailed information about natural stones quarried in North America. The Stones of North America iPad app is available for free download on iTunes.

The French Government has ear-marked 200 million € for the refurbishment of the Grande Arche in Paris. The cube measures 110 m at each edge and is clad in Carrara marble which was mounted in 1989 at the occasion of the 2nd centenary celebration of the French Revolution.     

Venezuela celebrates its first exports of natural stone according to Globovision. Stone is question is Granite destined for Ecuador. Central and South-America are target regions according to Asociación Naciaonal de Graniteros (Angraven), Arnoldo García (Spanish).

Works by Spanish architect Alberto Campo Baeza are presented in an English- and Chinese-language publication (ISSN 1004-8537). Some of the works in natural stone had already been described by Stone-Ideas.com (1, 2).

(15.09.2014, USA: 09.15.2014)