Some unusual boulder fields lay scattered across Pennsylvania and New Jersey. What’s special? The rocks ring like bells when struck with a hammer.
Despite the rocks’ popularity, the question of why they ring has been largely abandoned by scientists. The only rudimentary answers appear in an obscure publication in 1970 by a Rutgers researcher who barely left a digital trace.
So Scienceline correspondents Harrison Tasoff and Marissa Shieh went out to one of these boulder fields with geologist Lawrence Malinconico of Lafayette College and composer Joseph Bertolozzi to experience and explain the ringing rocks.
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About the Author
Harrison Tasoff
Harrison Tasoff currently serves as Scienceline’s physical science editor working on stories ranging from special relativity to minerology. Outside of the physical sciences, he has a tender spot for the marine biology beat. Harrison has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Swarthmore College and is pursuing a master’s in science journalism at NYU.
Harrison grew up in sunny Southern California watching science shows and exploring tide pools. He is an avid mineral collector and when he’s not writing you can find him tending his bonsai.
You can follow Harrison on Twitter here.
1 Comment
Fascinating and fun! Well done too!