The Living Memory of Stone: Bridging Science and Soul with Dr. Robert Hazen

At Solaria, we feel that minerals are more than just beautiful objects; they are the tangible thread to all of life, and Earth’s original storytellers through what we call 'mineral memory'. This felt like a poetic or spiritual intuition—until we encountered the work of Dr. Robert Hazen.

Dr. Hazen, a mineralogist and astrobiologist, is pioneering a field that perfectly mirrors the heartbeat of Solaria. His work in Mineral Evolution and Mineral Ecology proves that rocks and life are not separate. They have grown up together, shaping one another for billions of years.

"We've thought for centuries that animals and minerals are separate kingdoms, but they overlap, they're intertwined, they co-evolved. Life makes minerals and minerals have led to new life-forms. You can't separate the two. Life and rocks are intertwined through billions of years of Earth history." - Dr Robert Hazen

Mineral evolution is the study of the increasing diversity and changing distribution of minerals as a consequence of evolving physical, chemical and biological processes in planetary systems.

In the two videos shared here, Dr. Hazen takes us on a journey from the "Big Bang" to the present day, revealing how the mineral kingdom has expanded from a mere dozen species to the thousands we steward today - in 2026 there are over 6000 and counting - Dr Hazen expects there to be over 10,000!

"Minerals, singly and in combination are the oldest objects we can hold in our hands. They tell the stories of the origin and evolution of planets and life. Each specimen is a time capsule waiting to be opened and read... All life depends on minerals." - Dr Robert Hazen

In his lecture for the Swiss Crystallographic Society, he dives into Data-Driven Discovery. This is where 'Microscopes meet Myth'. By using advanced data science, he is "reading" the mineral record to predict where new minerals might be found and what they tell us about the environment that birthed them.

This is the 'Crystalline Bridge' in action:

• Minerals as Data Storage: Just as we speak of the "Hall of Memory," Dr. Hazen shows us that every crystal lattice is a snapshot of a specific moment in Earth’s evolution.
  

• The Co-Evolution of Life: We are made of the same elements as the stones. When we sit in resonance with a crystal, we are connecting with our own deep-time ancestors.
  

• The Future of Solaria: Dr. Hazen’s work provides the scientific scaffolding for our Research & Innovation Hub. It proves that to understand our future, we must learn to listen to the 'memory' held within the Earth.
  

We invite you to watch these videos with both your mind and your heart open. See the 'Data' as the language the Earth uses to remember itself and then share that memory with us through the way it expresses itself in mineral form.

Video 1: 'Life's Rocky Start' - by PBS NOVA

Four and a half billion years ago, how did life emerge on Earth? Robert Hazen advances a startling idea -- that the rocks on Earth were not only essential to jump-starting life, but then, life helped give birth to hundreds of minerals.

YouTube Link: (Video has been taken offline - but if you can find it, it's worth watching).

Video 2: 'Data-Driven Discoveries in Mineralogy – a lecture by Robert M. Hazen'

A leading figure in Earth sciences, Robert M. Hazen gave an exceptional lecture at the University of Lausanne (UNIL), as part of the Howard Flack Crystallographic Lecture Series, organized by the Swiss Crystallographic Society. An internationally renowned scientist and musician, Robert M. Hazen is a pioneer of mineral evolution and mineral informatics, offering a bold vision of the co-evolution of minerals and life.

YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/Lzv-NwF1DNE?si=eYUQzFnUX6QOY_r_

Thanks for exploring these ideas with us.

We hope you enjoy the videos.

Amanda Sears

Founder of Solaria