While they may look unexciting on the outside, abalone shells contain a thick inner layer of iridescent mother-of-pearl that has long driven humans to collect them and turn them into home decor ...

Mother-of-pearl looks dainty hanging from a necklace, but this iridescent innard of abalone shells is so tough it can withstand the weight of a truck. Also called nacre, the material has long ...

"What happens is that the mantle secretes proteins and somehow these proteins interact with the seawater to make the shell," Degnan says. By comparing the abalone DNA sequences with the genome of ...

The waiting cops nabbed the captain and seized his contraband: 188 specimens of a rare Puget Sound mollusk, the pinto abalone, a strange, fist-sized snail stuffed in algae-encrusted shells.

Abalone is an umbrella term for a group of marine snails, only they don’t look like your typical snail because they have a flattened spiral shell. Their other common name is pāua, and they can ...

BOSTON (CBS) - A materials chemist who is discovering the wonders of abalone shells wins Lemelson MIT prize. Dr. Angela Belcher says she's merging organic and inorganic materials in new ways.

Long before the Gold Rush, flourishing trade routes stretched from the West Coast to points east based on abalone shells scattered in old burial sites. But enough about them: Let’s look at the ...