The long running PBS series "NOVA" aired an excellent new (2016) episode last night titled "Life's Rocky Start". It was absolutely outstanding! It highlighted the relationship between minerals and the existence/relationship of life on earth. I was especially enlightened with their analysis of clay and Stromatolite in relation to the inception of life on earth, very fascinating. Also some breathtaking gem specimens are shown throughout the episode for that eye candy we all love.
I highly recommend watching this if you get the chance. I don't have a link but it can plucked from OnDemand or other sources. I think PBS might have a NOVA section that can be watched online but not positive. Let me know what you think if you catch it!
NOVA: Life's Rocky Start, S43/EP11

Will have to check it out, thanks for the heads up!

Love those kind of shows too, thanks Chris! I may have seen it already, sounds similar to one I've recently watched on the internet, but I'm going to track it down to make sure. If I have seen it, I'll probably just watch it again.

I enjoyed the fresh perspective presented in the show. For those in the Denver metro area, there are some good outcrops of the Lykins Formation near Red Rocks Park. Portions of the Lykins Fm. are composed of stromatolites. One can clearly see the alternating clay and algal mat layers with a hand lens.

Awesome video Swizz. I want some 4.3 billion year old micro Zircon crystals!

Thanks for pointing out this show, it was really good I watched online at http://www.pbs.org/show/nova/

I have some nice Stromatolite fossil specimens that I have collected here in the mtns over the years. When I first found them I had no idea so... had them analyzed at CSU back in the 80s and they were determined to be Stromatolite. CSU was very curious as to where they were found. I only disclosed the County.
I'll have to post up a few pics here when I get the chance, pretty cool stuff. This program really explained their role well!
Here's a pic I took of one that is in situ.... it's encased in a large extrusive igneous. Some of the Stromatolites up here are pretty colorful, like tie-dye almost.
Stromatolite Encased 2 by GhostCreekMine, on Flickr

I started a new thread in the Fossil section of the forums for Stromatolite, I'll post pics there: Colorado Stromatolite

super cool find, looks sweet when wet. can they be polished? now that i have seen the video i want even more to find some specimens of my own.

The ones exposed from this occurrence are on too fragile of a matrix to buff, polish, or tumble. However..... I did find one that is on a completely different matrix from the same location. It is just the topographic looking fossilization though with no colors. The host rock (Chert or Jasper?) is definitely hard enough on that one but it's already polished by nature. If I can find it here I'll take a pic and post that one up too. I was using it for a paperweight for a while.

Ok, found that one. Here it is.... no wait, I'm gonna post it in the fossil section.

Thought I might have already seen it but nope had not seen that show yet...... Awesome program!! Gotta' love them stromatolites!