We care about your data, and we'd like to use cookies to give you a smooth browsing experience. Please agree and read more about our privacy policy.
Quanta Homepage
  • Physics
  • Mathematics
  • Biology
  • Computer Science
  • Topics
  • Archive

What's up in

geology

Latest Articles

520px for Heavy Late Bombardment
geophysics

Fossil Discoveries Challenge Ideas About Earth’s Start

By Rebecca Boyle
January 22, 2018
Comment
Read Later

A series of fossil finds suggests that life on Earth started earlier than anyone thought, calling into question a widely held theory of the solar system’s beginnings.

Thinking Places

Jason Morgan Recalls Discovering Earth’s Tectonic Plates

By Natalie Wolchover +2 authors
Olena Shmahalo
Lucy Reading-Ikkanda
August 28, 2017
Comment
Read Later

Jason Morgan developed the theory of plate tectonics in 1967 while working among a critical mass of talented geophysicists at Princeton University.

Earth scientists hope that their growing knowledge of the planet’s early history will shed light on poorly understood features seen today, from continents to geysers.
geophysics

Explorers Find Passage to Earth’s Dark Age

By Natalie Wolchover
December 22, 2016
Comment
Read Later

Geochemical signals from deep inside Earth are beginning to shed light on the planet’s first 50 million years, a formative period long viewed as inaccessible to science.

Abstractions blog

A Quasicrystal’s Shocking Origin

By Natalie Wolchover
July 8, 2016
Comment
Read Later

By blasting a stack of minerals with a four-meter-long gun, scientists have found a new clue about the backstory of a very strange rock.

geophysics

How Life and Luck Changed Earth’s Minerals

By Roberta Kwok
August 11, 2015
Comment
Read Later

Did the minerals on our planet arise in a predictable fashion, or did they result from chance events? The answers could eventually help scientists identify planets likely to harbor life.

Physics

In a Grain, a Glimpse of the Cosmos

By Natalie Wolchover
June 13, 2014
Comment
Read Later

When scientists traced a museum rock back to its origins, they uncovered mysteries about the early solar system.

origins of life

Early Life in Death Valley

By Peter Byrne
April 24, 2014
Comment
Read Later

Evidence from Southwestern deserts suggests that oxygen-breathing organisms arose on land rather than in the seas.


Previous
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
Next
The Quanta Newsletter

Get highlights of the most important news delivered to your email inbox

Recent newsletters
Quanta Homepage
Facebook
Twitter
Youtube
Instagram

  • About Quanta
  • Archive
  • Contact Us
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Simons Foundation
All Rights Reserved © 2023