plate tectonics
Plate Tectonics Might Only Occur on 0.003% of Planets. That Makes Earth Very Special Indeed.
Plate tectonics, oceans, and continents might just be the secret ingredients for complex life on Earth. And if these geological…
Did Earth’s Multicellular Life Depend on Plate Tectonics?
How did complex life emerge and evolve on the Earth and what does this mean for finding life beyond Earth?…
What Deadly Venus Can Tell Us About Life on Other Worlds
Even though Venus and Earth are so-called sister planets, they're as different as heaven and hell. Earth is a natural…
What Can Early Earth Teach Us About the Search for Life?
Earth is the only life-supporting planet we know of, so it's tempting to use it as a standard in the…
When did the First Continents Appear in the Universe?
On Earth, continents are likely necessary to support life. Continents 'float' on top of the Earth's viscous mantle, and heat…
Did Life Need Plate Tectonics to Emerge?
It's widely accepted that Earth's plate tectonics are a key factor in life's emergence. Plate tectonics allows heat to move…
The Pacific Ocean Will be Gone in 300 Million Years as the World's Continents Drift and Combine
A new study determined that the world's next supercontinent, "Amasia," will form between two and three hundred million years.
How did Earth go From Molten Hellscape to Habitable Planet?
Earth formed from the Sun's protoplanetary disk about 4.6 billion years ago. In the beginning, it was a molten spheroid…
Eggshell Planets Have a Thin Brittle Crust and No Mountains or Tectonics
Planets without plate tectonics are unlikely to be habitable. But currently, we've never seen the surface of an exoplanet to…
A Crater on Venus Indicates the Planet Hasn’t Been Volcanic for a Long Time
Venus may not have had Earth-like tectonic plates or volcanism for the last billion years, according to a new study.…