Exactly when and how plate tectonics started, however, is a matter of debate. Now, in a study published March 19 in the journal Science, rock samples from Western Australia hint that the Earth’s crust may have been moving as early as 3.48 billion years ago, roughly one billion years after our planet formed.

DNA from a distance

A new analysis of meteorite isotopes challenges long-held ideas about Earth’s origins, suggesting our planet may have formed almost entirely from nearby material rather than distant sources. Planetary scientists have long debated the origin of the material that formed Earth.

Hundreds of millions of years ago, Earth’s magnetic field behaved in a way that has long baffled scientists, showing wild and seemingly chaotic shifts unlike anything seen before or since. A new study suggests this chaos may actually hide a deeper pattern: instead of random fluctuations,

For years, planetary scientists have argued that some of the material that built Earth must have drifted in from beyond Jupiter, carrying water and other volatile ingredients with it. Estimates often

Ice cores, tree rings, and satellite data converge on a striking truth: Earth’s rapid changes today are unlike anything seen in human history. When most people hear the term Earth science, they think of fossils tucked into stone, or perhaps the study of ...

Scientists have discovered fossils showing that complex animals existed millions of years before the Cambrian explosion, reshaping the timeline of life on Earth. The finds reveal a strange, diverse ecosystem where early versions of modern animals were already evolving.

New images from inside the Orion capsule show the Artemis II crew smiling and speaking with Mission Control just moments before leaving Earth’s orbit. NASA confirms the spacecraft has now begun its journey toward the moon,