logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2021
11m 30s

What Earth Looked Like 3.2 Billion Years...

NPR
About this episode
Encore episode. The surface of the Earth is constantly recycled through the motion of plate tectonics. So how do researchers study what it used to look like? Planetary scientist Roger Fu talks to host Maddie Sofia about hunting for rocks that can tell us what Earth looked like a few billion years ago, in the early days of the evolution of life.

Email the show at shortwave@npr.org.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy
Up next
Today
Autism: debunking Trump claims, and what scientists still don't know
Autism has a long history of misinformation that continues to today. The Trump administration has perpetuated some of this misinformation in the last year. Among other things, officials have claimed certain groups of people don’t get the condition and that taking Tylenol while pr ... Show More
13m 10s
Yesterday
Why research into ‘forever chemicals’ includes firefighters
PFAS make pans nonstick, clothes waterproof and furniture stain resistant. They're so ubiquitous, they're even inside of us. Now, researchers are looking for more insights in firefighters' blood.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Pol ... Show More
11m 1s
Jan 30
Lessons and failures from the Challenger space shuttle explosion
On Jan. 28, 1986, NASA’s 25th space shuttle mission, Challenger, left the launchpad in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Seventy-three seconds into flight, Challenger exploded over the Atlantic Ocean as millions of people watched. All seven people on board died. Now, forty years later, jo ... Show More
13m 55s
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2022
How Does Earth's Pulse Work?
Yes, Earth has a pulse: peaks of geologic activity that occur every 27.5 million years, and herald mass extinctions. Learn more in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/geophysics/earths-pulse.htmSee omnystudio.co ... Show More
4m 46s
Mar 2021
Journey Toward the Center of the Earth
Sixty years ago, geologists tried to drill down through the Earth’s crust to pull up a piece of the Earth’s mantle. Their mission didn’t go exactly as planned. But it sowed the seeds for a new field of science that’s helped us rewrite not only the history of the planet, but, pote ... Show More
28m 22s
Jan 2008
Plate Tectonics
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss how the science of plate tectonics revolutionised our understanding of the planet on which we live. America is getting further away from Europe. This is not a political statement but a geological fact. Just as the Pacific is getting smaller, the Re ... Show More
42m 9s
Nov 2023
Dead Planets Society: #11 Cube Earth Part Two
Turning the Earth into a cube, the gift that just keeps giving. Last episode we had fish bowl spaceships, this time we have sea monsters! If you thought cubifying the Earth couldn’t get more wacky, you’re in for a treat. In the Dead Planets Society season finale, Leah Crane and C ... Show More
17m 11s
Dec 2023
How did flat Earth conspiracy theory start?
Flat Earthers believe that the Earth is not  spherical, but rather a flat disc and the Sun and the Moon are also flat discs that circle above the Earth. According to them the edges of the world are surrounded by a wall of ice, which is what we know as Antarctica. And as for the p ... Show More
3m 58s
Jul 2023
Venus' Volcanism, Earth's Tectonic Dawn, and Juno's Jovian Encounter: Navigating the Cosmic Terrain | SpaceTime S26E91
Welcome to SpaceTime Series 26, Episode 91 with Stuart Gary. Today, we're exploring the intriguing geology of our celestial neighbors and our home planet. Discover how ancient asteroid impacts may have sparked ongoing volcanism on Venus, keeping its surface youthful despite the a ... Show More
32m 56s
Oct 2021
A Geochemical HIstory of LIfe on Earth: 5. The Anthropocene
Could human engineering stabilise the Earth's climate and chemistry in the long term? Tim Lenton of Exeter University explains why the Gaia hypothesis is the key to understanding the future of life on Earth. But what about life beyond Earth? Justin Rowlatt speaks to astronomer Li ... Show More
23m 47s
May 2022
Heat death by volcano and other stories
This week Science in Action comes from a vast gathering of earth scientists in Vienna, at the general assembly of the European Geosciences Union. Roland Pease hears the latest insights into the cataclysmic eruption of Hunga Tonga in the Pacific ocean from volcanologist Shane Cron ... Show More
56m 47s