The theory of plate tectonics first emerged from the theory of continental drift

The theory of plate tectonics was not initially accepted until evidence became undeniable

Alfred Wegener proposed continental drift—the movement of large landmasses—in 1912 to explain why similar rock layers, plant and animal fossils, and glacial deposits were found on continents that were then unconnected. In the early 1960s, this was combined with evidence of seafloor spreading, mantle convection in Earth's interior, and earthquake and volcanic data outlining plate boundaries to produce the accepted theory.

The formation and breakup of Pangaea altered Earth’s geology and biodiversity

Coming from the Greek words for “all” (pan) and “Earth” (gaia), the supercontinent existed from about 320 million to 195 million years ago. The tectonic activity that split Pangaea into today’s continents may one day bring the continents back together, forming Pangaea Proxima.

Records of Earth's magnetic field on the seafloor validated plate tectonics

Matching glacial, fossil, and rock records, mountain ranges, and continental shapes across oceans was insufficient evidence for continental drift. Precise measurements of magnetic minerals on the ocean floor revealed seafloor spreading, which could only be explained by moving landmasses.

Continental drift is supported by matching evidence across disconnected continents

Mesosaurus fossils are found in South America and Africa, but these freshwater creatures could not have travelled across the ocean between continents. Rock layers in the Appalachian Mountains match those seen in Europe, indicating that the mountain belts were once connected.

200 million years of tectonic plate movement

The Earth's internal forces have continuously pushed and reshaped how the planet's land masses are arranged. From one supercontinent hundreds of millions of years ago, to present day, the Earth has looked dramatically different throughout the...

The discovery of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge was initially dismissed as ‘girl talk’

Marie Tharp identified the structure when mapping the ocean floor using sonar data, but her colleague, who did not favor continental drift, was unconvinced. Famed filmmaker Jacques Cousteau even tried to disprove her work with underwater footage, only to validate her maps.

Some tectonic plates move faster than their underlying convection currents

Like a chain slipping off a ledge, as tectonic plates sink, their weight can pull the rest of the trailing plate forward, accelerating their movement. Plates can also break apart and fall, creating a suction effect that drives movement, resembling leaves following a passing car.

Simulate geological activity at plate boundaries

You are given a planetary model with optional rock formation and your choice of the number of tectonic plates and their densities. Draw continents, assign forces and plate boundary types, and run the simulation across map types to observe earthquakes, volcanoes, and other geological activity.

Remnants of another planet that helped form the moon may be beneath Earth's surface

Large mantle structures beneath Africa and the Pacific Ocean may be the buried remains of Thea, a large Mars-sized planet that collided with Earth. The theory is supported by isotopic evidence from volcanic and lunar rocks.

The cycling of carbon via tectonic activity may have facilitated life on Earth

Plates sinking into Earth’s mantle pull carbon from the surface, helping stabilize the atmosphere and climate by removing greenhouse gases from volcanic eruptions. At the same time, magma is a significant contributor of heavy metals and other crucial minerals for life to the surface.

The missing continent that took 375 years to find

It took scientists 375 years to discover the eighth continent of the world, which had been hiding in plain sight all along. But mysteries still remain.

Jupiter’s formation included accretion and migrations across the solar system

One theory of Jupiter’s formation involves the planet spiraling inwards from the asteroid belt, gathering material and disrupting the initial formation of terrestrial planets. Saturn’s gravitational pull would then reverse its course.

There are lots of weird ideas about dinosaur extinction, like hungry, hungry caterpillars

One of the great historical puzzles is this: why did the dinosaurs go extinct? Whether an asteroid, poison plants, volcanos and climate change, or something else, it's still a mystery. Scientists have been debating this question for almost a hundred years. One insect scholar suggests that caterpillars are the culprits.

A Belgian Catholic priest was the first to come up with the idea for the Big Bang

In 1931, Georges Lemaître presented his radical idea that the universe came from a “primeval atom,” challenging the long-held belief that the universe had always existed. Einstein initially dismissed Lemaître’s work as having “abominable” physical insight, only to accept it later.

Explaining why animals don't cross this invisible line in Indonesia

Although the distance separating the two regions is small, East and West Indonesia have starkly different species, puzzling scientists for decades. Biogeographers use the theory of plate tectonics to explain the phenomenon, arguing the two regions...

Climate determinism wrongly linked human traits and societal progress to geography

Historically rooted in Greek philosophy, its ideas used the latitudes where people were located to justify racial hierarchies, casting tropical peoples as lazy or inferior. These biases still influence how media and research portray people in climatically disadvantaged regions. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Panspermia, the theory that cellular life came from a different planet

One of the most profound mysteries of human life on earth is the presence of living cells: organic, self-organizing, reproducing creatures with a drive to survive within given set conditions. Traditional theories posit life came from divine...

Why are all maps of the world wrong?

This 5-minute video explains why all maps to date are verifiably wrong. While globes can provide an accurate map and scale of the various continents, flattening that sphere has historically meant something will be distorted, whether land, sea, or...

The history of germ theory, which explains that illnesses are caused by microorganisms

For centuries, the miasma theory, which held that illnesses were caused by clouds of "bad air" produced by decaying organic matter, was the accepted explanation for the spread of disease. The development of microscopes and the subsequent technology to isolate bacteria and test disease spread in mice greatly contributed to contagionists overturning miasmatists.

The greenhouse effect was discovered by analyzing Earth's temperature

Using mathematical techniques developed to analyze heat transfer, Jean-Baptiste Joseph Fourier showed that Earth should be significantly cooler if solar radiation were the only contributor to its surface temperature. By considering that the atmosphere could amplify the sun's warming effect, he formulated what became known as the greenhouse effect.

Portugal's 1775 earthquake is considered Europe's first modern natural disaster

An 8.5-magnitude earthquake off the Portuguese coast nearly destroyed Lisbon, killing thousands, creating 16-foot-wide fissures in the city, and triggering a massive tsunami. Historians credit it with jump-starting the Enlightenment in the region, with many thinkers seeking natural explanations.

The bizarre 1920 proposal to form a pizza-shaped central European state

In light of the challenges of the Treaty of Versailles, which concluded the Great War, a mostly unknown author, and son of the map's printer, PA Maas suggested central Europe be integrated into a single state. With a central capital in Vienna, 24 Kantons, or regions, would radiate outward in pie-slice shapes.

How upheavals in accepted scientific theories helped popularize the term 'paradigm'

When Thomas Kuhn published "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" in 1962, he described the history of science as comprising periods of "normal science" where these accepted frameworks—paradigms—gradually accumulate anomalies until they cannot describe nature. Revolutionary science, such as the development of a new theory, results in a paradigm shift, another term Kuhn helped popularize. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Tornadoes, or twisters, have been seen on every continent but Antarctica

Because tornadoes require rising warm air to form, some meteorologists have suggested that urban environments—locations where human landscape modification has introduced materials that trap thermal energy—can enhance the conditions needed for tornado formation. Tornadoes have been reported to cause ear "popping" due to drastic changes in air pressure.

Philosophers have debated the nature of time since at least the 6th century B.C.E.

Greek philosopher Parmenides of Elea was skeptical of time and reasoned that if it were real, then the present would emerge from nothing because the future did not yet exist. Just as the color red is our perception of a specific wavelength of light, others have suggested time is a psychological projection based on how we interpret the world.

Chaos theory—informally known as the butterfly effect—is the reason why weather forecasts are presented with probabilities rather than certainties.

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

Volcanoes 'die' when their supply of magma runs out, if they are shifted away from their underlying magma reservoir, or if they get clogged by collapsing or their magma cooling back into rock.

Explore the history, structure, and species of Australia's Great Barrier Reef with this interactive journey narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

The history of many kitchen appliances involves unexpected discoveries and applications, including wartime radar turned hamster defroster and replacing an 'ice king' with heat-stealing boxes.

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

While the sun's gravity keeps the planets in orbit, their gravity also pulls on the sun, causing it and everything else in the solar system to orbit around a mutual balance point called the barycenter—the true center of the solar system.

While El Niño moves warm Pacific Ocean waters east along the equator, La Niña moves them west, shifting where rainfall will become more common for months.

Against his wishes, Albert Einstein's brain was removed before his cremation, and the pathologist responsible stored it for decades in mason jars within a beer cooler.

After NASA's Voyager 1 captured Earth as a single pixel as it left the solar system in 1990, astronomer Carl Sagan used the image to reflect on humanity's fragility and the responsibility to protect 'the only world we've ever known.'

Waves off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal, can reach over 100 feet and are caused by the area's deep underwater canyon geography

The concept of phantom limbs, the perception that amputated limbs are still present, dates back to a French military surgeon in the 16th century.

All rainbows are 'raincircles' caused by water droplets separating white sunlight into a spectrum of colors, but Earth's surface blocks the bottom half of the circle from our line of sight.

Before writing 'Walden,' transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau nearly burned down his hometown with a campfire that grew out of control.

Explore fun facts from the USPS, including unique post office buildings, a stamp that traveled past Pluto, and more.

How the most famous Ebola book, The Hot Zone, which sold 3.5 million copies and was translated into 30 languages, got aspects of the disease so wrong.

'Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone,' a work by American painter Thomas Moran, inspired Congress to establish Yellowstone National Park.

Researchers believe the brain consolidates memories, processes emotions, and plans for the future during dream states

The syncytiotrophoblast is the outer layer of the placenta and the largest human cell, spanning an area about twice that of a king-sized bedsheet.

Walt Disney's early film 'Alice's Wonderland' was a groundbreaking innovation in the silent film era

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

In 1963, a basement renovation in Turkey revealed a passageway to a hidden, multilevel underground city that once housed as many as 20,000 people

The term 'algorithm' originated from the Latinized name of al-Khwārizmī, a 9th-century mathematician whose works introduced Arabic numerals and the decimal-based numeral system to Europe and whose treatise 'Al-Jabr' gave algebra its name.

The US Constitution is widely regarded as the longest-standing written national constitution still in force—see how it has influenced rights worldwide.