The 4.5 billion-year-old Earth is the only known astronomical object to harbor life, giving rise to billions of species of stunning diversity, including ours, Homo sapiens. At 5.97 septillion kilograms and 40,000 kilometers in circumference, the third planet from the sun is located in the "Goldilocks zone," giving it the conditions needed to sustain liquid surface water.
Hours of research by our editors, distilled into minutes of clarity.
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.
Over 2 million species have been documented by scientists, but there may be as many as 100 million distinct species. The vast majority of the species on Earth are insects, while mammals form the smallest group.
Newton's law of universal gravitation was used to calculate the value after Henry Cavendish torsion balance experiments determined the missing value of the universal gravitational constant from Newton's equation.
Born from the remains of the molecular cloud that birthed the sun, Earth experienced planetary-scale collisions, asteroid impacts, and lava seas. Life became possible after the planet cooled and formed a thin crust, atmosphere, and oceans.
The solar system is roughly halfway between the galaxy's outer rim and its center, which is located about 25,000 light years away. The Milky Way is itself one of hundreds of thousands of galaxies in the Virgo Supercluster.
The nebular hypothesis proposes that a swirling cloud of gas and dust coalesced into a dense center, forming a star amid nuclear fusion. Lighter elements were blown far from the star while heavier elements remained nearby, serving as primary materials for terrestrial and jovian planets, respectively.
Earth's initial atmosphere was filled with carbon dioxide, methane, and water, with most oxygen locked away in the rocky crust. Over time, bacteria evolved to slowly release that oxygen into the atmosphere by breaking down rock.
Scientists investigate Earth's interior by studying seismic wavesBelow Earth's atmosphere lies the crust, which extends to the Mohorovičić discontinuity between five and 20 miles below Earth's surface. Below the crust lies the mantle, the liquid-metal outer core, and the solid inner core, which surpasses 5,200°C.
Its magnetosphere emerges from a complex interior process of electrical conduction, heat, and motion known as the geodynamo. The magnetic field shields the Earth from unsafe cosmic radiation, providing one of the many conditions required for life.
Also referred to as the habitable zone, this region varies based on the properties of a planetary system's host star, including its size and luminosity, which measure the rate at which the star radiates energy per unit area.
Since our ancient human relatives began using stone tools to perform tasks, humans have harnessed scientific knowledge and new technologies to expand the boundaries of our understanding of the natural world. From quantum computing and microplastics to artificial intelligence and memory, explore these topics and more with our concise yet informative overviews and expert-curated resources.