Skip to content
  • About Us
  • Write for Us
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • People
  • Newsletter
  • Sciworthy’s Professor Partnership Program
    • About the Program
    • All PPP Articles
    • Emmanuel College
    • New Mexico Tech
    • Raritan Valley CC Biology
    • RWU Cancer Biology
    • St. Lawrence Neuroscience
    • Trinity Geology
    • University of Delaware
Skip to content

Sciworthy

  • Home
  • Read by Big Question
    • How do computers learn?
    • How do scientists study drugs and vaccines?
    • How do we treat infectious diseases?
    • What is the status of cancer research?
    • What new treatments are there for neurodegenerative diseases?
    • What do we know about mental health?
    • What is the biological basis of aging?
    • How do we educate our kids?
    • How do we feed people now and in the future?
    • What effects do different foods have on our bodies and health?
    • What new technology is coming around the corner?
    • How does technology impact our daily lives?
    • What might life look like elsewhere in the Universe?
    • How could humans travel in space?
    • What is out in space?
    • What happened in Earth’s past?
    • What is going on with the Earth’s climate?
    • How do microbes respond to changes in their surroundings?
    • How can microbes clean up the environment?
  • Read by Topic
    • Agriculture
    • Archaeology
    • Astrobiology & Space Science
    • Astronomy
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Computer Science
    • Earth Systems
    • Ecology
    • Education
    • Engineering
    • Environment
    • Food Science
    • Geography
    • Machine learning and AI
    • Medicine
    • Microbiology
    • Neuroscience
    • Oceanography
    • Paleobiology
    • Physics
    • Psychology
    • Space
    • Sustainability
    • Technology
    • The Force
  • Take Our Courses

Sciworthy

The Encyclopedia of Science's Frontier

Category: What happened in Earth’s past?

What was the Earth like a long time ago? What have archaeologists found? What was it like before life started? How did life come to be?
shadow

How complex plants reshaped the oceans

Posted on May 15, 2025May 7, 2025 by Sciworthy

Researchers found that when complex plants evolved, they increased ocean oxygen and massively restructured the marine ecosystem.

    Read More
    Bat hanging upside down in a cave
    shadow

    Bat poop corrodes cave formations

    Posted on April 17, 2025April 10, 2025 by Sciworthy

    Scientists found that bat droppings, microorganisms, and dripping water combine to dissolve cave formations in Slovakia and Poland.

      Read More
      shadow

      Lightning reacts with minerals to create the building blocks of life

      Posted on October 10, 2024September 25, 2024 by Meri Herrero

      Scientists stimulated atmospheric gases with electricity and found they reacted with common salts and minerals to form complex chemicals…

        Read More
        shadow

        When did the Galápagos tortoises become giant?

        Posted on October 3, 2024December 12, 2024 by Aubrey Zerkle

        Researchers analyzed new fossils from Ecuador that suggested the ancestors of Galápagos giant tortoises inhabited northern South America…

          Read More
          shadow

          How complex life arose under extreme stress

          Posted on August 12, 2024August 12, 2024 by Meri Herrero

          Scientists discovered molecules that helped the first complex life forms build strong cell membranes to withstand extreme environments.

            Read More
            mountain ranges during nighttime
            shadow

            Remains of the Moon could be lurking inside Earth

            Posted on July 1, 2024June 30, 2024 by Sciworthy

            Scientists used models to test whether remnants of the moon-forming impactor, Theia, are present deep within the Earth.

              Read More
              photo of island and thunder
              shadow

              Researchers used bottled “lightning” to make ingredients for life

              Posted on June 20, 2024June 12, 2024 by Sciworthy

              Scientists used spark discharge experiments to test whether lightning converted enough nitrogen to a usable form to support the origins of…

                Read More
                black and white nike shoe
                shadow

                How quickly did life recover from the end-Permian mass extinction?

                Posted on June 17, 2024June 16, 2024 by Sciworthy

                Paleontologists described exceptionally well-preserved fossils of a complex marine ecosystem that developed within 1 million years of a…

                  Read More
                  two diamond studded silver rings
                  shadow

                  Scientists found a new way diamonds are made and destroyed

                  Posted on May 23, 2024May 22, 2024 by Sciworthy

                  Geologists examined CT images of diamonds from southern Africa to determine what happens to them underground.

                    Read More
                    black and white sea creature in water
                    shadow

                    How did nautiloids survive​​ extinction?

                    Posted on May 20, 2024May 20, 2024 by Sciworthy

                    Researchers found nautiloids outlived other shelly creatures in the late-Cretaceous extinction because they had slower metabolisms.

                      Read More
                      • 1
                      • 2
                      • 3
                      • 4
                      Youtube Bluesky Facebook Instagram Twitter TikTok

                      Help us help you!

                      We want to know how Sciworthy can better serve our readers. Take our 5-minute survey and tell us your thoughts!

                      Take the Survey

                      What’s New in Space Science?

                      Artist's impression of the planetary system around the red dwarf Gliese 581. Credit: ESO

                      Unlock Your Potential!

                      Unlock Your Potential!
                      shadow
                      shadow
                      shadow

                      Sciworthy’s content is Creative Commons, No Derivatives, With Attribution. Read more about the license here.