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Sciworthy

The Encyclopedia of Science's Frontier

Home » Big Questions » What happened in Earth’s past? » Page 2

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?
photo of island and thunder
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Researchers used bottled “lightning” to make ingredients for life

Posted on June 20, 2024June 26, 2025 by Sciworthy

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

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    black and white nike shoe
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    How quickly did life recover from the end-Permian mass extinction?

    Posted on June 17, 2024June 26, 2025 by Sciworthy

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

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      two diamond studded silver rings
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      Scientists found a new way diamonds are made and destroyed

      Posted on May 23, 2024June 26, 2025 by Sciworthy

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

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        black and white sea creature in water
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        How did nautiloids survive​​ extinction?

        Posted on May 20, 2024June 26, 2025 by Sciworthy

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

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          gray and black fish on water
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          A trilobite’s last supper

          Posted on February 12, 2024June 25, 2025 by Aubrey Zerkle

          Paleontologists described a trilobite fossil preserved in 3D with its gut contents intact.

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            How do mountains affect Earth’s climate?

            Posted on December 11, 2023December 1, 2023 by Sciworthy

            Scientists showed sulfuric acid formed during weathering of rocks causes mountains to consume less greenhouse gasses than they previously…

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              silhouette of mountain under cloudy sky during daytime
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              Did lightning provide food for life’s beginning?

              Posted on April 10, 2023June 25, 2025 by Aubrey Zerkle

              Lightning bolts can be deadly or destructive, but some researchers propose they might also have supplied essential elements for the first…

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                brown dinosaur illustration
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                How smart were the dinosaurs?

                Posted on March 2, 2023June 25, 2025 by Aubrey Zerkle

                A researcher from Vanderbilt University inferred dinosaur intelligence from fossilized skulls. She used the skulls to estimate the number of…

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                  Microbes entombed in ancient salts could help search for life on Mars

                  Posted on August 8, 2022June 25, 2025 by Aubrey Zerkle

                  Geologists discovered microbes trapped in 830-million-year-old salt minerals similar to those found on Mars.

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                    Why did a bunch of asteroids hit the Earth billions of years ago?

                    Posted on July 6, 2022June 25, 2025 by Aubrey Zerkle

                    The first cells of life on Earth had a lot to contend with. Conditions were harsh and unpredictable. The air was thick with volcanic gases.…

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