New research sheds light on the earliest days of the earth's formation and potentially calls into question some earlier assumptions in planetary science about the early years of rocky planets.

Helium-3 dating reveals new plankton species emerged within thousands—and sometimes just 2,000—years after the dinosaur-killing impact, showing life recovered far faster than assumed.

Life on Earth may exist thanks to an incredible stroke of luck — a chemical sweet spot that most planets miss during their formation but ours managed to hit. A new study shows that Earth formed under ...

Picture all of Earth’s oceans, which cover about 70% of the planet and are mostly made of hydrogen. Now multiply that by nine. That may be the amount of hydrogen in Earth’s core, possibly making it ...

Without the right oxygen balance, phosphorus and nitrogen vanish — and life can't take hold. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

A giant impact on the early Earth could have brought the building blocks of RNA to our planet, which new research suggests could have quickly formed in the presence of compounds called borates. When ...

One bright day on Earth about 4.5 billion years ago, everything changed. A massive object slammed into the young planet. The impact was so large that bits were flung out into space, eventually ...

Scientists believe they’ve found evidence that life on Earth is over a billion years older than anyone believed was realistic. New research used machine learning to scan ancient meteorites and fossils ...

Two enormous structures that sit at the border between the Earth’s mantle and its core have puzzled scientists for decades, defying reigning theories of how our planet came to be. In a new study ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. David Bressan is a geologist who covers curiosities about Earth. Nov 20, 2025, 08:01am EST Nov 21, 2025, 11:53am EST Aerial view ...

New research suggests that Theia, the object whose collision with Earth is theorized to have caused the formation of the moon, came from closer to the sun. Artist’s impression of the collision between ...