Most Interesting Earth Science Theories Today
We live in an age of amazing discoveries of Earth-shattering proportions, even if every day seems to bring something new. Scientists are constantly uncovering new facts about the planet, the solar system, and the universe. In fact, it’s a wonder that any of us have a grasp of how our planet came to be, what’s beyond it, and how life originated.
Earth science is the study of our planet and everything that lives or lives on it. While the earth science theories we’ve listed here may, at first, appear unrelated, they all share one key thing in common: evidence. Evidence is the single most important scientific tool, and scientists use it every day to support their theories.
Science is a constant source of inspiration for inventors, artists, and explorers in today’s world. Some of the most amazing and interesting scientific theories take place to explain our planet’s greatest mysteries. Here are just a few of the most fascinating earth science theories you should know.
Most scientific theories are widely accepted because they are supported by evidence. However, some scientific theories are “controversial,” and the reason is the same: more evidence is needed. Some of these “controversial” theories have stood the test of time and have become widely accepted, while others have fallen by the wayside, never to be supported in the same way again.
Life on earth was brought by something else in space
It suggests that something came from space, and it is very unlikely that it was brought by animals since life already had developed on Earth when animals began to form. It is believed that life came in carbon dioxide, water, and other simple molecules.
If life, as we know it on Earth, is the end product of a planetary evolution that has long since ended, where did we start? Life itself, wherever it came from, must have started in space. (Just think: How did life on Earth begin?) But even NASA’s rovers, which have seen no evidence of life, support the idea that life, as we know it, has a very long way to go before we run out of planets.
According to scientists, life originated on earth as we know it today. However, it all started with meteorites. A chemical called methane-isotopes was formed on early Earth. These isotopes were formed when meteorites hit Earth and interfered with the methane fuel that produces methane. This led to the forming of amino acids, which formed proteins. This process helped form DNA essential for life and led to the development of all the life we know today.
The moon may have served as a seed for life, helping to give the building blocks of life to planet Earth. Scientists previously hypothesized that the gases (such as ammonia) in meteoroids, comets, and asteroids created the chemical reactions that led to the formation of life.
Cosmic ego-trip theory
Recently, the astrophysics community has been buzzing about the “Cosmic Ego-Trip” theory by Nick Bostrom. This theory, which attempts to explain everything, suggests that our universe was actually purposely designed to keep humans alive and for our evolution to happen.
Perhaps most fundamentally, we humans are not alone. We live on a planet that teems with life, and perhaps one day, we will find other intelligent life elsewhere in the cosmos. Our planet, as it is, is an accident. From the point of view of a cosmic accident, our species is particularly interesting. We exist, we have consciousness, language, and cognitive architecture, and we have been able to build technology. We are the only cosmic accidents with all of those features.
Our world is crazy. We live, work, and play in a world brimming with all kinds of unnatural phenomena, from earthquakes caused by plate tectonics to meteors that fall from the sky. Our world is filled with strange creatures that exhibit behaviours so bizarre they require the label “alien.” Yet unlike aliens, these phenomena can be explained by natural means. Instead of bio-mechanical intelligence, our universe is filled with physics. Our world is crazy, but almost everything in our world can be explained by the laws of physics, albeit in exceedingly bizarre and counterintuitive ways.
