earth's history

Explore "earth's history" with insightful episodes like "Zircon: The Keeper Of Earth's Time", "Geology (ROCKS) Part 2 with Schmitty Thompson" and "Age of the Earth, Part 2" from podcasts like ""Short Wave", "Ologies with Alie Ward" and "Stuff To Blow Your Mind"" and more!

Episodes (3)

Zircon: The Keeper Of Earth's Time

The mineral zircon is the oldest known piece of Earth existing on the surface today. The oldest bits date back as far as 4.37 billion years — not too far from the age of Earth itself at about 4.5 billion years old. And, unlike other minerals, zircon is hard to get rid of. This resilience enables scientists to use zircon to determine when major geological events on Earth happened. As part of our series on time, host Aaron Scott talks to science correspondent Nell Greenfieldboyce about why this mineral is often considered a geologic clock and has earned the nickname "Time Lord."

This episode is part of our series, "Finding Time — a journey through the fourth dimension to learn what makes us tick." Read more of Nell's reporting on zircon here.

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Short Wave

en-usJanuary 10, 2023

Geology (ROCKS) Part 2 with Schmitty Thompson

We’re back! Listen to Part 1 first, then hit this follow-up with your favorite geologist Schmitty Thompson, who answers listener questions a-plenty. Such as: What is a geode? Are crystals in gift shops even real? Where’s the best place to look at rocks? Is ice a rock? Plus: rock puns, favorite rocks, best and worst rock names, long hikes, imposter syndrome, lab-grown diamonds, fossilized trees, space rocks, lead poisoning, and puns. Welcome back to Schmitty’s Geology Corner. We’ve been waiting for you.

Schmitty’s bio

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Other episodes you may enjoy: Teuthology (SQUIDS), Areology (MARS), Ludology (VIDEO GAMES), Volcanology (VOLCANOES), Gemology (GEMS & MINERALS), Astrobiology (ALIENS), Eschatology (THE APOCALYPSE)

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Sound editing by Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media

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Ologies with Alie Ward

en-usSeptember 21, 2022

Age of the Earth, Part 2

Scientific consensus currently holds that the Earth is a 4.5 billion-year-old planet in a 13.8 billion-year-old universe. But how do we know? Why do religious models of a much younger (or older) Earth fail to pass the baloney test? In this two-part Stuff to Blow Your Mind exploration, Robert Lamb and Joe McCormick explore the answers.

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Stuff To Blow Your Mind

enSeptember 20, 2018

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earth's history

Episodes (3)

Zircon: The Keeper Of Earth's Time

Geology (ROCKS) Part 2 with Schmitty Thompson

Age of the Earth, Part 2