If proto-Earth had all its parts and chemistry replaced to become the Earth we know today, can the two still be considered the same planet? That’s the planetary version of Theseus’s Paradox, an old philosophical puzzle about identity and perception. The popular consensus until recently was that Earth’s chemistry changed completely after a giant meteorite […]
Human-Constructed Dams Have Shifted the Earth’s Poles, Scientists Say
Humans have built so many dams around the world that the Earth’s poles have wandered away from the planet’s rotational axis, new research suggests. Over the last 200 years, humans have constructed nearly 7,000 massive dams, impounding enough water to nudge the Earth’s poles by about three feet (one meter) and cause a 0.83-inch (21-millimeter) […]