Bedrock: Earth's Earliest History

• Audience Survey Results

  Two months ago, I made an audience survey focusing on one topic: how would you like to support the show? Many folks answered, and here's what you said about donations, Patreon, ads, and merch. If you want to give your own opinion, take the survey here, put a comment below, or send a message to [email protected] you'd like to give a donation, you can click here- any amount is appreciated!

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• 42: The Question of Life

  Nearly 30 years ago, one paper claimed to find the oldest evidence for life on Earth. How does that evidence hold up in 2025? Are these fossils or duds? Don’t panic, we’ll answer these questions to life, the universe, and everything in due time. Along the way, we’ll meet the most abundant mineral in the human body, an important fertilizer, and finish a trilogy of intense debates over a small Greenland isle. Extra Credit: Read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, eat cake with sprinkles, and make sure to floss afterwards.Donate to support the show- anything is appreciated!Click here for the audience survey!Click here to read Dylan's Nature paper!

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• 41: The Oldest Seafloor

  In 1991, a mysterious, striped red and gray rock was discovered on a cold Greenland isle. Years later, this rock would rock the scientific world with multiple debates about the early oceans and life. What exactly is this rock, and why do we care? Stay tuned, and on the way, we’ll learn how scientists can officially argue with each other.Extra Credit: Eat something with peanut butter and chocolate, pet a large and a small dog, or make sure your vaccines are up to date!Donate to support the show- anything is appreciated!Click here for the audience survey!Click here to read Dylan's Nature paper!

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• 40: The Time War

  How old is the oldest slice of Earth's seafloor? The answer is more contentious than you would think. Today, we visit one of the most debated locations in the show: a small island off the Greenland shore named Akilia. Everything about these rocks has been contested, and we'll meet three scientists who form cornerstones of the debates.Extra Credit: Watch something on an old CRT TV, or count tree rings in a stump.

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• 39: The Shattered Planet

  Earth’s crust is shattered into dozens of moving plates, but many other worlds operate very differently. What are some alternatives to plate tectonics?Today, we’ll compare tectonics on Earth with tectonics on other planets, through the lens of 3.9 billion-year-old rocks from Greenland. On the way, we’ll visit the westernmost town in the USA, visit one of our cosmic neighbors, and learn about the Occam’s Razor of geology.Extra Credit: find today’s planet in the night sky, drop a pebble every day this week and see if anything changes, or read “The Long Rain” by Ray Bradbury.Donate to support the show- anything is appreciated!Click here for the audience survey!Click here to read Dylan's Nature paper!

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