A New View of the Early Earth, Thanks to Australian Rocks

nytimes.com:

The first 700 million years of Earth's 4.5-billion-year existence are known as the Hadean period, after Hades, or, to shed the ancient Greek name, Hell.

That name seemed to fit with the common perception that the young Earth was a hot, dry, desolate landscape interspersed with seas of magma and inhospitable for life. Even if some organism had somehow popped into existence, the old story went, surely it would soon have been extinguished in the firestorm of one of the giant meteorites that slammed into the Earth when the young solar system was still crowded with debris.

Read the whole story: nytimes.com

Comments

[Collielady]

Billions of years... billions in bailouts...

I can't fathom either, and I don't think anyone else does.

[tangelan]

Earth looked like the side of a conversion van?

[Indy 44]

That is HILARIOUS.

[Collielady]

Funny stuff!

[Evelyn]

Wow, it looked just like Jehovah's Witnesses' art work.

[insanityfollows]

But wait, wait! This whole discussion is moot! According to Huckabee, Palin and a few others, the earth is only roughly 6000 years old, right?

[NeverRepublican]

Of course it is...it all happened in just a mere 6000 years...I mean really...everyone beating a bible knows that.

[Mort]

No, that's a common misconception. The creation account in Genesis is largely symbolic and parallels the evolutionary process in some ways. But even if you take the account literally, it would be 13,000, not 6K. 6 for the creative periods, one of rest and 6 since then. Even that doesn't take into account that the materials the earth is made of came from somewhere. The original scripture said "organized". Through adherence to natural laws, not simply "poof" and you have it.

[insanityfollows]

C'mon Mort. I was being sarcastic. We may never know how life began on this planet, but this planet and its solar system are BILLIONS of years old, and there is no getting around that. The loosest interpretation of Genesis does not support this single truth. I think the spark of life is divine, as is the entire universe, no question. Using our God-given brains, however, there is no getting around the fact that life is way older than any interpretaton of Genesis will allow.

[UncleDave]

And just to add a personal observation- I believe that the 'dumbing down of America' began about the time when a car battery company ran a commercial that stated 'WE PUT THIS BATTERY IN A BLOCK OF ICE FOR 48 HOURS!' Then that battery started a car. WOW! .......Dude. Ice is 32 degreesF. A mild temp to alow a battery to perform. And Nobody called them out on it.

[UncleDave]

I am a preacher's kid,and from a very young age I have always been a science geek. The truth and majesty of the Universe is far more awe-inspiring than any bible story/legend/myth. Energy transformed into matter transformed into energy. The elegance and beauty and ,yes,the violence of the expanding of space is awesome.Most physicists are scared about the way their field is heading-as more discoverys are made,the more 'reality' points to the metaphysical. Wonder abounds.Very cool.

[NoMercy]

Yes, soon the conclusion will be inescapable. Everything is God, and God is everything.

[UncleDave]

Nope. You misread Me. While I believe there is a 'creator',the bible 'God' is horseshit.

[NoMercy]

Thankfully that pristine beauty didn't last, or we wouldn't be here.

[AnotherMike]

I think someone stole that picture from the mantle of L. Ron Hubbard

[MsBitty]

What? Earth used to look like a Thomas Kincaid painting? So glad I didn't live back then.

[Soundofthunder]

So the Earth looked like a Yes album cover? I can live with that.

SOT

[JoeBlough]

Earth looked like that eight years ago, before Bush.

[humuhumunukunukuapuaa]

Best post! LOL!

[Mort]

Amazing how an artist's conception of the earth brings out the b!as in some folks. Nobody knows for sure what happened that long ago. Every explanation is speculative. And since there's no proof who's right, why beat each other up over what they think? It doesn't solve anything. Only goes to show that people on all sides of the issue have their minds made up based on theories they've heard, are sure they're right and anything else is stup!d.

[MagisterLudi]

Scientific Method,dude, scientific method.

[Exusian]

Exactly. And it works.

[Mort]

Scientific method implies that we are constantly learning and open to change. Coincidentally, the spiritual method also stresses the importance of being teachable. Neither view encorages us to be iron-clad know-it-alls who are justified in berating others. Yet we do.

[trisha08]

Palin would comment, Science-Sc­hmience...­...Not in my world view.

[OneTop]

I looked, but, I couldn't find either Fred or Wilma.

[rigormrtis]

or Waldo.

[UltraClassic]

It boggles the mind, which is why myths appear, to explain what the mind can not fathom.

Was there ever a beginning, or was the big bang simply a result of a previous universe that fell in on it's self? And that before that, and that before that?

Yah, a naked guy and gal and a talking snake make what seems impossible, possible.

But beyond that, the idea not having been, and never to be again spooks the hell out of people. Ultimately, we are children of the stars.

[NoMercy]

doooooood.....

[PDXTransplant]

Where's the big guy with the white hair and long white beard? You know, Santa...