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- It is the right distance from the Sun, it is protected from harmful solar radiation by its magnetic field, it is kept warm by an insulating atmosphere, and it has the right chemical ingredients for life, including water and carbon. The processes that shape the Earth and its environment constantly cycle elements through the planet.
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- Water. "First, you'd need some kind of liquid, any place where molecules can go react," Seager told OurAmazingPlanet. In such a soup, the ingredients for life as we know it, such as DNA and proteins, can swim around and interact with each other to carry out the reactions needed for life to happen.
- Energy. Second, life needs energy. Without energy, virtually nothing would happen. The most obvious source of energy is a planet or moon's host star, as is the case on Earth, where sunlight drives photosynthesis in plants.
- Time. Scientists have argued that habitable worlds need stars that can live at least several billion years, long enough for life to evolve, as was the case on Earth.
- Recycling. Other researchers have suggested that plate tectonics is vital for a world to host life — that is, a planet whose shell is broken up into plates that constantly move around.
Jun 24, 2024 · Lucas Heinrich/Random House. About ten years ago, science writer Ferris Jabr started contemplating Earth as a living planet rather than a planet with life on it. It began when he learned...
Apr 21, 2020 · Nine Reasons We’re Grateful to Live on Earth. Earth can sometimes feel like the last place you’d want to be. Indeed, a number of explorers have devised inventive ways to move civilization off this planet. It’s no surprise: The promise of a better life in the mysterious beyond can be seductive.
- William Steigerwald
- Reuben Westmaas
- The moon: The Earth has a slight tilt and teeters like a top as it spins, which can cause drastic shifts in climate over the course of thousands of years.
- Stable rotation: There's no reason to think that a planet without a stable rotation would be completely inhabitable (actually, some people think such "eyeball planets" could be our best bet for aliens), but the regularity and frequency of day and night on this planet go far to prevent extreme temperatures and encourage life.
- A magnetic field: Our planet is blessed with a strong, stable magnetic field, which staves off the cosmic rays and solar flares that would otherwise fry the planet every now and then.
- Dynamic geology: The cloud of gas and dust that eventually coalesced into the Earth contained enough radioactive elements to keep the core of the planet churning merrily for billions of years.
- Namesake. The name Earth is at least 1,000 years old. All of the planets, except for Earth, were named after Greek and Roman gods and goddesses. However, the name Earth is a Germanic word, which simply means “the ground.”
- Potential for Life. Earth has a very hospitable temperature and mix of chemicals that have made life abundant here. Most notably, Earth is unique in that most of our planet is covered in liquid water, since the temperature allows liquid water to exist for extended periods of time.
- Size and Distance. With an equatorial diameter of 7926 miles (12,760 kilometers), Earth is the biggest of the terrestrial planets and the fifth largest planet in our solar system.
- Orbit and Rotation. As Earth orbits the Sun, it completes one rotation every 23.9 hours. It takes 365.25 days to complete one trip around the Sun. That extra quarter of a day presents a challenge to our calendar system, which counts one year as 365 days.
Earth is the only planet in our galaxy that can support life. Scientists estimate that Earth is home to about 300,000 plant species, over 600,000 species of fungi, and about ten million animal...
Jan 12, 2024 · Life on Earth is possible due to a unique combination of cosmic and planetary factors. The Earth’s location in the Milky Way and in the Solar System, the Sun’s stability, the presence of water, a protective magnetic field, and the existence of our moon contribute to sustaining life.
What Makes up Our Solar System Are Included? Find Out More Here. Learn About Building Moon Bases, Planets, Moons, Asteroids, the Kuiper Belt and Much More.
