A stunning new study is challenging the conventional wisdom about Earth’s continents. For years, we’ve been taught that Earth has seven continents, but emerging research suggests that the number might ...

Several exoplanets at the edge of our galaxy could have formed continents — and advanced life — 5 billion years earlier than Earth, new research suggests. When you purchase through links on our site, ...

Forget what you learned in school—Earth might not have seven continents after all. From an early age, most of us are taught to recognize seven continents: Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Oceania, Europe, ...

Recent earth science developments suggest that how we count our planet’s largest land masses is less clear than we learned in school. By Matt Kaplan The world is split up into continents, there are ...

Tom has a Master's degree in Journalism. His editorial work covers anything from archaeology and the environment to technology and culture. Tom has a Master's degree in Journalism. His editorial work ...

Researchers discovered that continents don’t just split at the surface—they also peel from below, feeding volcanic activity in the oceans. Simulations reveal that slow mantle waves strip continental ...

New research reveals that Earth’s continents owe their stability to searing heat deep in the planet’s crust. At more than 900°C, radioactive elements shifted upward, cooling and strengthening the ...