NOT content with discovering dinosaurs in The Lost World, Arthur Conan Doyle’s Professor Challenger later set out to prove that the Earth was a vast organism. He dropped a dart down a mine shaft and “through every vent and every volcano she voiced her indignation”, reports the narrator of , his 1929 short story. Organism or not, the Earth is proving surprisingly sensitive to interference (see “Bury the carbon and set off a quake”). We would be well advised to show more caution than the brusque Professor Challenger when we poke into it.
To continue reading, today with our introductory offers
Advertisement
More from Â鶹´«Ã½
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Popular articles
Trending Â鶹´«Ã½ articles
1
We've found a mysterious substance on Titan and Pluto
2
Gas from Uranus reveals it has an icy centre
3
Has the answer to life's origins been hiding in our cells all along?
4
Can prebiotics, probiotics or postbiotics help your ageing microbiome?
5
Faecal transplant makes the brains of old mice act young again
6
Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World is still supremely relevant today
7
Why you need to future-proof your brain in middle age and how to start
8
Almost the whole of Japan moved eastward after 2011 earthquake
9
Toy universe shows that time could be a quantum illusion
10
A quantum state that lasts forever may finally be within our grasp
