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EarthDate

EarthDate

Von: Switch Energy Alliance
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 EarthDate is a short-format weekly audio program delivering concise, science-based stories about the Earth: its geology, environments, and the processes that shape our planet over deep time and today. Beginning in 2026, EarthDate is managed by Switch Energy Alliance and hosted by SEA's founder Dr. Scott W. Tinker. Together, we explore earth systems, natural resources, and their relevance to everyday life, with a focus on clear, accessible science education for broad audiences. EarthDate is written and directed by Emmy-winning filmmaker Harry Lynch, and researched by Lynn Kistler. We search for captivating stories to remind listeners that science can enlighten, educate and entertain.Copyright 2026 EarthDate
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  • Recycling Carbon

    Recycling Carbon
    Feb 23 2026
    All known life on Earth is carbon based. Today, though, when we hear about carbon, it’s usually in terms of emissions. Or the idea of capturing and storing those emissions. What you may not have heard is that Earth has been emitting and storing carbon for millions of years, cycling it between sky, sea, soil, and rock. Deep in the geologic past, atmospheric carbon dioxide was 10 times higher than today. Then ancient ocean life began to use it. Early marine organisms used CO2 dissolved in seawater for photosynthesis, forming the base of the food chain. Other organisms used it to build their exoskeletons and shells. When they died, their carbon-rich remains sank to the seafloor and were buried. Very slowly, carbon was being stored within the earth. Millions of years later, plants evolved and dramatically changed the carbon balance. They began to turn huge volumes of atmospheric carbon into organic carbon like carbohydrates and cellulose. Some organic carbon goes back into the atmosphere or the soil. Some gets buried and becomes part of sedimentary layers and, with enough pressure and time, can be cooked into hydrocarbons—fossil fuels. Today, the burning of fossil fuels is moving ancient carbon stored in the earth back into the atmosphere. Researchers are studying different ways to sequester that CO2, and we’ll talk about that on a future EarthDate.
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    2 Min.
  • Life on Ice

    Life on Ice
    Feb 23 2026
    The ice sheets that cover Antarctica and Greenland were once thought to be sterile, inhospitable places. But recently, scientists have discovered they hold vast populations of life. There were times in Earth’s history when there was no polar ice at all. And many times, like today, when ice sheets formed at the poles. In the Antarctic today, ice sheets cover 5 million square miles with over a mile of ice that’s up to 1 million years old. In subglacial polar lakes, this life may not have seen the light of day for 20 million years. This enormous quantity of ice has been shown to harbor microbes in huge numbers. Scientists estimate their total organic carbon biomass would be about ten times that of all humans on Earth. And, perhaps not so surprisingly, with ice this old, the bacteria are ancient, too. Viable species hundreds of thousands of years old have been discovered in ice, frozen there all that time in a sort of suspended animation. But once liberated and revived in labs, some started to replicate as normal. With them are previously unknown viruses, and certainly new microbes that are yet to be discovered. And this has scientists both concerned and excited. With continued polar ice melt, some of these microbes could bring ancient diseases…while some could bring new cures for existing ones. Of course, this has prompted research; and we’ll look into that in a future EarthDate.
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    2 Min.
  • Global Smartphones

    Global Smartphones
    Feb 23 2026
    Remember the periodic table from high school? Neither do I! But about three-quarters of the elements are inside your smartphone, from minerals mined all over the world. The glass on the front is a special hardened type. It’s made of quartz, which may have come from the USA, and aluminum, which probably came from Australia. It’s then treated with potassium salts, likely from Canada. For scratch resistance, it’s given a coating, made of iridium from South Korea and tin from Indonesia. The colors on its screen come from rare earth elements, mostly from China. Its microelectronics could include copper from Chile, silver from Mexico, platinum from South Africa, and tungsten from Russia. Its tiny capacitors use tantalum from central Africa or Brazil. Your phone’s rechargeable battery is made of lithium, which may have come from Argentina; cobalt from the Congo or Zambia; and pure graphite from India. Petroleum, from many sources around the world, is used to ship all these minerals to factories, where they’re assembled into parts, then shipped again to be assembled into phones. If supplies of any of these elements, from any of these countries, were to be restricted, it could disrupt the price and availability of the phones that billions of us rely on. There are also serious environmental impacts to mining these minerals. Recycling the billions of old phones will ensure we have materials available for new ones.
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    2 Min.
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