By Natalie AngierAdvertisingThe theory of plate tectonics is one of the great scientific advances of our age, right up there with Darwin’s theory of evolution and Einstein’s theory of relativity. They are asking what caused the shell to crack apart in the first place, and how the industrious recycling of Earth’s crust began. The two worlds are roughly the same size and built of similar rocky material, yet Earth has plate tectonics and Venus does not. “People were so busy trying to prove plate tectonics by looking at the present situation, or were caught up applying the concept to problems in their own field. “Plate tectonics is a relatively benign way for Earth to lose heat,” said Peter Cawood, an Earth scientist at Monash University in Australia.

Source: Indian Express December 18, 2018 11:16 UTC