Course: Invisible Worlds: Understanding the Natural Environment

Human impacts on our life-support system began during the last ice age, with the mass extinction of large animals each time our ancestors arrived in a new continent on their …

Invisible you – the human microbiome We are not alone. Our bodies contain at least as many microbial cells as human ones. These ‘communities’ in and on our person are, …

Illustration by Glynn Gorick showing the relative sizes of the worlds’ interconnected 8 biomes A theory and a way of understanding the Earth and its interconnections: The Gaia Hypothesis The …

Scientists have pinpointed nine ‘Planetary Boundaries’ that mark the limits for our life support system. Within these limits, there is a safe operating space for life as we know it …

Microbes come in all shapes and sizes. In this article, we’re going to introduce a few different types. It’s time to meet the small invisible! Eukaryotes Eukaryotic organisms can be …

Microbes play many different roles on Earth, and in the life support system. In this article, we’ll introduce you to some of the key players! Sunlight Harvesters and Oxygen Producers …

Phosphorus is perhaps a lesser-known element, but its role in life and the Earth support system is immense. Phosphate comes from rock, is mined by microbes (and people) and enters …

The air is 78% nitrogen, but we can’t access it. Certain microbes, industrial processes, and lightning can. They turn nitrogen gas into plant fertiliser. Plants then turn it into plant …

Carbon is essential. All life on Earth is made up of compounds that contain carbon. We eat carbon in our food. Some we store or make into our body parts. …

As well as big changes to atmospheric composition, arguably the biggest changes from oxygen came from the developments made to the complexity of life. As the Earth re-stabilised following the …

Navigate down 4.5 billion years of Earth history as we explore the evolution of oxygen, a gas produced and used by life. Oxygen wasn’t always present, it now exists at …