Skip to main content

Up Next

Back to Show
Eons

Why Only Earth Has Fire

Season 6 Episode 10

Earth isn’t the only watery planet in the known universe, but it is the only fiery planet. The sun is mostly hydrogen undergoing nuclear fusion, not fire. And on other planets magma from volcanoes and lightning are also not fire. To get fire, it took billions of years of photosynthesis, which means fire can’t exist without life. And fire and life have been shaping each other ever since.

Sign up now for inspiring and thought-provoking media delivered straight to your inbox.
Season
What Will Earth Be Like 300 Million Years From Now?
9:34
We’re taking a look towards the deep future. After all, the story is far from over.
What Was The Earliest Surgery?
7:59
When did we start practicing medicine in its varied, complex forms?
How Snake Venom Sparked An Evolutionary Arms Race
9:11
For some, the rise of venomous elapid snakes was an almost apocalyptic catastrophe.
Why Is It So Hard to Tell the Sex of a Dinosaur?
12:07
When you only have fossils, how do you know if a dinosaur is female or male?
Animals Are Older Than We Thought
11:57
What are animal-like fossils doing in rocks a billion years old?
Our Most Mysterious Extinct Cousins
9:41
Paranthropus lived alongside our ancestors. If we are still here, why aren’t they?
How Ancient Microbes Rode Bug Bits Out to Sea
8:42
Exoskeleton fragments may have allowed microbes to sail the ocean and change the world.
Beans & Bees (Not Bats) Gave Us Butterflies
7:09
Turns out bats didn’t give us butterflies and we should be thanking bees and beans.
The Huge Extinctions We Are Just Now Discovering
8:58
Graptolites show us how unpredictable the Silurian period really could be.
When Did We Stop Being Naked?
9:05
How can we figure out when we first started wearing clothes?
Do Thunderbeasts Prove Giant Animals Are Inevitable?
7:50
From an evolutionary perspective, is bigger always better?
You're Living On An Ant Planet
9:14
How did ants take over the world?
Active loading indicator