PULLMAN, Wash. – We’ve learned a lot about how water supports life on the blue planet, but the first drop is a bit mysterious. Scientists have a few theories about how it happened.
My friend Jen Adam co-leads the State of Washington Water Research Center. She told me the answer really goes “beyond physics.” She introduced me to her friend Michael Goldsby, a philosopher of science. Adam and Goldsby work together at Washington State University studying climate change and water.
Earth’s water covers three-fourths of the planet, but is made up of just two substances: hydrogen and oxygen. So, if you want to know where the first drop came from, you’d want to start with them.
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