Science has a way of surprising us when we least expect it. Like with mud rocks.
We science journalists can be a cranky lot, eternally skeptical as to whether a touted advance is really significant enough to warrant coverage. So when Science News’ managing editor Erin Wayman waxed enthusiastic about a study explaining how ancient plants may have played a key role in making Earth muddier, I perked up.
Geologists have long known that mud started to take hold at some point, but as earth and climate writer Carolyn Gramling reports in this issue, “no one had ever pinpointed when that muddening happened.”