Earth is a planet too!
Many years ago, in the hallways at AstroMedia Corp., our then-editor Richard Berry had a saying. When one of the team questioned whether we should be covering earth science, Richard snapped back with, “Earth is a planet too!” And of course, he was right. As we walk around on Earth, sometimes we overlook what a perfect laboratory it is for understanding planetary science. Earth gives us the greatest insight we have into the formation and evolution of rocky planets in the solar system. As much as we look outward toward Mars to build a picture of the solar system’s past, perhaps of the rarity or commonality of life itself, we also look inward at Earth in many ways. Senior Associate Editor Alison Klesman’s story on page 16 details the latest research on…