Ask why. Follow the evidence.
Credits
Researchers, references, and the works that sparked the imagination.
09
Credits
Every source the game’s Codex stands on: the papers behind its science, by age, then the work that inspired it. Each says what in the Codex uses it.
219 sources: 218 papers and records behind the science, 1 inspiration
Science · Protostar
- Asplund, Amarsi & Grevesse 2021, A&A
www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2021/09/aa40445-21/aa404Used by: Sol's element abundancesActiniumSilverAluminiumAmericiumArgonArsenicAstatineGoldBoronBariumBerylliumand 107 more - Astronomy, "Observing basics: image like Hubble" 2024 · Astronomy, "Observing basics: image like Hubble", June 2024
www.astronomy.com/observing/observing-basics-image-like-hubbUsed by: Narrowband imaging maps the emission of chosen elements to chosen colours, ordered by wavelength - Bland-Hawthorn & Gerhard 2016
arxiv.org/abs/1602.07702Used by: Galaxies differ in gas and metalsbarred spiraldwarf galaxyelliptical galaxyirregular galaxyspiral galaxy - Gupta et al. 2026, arXiv:2607.23741
arxiv.org/abs/2607.23741Used by: Late infall streamers with misaligned angular momentum tilt, warp or counter-rotate the outer disk - Hu et al. 2024, Nature
www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07432-xUsed by: A disk with C/O above ~0.8 locks oxygen in CO, leaves little water ice and condenses carbides - Hühn et al. 2025, arXiv:2509.06564
arxiv.org/abs/2509.06564Used by: Late infall streamers with misaligned angular momentum tilt, warp or counter-rotate the outer diskA retrograde streamer - Hunter & Elmegreen 2004
arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0408229Used by: Galaxies differ in gas and metalsbarred spiraldwarf galaxyelliptical galaxyirregular galaxyspiral galaxy - Johnson 2019, Science
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aau9540Used by: Where each element was madeActiniumSilverAluminiumAmericiumArgonArsenicAstatineGoldBoronBariumBerylliumand 107 more - Kervella, Thévenin & Lovis 2017, A&A 598, L7
www.aanda.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201629930Used by: Proxima Centauri is bound to Alpha Centauri AB - Kraus et al. 2020, Science 369, 1233
arxiv.org/abs/2004.01204Used by: GW Orionis, a young triple, has a warped disk torn into a tilted ring that shadows the rest - NASA, "Gravity Assist: how we make Webb and Hubble images"
www.nasa.gov/mediacast/gravity-assist-how-we-make-webb-and-hUsed by: Narrowband imaging maps the emission of chosen elements to chosen colours, ordered by wavelength - Nature 351, 298 (1991)
doi.org/10.1038/351298a0Used by: Low-mass binaries form mainly by turbulent fragmentation of the core, not disk instability - Offner et al. 2010, ApJ 725, 1485
www.mso.anu.edu.au/~krumholz/publications/2010/offner10a.pdfUsed by: Low-mass binaries form mainly by turbulent fragmentation of the core, not disk instability - PBS NOVA on NASA's Webb images
www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/james-webb-space-telescope-infUsed by: Narrowband imaging maps the emission of chosen elements to chosen colours, ordered by wavelength - Royal Society of Chemistry, Periodic Table
periodic-table.rsc.org/Used by: What each element is and where it is found - see C-02Used by: A retrograde streamer
- standardUsed by: The Kuiper belt's sharp edge near 50 AU and Sedna's orbit point to a stellar pass at a few hundred AU in the Sun's birth clusterA vortex at a gap edge concentrates dust a hundredfold into a lopsided arcSupercontinents dry their interiors and slow weatheringMagnetic excursionsA gamma-ray burst within a few thousand light-years strips a third to half of the ozone for yearsVenus rotates backwards and slowly, from atmospheric tides and core–mantle friction or a late impactOxygenic photosynthesis by ~3.0–2.7 Ga, with "whiffs" of oxygen before the great riseLand colonised by plants ~470 Ma and animals ~370 Ma, behind an ozone shieldThe first forests multiplied silicate weatheringOrganic carbon burial is the net source of free oxygenOrogenyThe Cryogenian snowballs' thaw delivered nutrients and oxygen ahead of the animalsand 8 more
- standard (angular momentum conservation)Used by: A stroke that sweeps round the core is a torque
- standard (CAI chronology)Used by: A nearby supernova injected ²⁶Al and may have triggered the collapseA shock front is comingShock front
- standard collapse theoryUsed by: A molecular core collapses when gravity beats thermal pressure, turbulence and magnetic support
- Sun et al. 2020
arxiv.org/abs/2009.01842Used by: Galaxies differ in gas and metalsbarred spiraldwarf galaxyelliptical galaxyirregular galaxyspiral galaxy - Terebey, Shu & Cassen 1984, ApJ 286, 529
ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1984ApJ...286..529TUsed by: A stroke that sweeps round the core is a torque - Tokovinin 2014, AJ 147, 87
arxiv.org/abs/1401.6827Used by: 13 ± 1% of F and G dwarfs within 67 pc are triples or higher - Tremonti et al. 2004
arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0405537Used by: Galaxies differ in gas and metalsbarred spiraldwarf galaxyelliptical galaxyirregular galaxyspiral galaxy - [Xu, Lin, Wu, Namur, Zhang & Charlier 2024, Nat. Commun. 15, 5061](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-49305-x) (author corrected 11 Oct; was cited as "Lark et al.")Used by: Mercury likely has a diamond layer at its core–mantle boundary beneath a graphite crust
- Young et al. 2011
arxiv.org/abs/1102.4633Used by: Galaxies differ in gas and metalsbarred spiraldwarf galaxyelliptical galaxyirregular galaxyspiral galaxy - Yun, Lee, Bae & Kim 2026, arXiv:2609.34107
arxiv.org/abs/2609.34107Used by: A retrograde streamer - Zaritsky, Kennicutt & Huchra 1994
ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1994ApJ...420...87ZUsed by: Galaxies differ in gas and metalsbarred spiraldwarf galaxyelliptical galaxyirregular galaxyspiral galaxy
Science · Protoplanetary Disk
- 2M1510 status
spacedaily.com/t-2m1510-polar-circumbinary-planet-timing-errUsed by: Misaligned inner disks cast shadows that cool bands of the outer disk - Andrews et al. 2018
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/aaf741Used by: ALMA rings and gaps - Biersteker & Schlichting 2019, MNRAS 485, 4454
doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stz738Used by: A giant impact blows off a large share of a planet's envelope - Birnstiel 2012Used by: Two-population dust, fragmentation-limited Stokes number, radial drift and a cooling snow line
- Cieza et al. 2016, Nature 535, 258
doi.org/10.1038/nature18612Used by: In outburst the water snow line moves out with the light - DK-12's levers (balance/LEVERS.md: SHADOW_T_X, POLAR_I, POLAR_E_MIN, SHADE_BANDS)Used by: The game reduces a warp's azimuthal shadows to two radial bands
- DK-13's levers (balance/LEVERS.md: DRIFT_RANGE, DRIFT_DEFAULT, DRIFT_OPTIONS, DRIFT_PRICE)Used by: Real disks cut the linear torque
- Drążkowska 2017Used by: Two-population dust, fragmentation-limited Stokes number, radial drift and a cooling snow line
- Gammie 2001, ApJ 553, 174
doi.org/10.1086/320631Used by: A disk fragments where Toomre's Q falls below about 1 and the gas cools within a few orbits - Ginzburg, Schlichting & Sari 2016, ApJ 825, 29
doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/825/1/29Used by: A rocky core of an Earth or more in the gas keeps a thin hydrogen–helium envelope after the disk's dispersal and boil-off, a few per cent of its mass for super-Earths, far less below an Earth - Goldreich & Tremaine 1980, ApJ 241, 425
doi.org/10.1086/158356Used by: A young planet raises a spiral wake in the gas and the wake's torque drains its orbit inward - Hartmann & Kenyon 1996, ARA&A 34, 207
doi.org/10.1146/annurev.astro.34.1.207Used by: FU Orionis outbursts - Hillenbrand & Findeisen 2015, ApJ 808, 68
doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/808/1/68Used by: Young stars outburst about once every 10^4–10^5 years while young - Kennedy et al. 2019, Nature Astronomy 3, 230 (HD 98800 B's polar disk)
doi.org/10.1038/s41550-018-0667-xUsed by: Misaligned inner disks cast shadows that cool bands of the outer disk - Kratter et al. 2010, ApJ 708, 1585
doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/708/2/1585Used by: Late infall from the envelope drives young disks unstable and into fragmentation - Kratter & Lodato 2016, ARA&A 54, 271
doi.org/10.1146/annurev-astro-081915-023307Used by: A disk fragments where Toomre's Q falls below about 1 and the gas cools within a few orbits - Kruijer et al. 2020
web.gps.caltech.edu/classes/ge103/Readings/Week2-3_OriginsQuUsed by: An early Jupiter core blocked inward pebble drift, splitting meteorites into two isotopic families and keeping the inner planets small and dry - Lee & Chiang 2015, ApJ 811, 41
doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/811/1/41Used by: A rocky core of an Earth or more in the gas keeps a thin hydrogen–helium envelope after the disk's dispersal and boil-off, a few per cent of its mass for super-Earths, far less below an Earth - Lopez & Fortney 2014, ApJ 792, 1
doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/792/1/1Used by: A thin envelope puffs a young world's radius by tens of per cent - Marino et al. 2015, ApJ 798, L44 (HD 142527's shadows)
doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/798/2/L44Used by: Misaligned inner disks cast shadows that cool bands of the outer disk - measured 11 Oct (balance/work/DK-04)Used by: The 1-D disk grid piles the gas whose orbit lies beyond 60 AU into its last two bins
- Owen & Wu 2017, ApJ 847, 29
doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aa890aUsed by: The young star's X-rays strip close-in envelopes, energy-limited - Paardekooper et al. 2010, MNRAS 401, 1950
doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2009.15782.xUsed by: Real disks cut the linear torque - Tanaka, Takeuchi & Ward 2002, ApJ 565, 1257
doi.org/10.1086/324713Used by: A young planet raises a spiral wake in the gas and the wake's torque drains its orbit inward - Tobin et al. 2023, Nature 615, 227
doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05676-zUsed by: In outburst the water snow line moves out with the light - Vorobyov & Basu 2005, ApJ 633, L137
doi.org/10.1086/498303Used by: Late infall from the envelope drives young disks unstable and into fragmentation
Science · Giant Impacts
- AAS Nova
aasnova.org/2017/11/06/did-triton-destroy-neptunes-first-mooUsed by: Triton was captured retrograde and wrecked Neptune's original moons, which re-formed from the wreckage - arXiv:2603.17561 (2026)
arxiv.org/abs/2603.17561Used by: The Oort cloud's mass is poorly known - Asphaug, Agnor & Williams 2006, Nature 439, 155
doi.org/10.1038/nature04311Used by: About half of giant impacts are hit-and-run - Avdellidou et al. 2024, Science
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adg8092Used by: The giant-planet instability happened 60–100 Myr after formation - Batygin 2026 · Batygin, June 2026
spacedaily.com/t-rubin-direct-test-planet-nine-2026/Used by: A distant 5–10 Earth-mass planet would explain the clustering of distant Kuiper-belt orbits - Benz et al. 2007, Space Sci. Rev. 132, 189
doi.org/10.1007/s11214-007-9284-1Used by: A head-on, faster-than-escape hit strips mantle and raises the iron share - Brown & Schaller 2007, Science 316, 1585
doi.org/10.1126/science.1139415Used by: The Kuiper belt's four named dwarf planets - Canup 2004, Icarus 168, 433
doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2003.09.028Used by: A ~45° Mars-mass hit puts 1.5–2.5 Moons into a disk - De et al. 2023, Nature
www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-05842-xUsed by: A Sun-like star was seen eating a Jupiter-mass planet - Dones et al. 2004Used by: The Oort cloud forms from planetesimals scattered outward by the giants
- Fulton et al. 2017, AJ 154, 109
doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aa80ebUsed by: Young stars' X-rays strip sub-Neptune envelopes in ~100 Myr, carving the radius valley - Gladman et al. 1996, Icarus 122, 166
doi.org/10.1006/icar.1996.0117Used by: The star's tides lock a rocky world on τ = ω a⁶ I Q / - Heggie & Rasio 1996, MNRAS 282, 1064
doi.org/10.1093/mnras/282.3.1064Used by: A passing body's kick on an orbit is the impulse approximation's, suppressed exponentially when the passage is slow against the orbit - Izidoro et al. 2017, MNRAS 470, 1750
doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx1232Used by: Most resonant chains break once the gas is gone - Izidoro et al. 2021, A&A 650, A152
doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201935336Used by: Most resonant chains break once the gas is gone - Jutzi & Asphaug 2011, Nature 476, 69
doi.org/10.1038/nature10289Used by: A second moon from the same impact can survive at a Lagrange point, then settle onto the first's far side - Kaib & Quinn 2008, Icarus 197, 221
arxiv.org/abs/0707.4515Used by: In an open cluster the inner Oort cloud loads first and the outer cloud's trapping efficiency is about half the field's - Kokubo, Ida & Makino 2000, Icarus 148, 419
doi.org/10.1006/icar.2000.6496Used by: A ~45° Mars-mass hit puts 1.5–2.5 Moons into a disk - Kokubo & Ida 2007, ApJ 671, 2082
doi.org/10.1086/522364Used by: Giant impacts leave spin axes randomly oriented and spins near break-up - Kokubo & Genda 2010, ApJ 714, L21
doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/714/1/L21Used by: Giant impacts leave spin axes randomly oriented and spins near break-up - Lau et al. 2025
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/adb429Used by: A Sun-like star was seen eating a Jupiter-mass planet - Levison et al. 2010, ScienceUsed by: The Oort cloud forms from planetesimals scattered outward by the giants
- Lithwick, Xie & Wu 2012, ApJ 761, 122
doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/761/2/122Used by: A pair near a first-order resonance forces the inner member's eccentricity, e ≈ |f| μ′ / Δ - Lock et al. 2018
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2017JE005333Used by: A high-energy, high-angular-momentum impact makes a synestia - Marcus et al. 2010, ApJ 719, L45
doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/719/1/L45Used by: A head-on, faster-than-escape hit strips mantle and raises the iron share - Mróz et al. 2017, Nature 548, 183
doi.org/10.1038/nature23276Used by: Free-floating planets - Nature Communications 2024
www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-49305-xUsed by: A carbon-rich, reduced mantle stripped to its core can leave a diamond layer at the core's top - Nesvorný, Vokrouhlický & Morbidelli 2013Used by: Jupiter's Trojans were captured from the trans-Neptunian disk during the giant instability
- Nesvorný 2015, AJ 150, 68
arxiv.org/abs/1506.06019Used by: Neptune's migration was long, slow and grainy from inside 25 AU, with one jump of about half an AU near 28 AU that left the kernel at 44 AU - Nesvorný & Vokrouhlický 2016
arxiv.org/abs/1602.06988Used by: Neptune's migration was long, slow and grainy from inside 25 AU, with one jump of about half an AU near 28 AU that left the kernel at 44 AUThe primordial outer disk held about 1,000–4,000 Pluto-class bodies - Owen & Wu 2013, ApJ 775, 105
doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/775/2/105Used by: Young stars' X-rays strip sub-Neptune envelopes in ~100 Myr, carving the radius valley - Parker et al. 2016, ApJL 825, L9
arxiv.org/abs/1604.07461Used by: The Kuiper belt's four named dwarf planets - Perets & Kouwenhoven 2012, ApJ 750, 83
doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/750/1/83Used by: Free-floating planets can be captured onto wide orbits - Pitjeva & Pitjev 2018
arxiv.org/abs/1811.05191Used by: The main belt holds - Ragozzine & Brown 2009, AJ 137, 4766
arxiv.org/abs/0903.4213Used by: The Kuiper belt's four named dwarf planets - Raymond & Izidoro 2017Used by: The main belt holds ~0.0005 Earth masses today
- standard (Laughlin & Chambers 2002)Used by: Co-orbital planets at the triangular points can be stable for the age of a system
- Stern et al. 2015, Science 350, aad1815
arxiv.org/abs/1510.07704Used by: The Kuiper belt's four named dwarf planets - Sumi et al. 2023, AJ 166, 108
doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ace688Used by: Free-floating planets - the Nice model (Tsiganis et al. 2005 and after)Used by: The primordial outer disk held 15–30 Earth masses and keeps ~0.1
- Trujillo & Brown 2001
arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0104104Used by: The classical Kuiper belt ends at 47 ± 1 AU for any plausible size distribution - Vick, Su & Lai 2023
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/acaea6Used by: Kozai–Lidov cycles from a distant inclined companion pump an inner planet's eccentricity - Vokrouhlický, Nesvorný & Dones 2019, AJ 157, 181
arxiv.org/abs/1904.00728Used by: The long-period comets come from the Oort cloud by the galactic tide and passing stars, from a trans-Neptunian disk the migrating giants dispersed - Walsh et al. 2011 · Walsh et al. 2011 (Grand Tack)Used by: The main belt holds ~0.0005 Earth masses today
- Wisdom et al. 2022, Science
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abn1234Used by: Saturn's rings are young and may be the remains of a moon - Woo et al. 2022
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ac525aUsed by: Uranus's 98° tilt is most often laid to a 1–3 Earth-mass impact
Science · Hadean
- 04-life C-04Used by: Methane from early anoxic life warmed the Archean Earth. The corrected models give roughly 5–10 K, with ethane recovering part of it. An organic haze forms at high CH₄/CO₂ and cools the surface, which caps the warming. Oxygenic photosynthesis destroyed the methane greenhouse. This was linked to the Paleoproterozoic
- Abe et al. 2011, Astrobiology 11, 443
doi.org/10.1089/ast.2010.0545Used by: Water vapour is a greenhouse gas whose amount the temperature sets - Altwegg et al. 2015, ScienceUsed by: Earth's water matches carbonaceous asteroids
- Bailer-Jones 2018Used by: Passing stars stir the Oort cloud
- Benner et al. 2020, ChemSystemsChem 2, e1900035
arxiv.org/abs/1908.11327Used by: A large impactor's metallic iron reduces the early atmosphere and ocean for a while - Boehnke & Harrison 2016, PNAS 113, 10802
doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1611535113Used by: A spike in impacts about 3.9 Ga - Bond, O'Brien & Lauretta 2010, ApJ 715, 1050
arxiv.org/abs/1004.0971Used by: A rocky planet's bulk composition follows its feeding zone's condensates - Bottke et al. 2002Used by: Belt objects reach the inner planets through the ν6 and 3
- Bottke & Norman 2017, Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 45, 619
doi.org/10.1146/annurev-earth-063016-020131Used by: A spike in impacts about 3.9 GaThe young worlds' impact rate was far above today's and declined over the first billion years and more - Brunton et al. 2023, ApJ 947, 42
arxiv.org/abs/2210.11622Used by: A core-collapse supernova within ~8 pc - Byrne & Goldblatt 2015, Clim. Past 11, 559
cp.copernicus.org/articles/11/559/2015/Used by: Methane from early anoxic life warmed the Archean Earth. The corrected models give roughly 5–10 K, with ethane recovering part of it. An organic haze forms at high CH₄/CO₂ and cools the surface, which caps the warming. Oxygenic photosynthesis destroyed the methane greenhouse. This was linked to the Paleoproterozoic - Cox et al. 2016
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012821X16301Used by: The Siberian Traps raised CO₂ several-fold, warmed the planet ~10 °C, drove anoxia and ended the Permian - Czekala et al. 2019, ApJ 883, 22
pure.psu.edu/en/publications/the-degree-of-alignment-betweenUsed by: A circumbinary world of a close pair gets light from both stars. Its mean insolation is the two stars' sum, each star seen from its own orbit around the barycentre. Worlds of short-period pairs - Doyle et al. 2011, Science 333, 1602
arxiv.org/abs/1109.3432Used by: A circumbinary world of a close pair gets light from both stars. Its mean insolation is the two stars' sum, each star seen from its own orbit around the barycentre. Worlds of short-period pairs - Gehrels et al. 2003, ApJ 585, 1169
arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0211361Used by: A core-collapse supernova within ~8 pc - Globus & Blandford 2020, ApJL 895, L11Used by: A nearby supernova's cosmic rays could speed prebiotic chemistry
- Goldblatt et al. 2013, Nature Geosci. 6, 661
doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1892Used by: Water vapour is a greenhouse gas whose amount the temperature sets - Haghighipour & Kaltenegger 2013Used by: A circumbinary world of a close pair gets light from both stars. Its mean insolation is the two stars' sum, each star seen from its own orbit around the barycentre. Worlds of short-period pairs
- Haqq-Misra et al. 2008, Astrobiology 8, 1127
pure.psu.edu/en/publications/a-revised-hazy-methane-greenhouUsed by: Methane from early anoxic life warmed the Archean Earth. The corrected models give roughly 5–10 K, with ethane recovering part of it. An organic haze forms at high CH₄/CO₂ and cools the surface, which caps the warming. Oxygenic photosynthesis destroyed the methane greenhouse. This was linked to the Paleoproterozoic - Hartogh et al. 2011Used by: Earth's water matches carbonaceous asteroids
- Hauck et al. 2013 · Hauck et al. 2013 in [Nittler et al. 2018](https://arxiv.org/abs/1712.02187)Used by: Earth's core is 32.5 ± 0.3% of its mass
- Held & Soden 2000, Annu. Rev. Energy Environ. 25, 441
doi.org/10.1146/annurev.energy.25.1.441Used by: Water vapour is a greenhouse gas whose amount the temperature sets - [Held & Hou 1980, J. Atmos. Sci. 37, 515](https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1980)037<0515:NASCIA>2.0.CO;2) · [Kaspi & Showman 2015, ApJ 804, 60](https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/804/1/60) · [Walker & Schneider 2006, J. Atmos. Sci. 63, 3333](https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS3821.1) · [North, Cahalan & Coakley 1981, Rev. Geophys. 19, 91](https://doi.org/10.1029/RG019i001p00091) · [Williams & Kasting 1997, Icarus 129, 254](https://doi.org/10.1006/icar.1997.5759) · [Ferreira et al. 2014, Icarus 243, 236](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2014.09.015) · [Ward 1974, J. Geophys. Res. 79, 3375](https://doi.org/10.1029/JC079i024p03375)Used by: Sunlight heats the tropics most, so air rises at the equator, flows poleward aloft and sinks in the subtropics
- Heller & Hippke 2023
www.nature.com/articles/s41550-023-02148-wUsed by: Large moons of warm giants are expected to be common - Kaib & Cowan 2015, Icarus 252, 161
arxiv.org/abs/1501.03816Used by: A rocky planet's bulk composition follows its feeding zone's condensates - Kane & Hinkel 2013Used by: A circumbinary world of a close pair gets light from both stars. Its mean insolation is the two stars' sum, each star seen from its own orbit around the barycentre. Worlds of short-period pairs
- [Kasting 1988, Icarus 74, 472](https://doi.org/10.1016/0019-1035(88)90116-9)Used by: Water vapour is a greenhouse gas whose amount the temperature sets
- Kite & Ford 2018, ApJ
sseh.uchicago.edu/doc/Kite_and_Ford_ApJ_2018.pdfUsed by: Beyond tens of Earth oceans the seafloor seals under high-pressure ice - Kopp et al. 2005, PNAS 102, 11131
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1183582/Used by: Methane from early anoxic life warmed the Archean Earth. The corrected models give roughly 5–10 K, with ethane recovering part of it. An organic haze forms at high CH₄/CO₂ and cools the surface, which caps the warming. Oxygenic photosynthesis destroyed the methane greenhouse. This was linked to the Paleoproterozoic - Kopparapu et al. 2013, ApJ 765, 131
doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/765/2/131Used by: Water vapour is a greenhouse gas whose amount the temperature sets - Leconte et al. 2013, Nature 504, 268
doi.org/10.1038/nature12827Used by: Water vapour is a greenhouse gas whose amount the temperature sets - Luque et al. 2025
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/ae019aUsed by: Hycean worlds are possible - Mamajek et al. 2015Used by: Passing stars stir the Oort cloud
- [Manabe & Wetherald 1967, J. Atmos. Sci. 24, 241](https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1967)024%3C0241:TEOTAW%3E2.0.CO;2)Used by: Water vapour is a greenhouse gas whose amount the temperature sets
- Martin et al. 2019, BEBOP I
arxiv.org/pdf/1901.01627Used by: A circumbinary world of a close pair gets light from both stars. Its mean insolation is the two stars' sum, each star seen from its own orbit around the barycentre. Worlds of short-period pairs - Melott et al. 2017, ApJ 840, 105
arxiv.org/abs/1702.04365Used by: A core-collapse supernova within ~8 pc - Melott & Thomas 2019, J. Geology 127, 475
arxiv.org/abs/1903.01501Used by: A nearby supernova's cosmic rays could speed prebiotic chemistry - Melott & Thomas 2020, reply, arXiv 2006.11310
arxiv.org/abs/2006.11310Used by: A planet's magnetic field turns aside low-energy cosmic rays only - Morbidelli et al. 2018, Icarus 305, 262
doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2017.12.046Used by: A spike in impacts about 3.9 GaThe young worlds' impact rate was far above today's and declined over the first billion years and more - Nesvorný et al. 2021Used by: Belt objects reach the inner planets through the ν6 and 3
- Pasek & Lauretta 2005, Astrobiology 5, 515
doi.org/10.1089/ast.2005.5.515Used by: A large impactor's metallic iron reduces the early atmosphere and ocean for a while - Pavlov et al. 2000, JGR 105, 11981
pure.psu.edu/en/publications/greenhouse-warming-by-chsub4subUsed by: Methane from early anoxic life warmed the Archean Earth. The corrected models give roughly 5–10 K, with ethane recovering part of it. An organic haze forms at high CH₄/CO₂ and cools the surface, which caps the warming. Oxygenic photosynthesis destroyed the methane greenhouse. This was linked to the Paleoproterozoic - Stähler et al. 2021, Science 373, 443
www.ipgp.fr/~stutz/2021_stahler_al_insight_core_science.pdfUsed by: Earth's core is 32.5 ± 0.3% of its mass - standard (3-D GCM studies)Used by: A tidally locked ocean world of a small star keeps a liquid eye under its noon if its air is thick enough
- standard (MAVEN)Used by: Mars's dynamo died within its first half-billion years
- Stern & Miller 2018
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ter.12321Used by: True polar wander moves continents toward the equator - Stevenson 1999, NatureUsed by: An ejected Earth-mass world with a thick ice shell or hydrogen blanket can keep a liquid ocean on geothermal heat for billions of years
- Thomas et al. 2016, ApJL 826, L3
arxiv.org/abs/1605.04926Used by: A core-collapse supernova within ~8 pc - Tomkins et al. 2024, EPSL
www.researchgate.net/publication/385458199Used by: Ordovician craters cluster near the palaeo-equator - Wallner et al. 2016, Nature 532, 69
www.nature.com/articles/nature17196Used by: Seafloor ⁶⁰Fe records supernovae up to ~100 pc - Wang, Lineweaver & Ireland 2018
arxiv.org/abs/1708.08718Used by: Earth's core is 32.5 ± 0.3% of its mass - Wordsworth & Pierrehumbert 2014, ApJL 785, L20
doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/785/2/L20Used by: Water vapour is a greenhouse gas whose amount the temperature sets - Wu et al. 2021
www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-22298-7Used by: The Siberian Traps raised CO₂ several-fold, warmed the planet ~10 °C, drove anoxia and ended the Permian - Zahnle & Catling 2017, Icarus 282, 32
arxiv.org/abs/1702.03386Used by: Planets with atmospheres divide from those without along a shoreline I ∝ v_esc⁴, by thermal escape and impact erosion - Zahnle, Lupu, Catling & Wogan 2020, PSJ 1, 11
arxiv.org/abs/2001.00095Used by: A large impactor's metallic iron reduces the early atmosphere and ocean for a while - Zellner 2017, Orig. Life Evol. Biosph. 47, 261
doi.org/10.1007/s11084-017-9536-3Used by: A spike in impacts about 3.9 Ga
Science · Archean
- 1.4 Ga fluid inclusions, 2025
www.researchgate.net/publication/398972549Used by: The "Boring Billion" - Amodio et al. 2019
core.ac.uk/download/pdf/162919679.pdfUsed by: Cephalopods "grow smart and die young"Cephalopods - Belcher & McElwain 2008, PNAS
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1011974107Used by: Fire needs O₂ above ~15–16 %Fire needs O₂ of about 16 to 30% - Brocks et al. 2023
www.earth.com/news/organisms-called-protosterol-biota-lived-Used by: Mitochondria arose shortly after the Great Oxidation - Canfield 1998 · Canfield 1998 and afterUsed by: A mid-Proterozoic sulfidic
- Chapman & Ferraro 1931Used by: The magnetopause stands where the field's pressure meets the wind's, R_mp ∝
- cryogenic-membrane studiesUsed by: A colder chemistry
- GOE overview
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Oxidation_EventUsed by: Oxygenic photosynthesis by ~3.0–2.7 Ga, with "whiffs" of oxygen before the great riseThe Great Oxidation at ~2.4 Ga once the O₂ sinks - late-Mesoproterozoic oxygenation
www.researchgate.net/publication/388256819Used by: The "Boring Billion" - Lingam & Loeb 2023, ApJ
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/acb6faUsed by: Technology favours land over oceansTechnology favours land over the ocean - M-dwarf red-shifted photosynthesis 2026 · M-dwarf red-shifted photosynthesis, 2026
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13459949/Used by: Plant colour follows the star's spectrumPlant colour follows the star's spectrum - material exchange
ar5iv.arxiv.org/html/1205.1059Used by: Rocks blasted off one world reach another in the same system - Mills et al. 2025, Sci. Adv.
www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/sciadv.ads5698Used by: The steps to intelligence were gated by the planet's state - mirror-life discussions, 2024–Used by: Mirror life
- Moody et al. 2024, Nat. Ecol. Evol.
www.nature.com/articles/s41559-024-02461-1Used by: The last universal common ancestor lived ~4.2 Ga and was already a complex cell with a full metabolism - Mukherjee et al. 2018
www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-22695-xUsed by: The "Boring Billion" - mycorrhizal-network analogiesUsed by: A colder chemistry
- NASA, Kiang et al.
www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/watchtheskies/spectrum_plants.hUsed by: Plant colour follows the star's spectrumPlant colour follows the star's spectrum - Nat. Commun. 2019
www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-10286-xUsed by: A modest O₂ rise may have sufficed for animals - Nature 2025
www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09808-zUsed by: Mitochondria arose shortly after the Great Oxidation - outer-moon seeding
www.researchgate.net/publication/259348074Used by: Rocks blasted off one world reach another in the same system - Potts 1998 · Potts 1998 and afterUsed by: Climate variability selected for behavioural flexibility and big brains
- Quanta 2025
www.quantamagazine.org/intelligence-evolved-at-least-twice-iUsed by: Complex brains and high intelligence evolved more than once on Earth - Roth 2015, Phil. Trans. B
royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/article/370/1684/20150049Used by: Complex brains and high intelligence evolved more than once on Earth - Sagan & Salpeter 1976Used by: Floaters
- Scott & Glasspool 2006, PNAS
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.0604090103Used by: Fire needs O₂ above ~15–16 %Fire needs O₂ of about 16 to 30% - Southampton 2024
www.southampton.ac.uk/news/2024/07/small-change-in-earths-oxUsed by: A modest O₂ rise may have sufficed for animals - standard (Lunar Laser Ranging; Murray & Dermott 1999, ch. 4)Used by: The Moon recedes by its tides
- standard (the iron hypothesis)Used by: Open-ocean productivity is iron-limited
- the Pleistocene recordUsed by: Climate variability selected for behavioural flexibility and big brains
- Titan's lakesUsed by: A colder chemistry
- Wood et al. 2005, ApJ 628, L143
doi.org/10.1086/432716Used by: The magnetopause stands where the field's pressure meets the wind's, R_mp ∝
Science · Phanerozoic
- Abu-Shawareb et al. 2022, NIF
doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.129.075001Used by: Fusion ignition reached in 2022 - Comelli et al. 2016, Tutankhamun's iron dagger blade
doi.org/10.1111/maps.12664Used by: Meteoritic iron was worked cold, as blades, before smelting - de Santana et al. 2019, Nature Communications
doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-11690-zUsed by: Electric fish make current with electrocytes, up to about 860 V - Doudna & Charpentier 2014
doi.org/10.1126/science.1258096Used by: Germline editing is possible - Dunbar 1998 · Dunbar 1998 and criticsUsed by: The social-brain relation links group size and cognition
- Dyson 1960
doi.org/10.1126/science.131.3414.1667Used by: A civilisation could gather most of its star's light - Edwards 2000
doi.org/10.1016/s0094-5765%2800%2900111-9Used by: A space elevator needs a cable stronger than any made at scale - Finn, Tregenza & Norman 2009, Current Biology
doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2009.10.052Used by: Octopuses carry and reuse shells as tools - Finney 1994, Voyage of Rediscovery
doi.org/10.1525/9780520913059Used by: Wayfinding across an ocean by swell and star, with no instruments - Franklin et al. 2005
doi.org/10.5382/av100.17Used by: Hydrothermal systems concentrate metal ores on the sea floor - Garland et al. 2011
doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2011.03.019Used by: Whale song and dolphin whistles are learned culture - Hein et al. 2013
doi.org/10.1016/j.oregeorev.2012.12.001Used by: Deep-sea manganese nodules are metal-rich and have been lifted in trials - Houston 2004, *The First Writing* (Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-83861-4; [review](https://doi.org/10.1017/s0959774305240131))Used by: Writing was invented independently at least three times
- IPCC AR6 WG1 2021
doi.org/10.1017/9781009157896Used by: Burning fossil carbon warms the air - Jackson et al. 2017
doi.org/10.2138/am-2017-5993ccbyUsed by: Roman marine concrete sets and strengthens under sea water - Janik & Sayigh 2013
doi.org/10.1007/s00359-013-0817-7Used by: Whale song and dolphin whistles are learned culture - Larson et al. 2014
doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1323964111Used by: Farming arose independently in at least 11 regions - [McNiven et al. 2012, Lake Condah fish traps](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2011.09.007) (the 6,600 cal BP age is the channel-infill charcoal at the Muldoons Trap Complex, as McNiven's later work reports it; the 2012 abstract itself was not read)Used by: The Gunditjmara fish and eel traps at Budj Bim
- NASA scaling studies
ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19850017786Used by: The square–cube law and gravity set the size and build of a land body - [Nguyen et al. 2018](https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201704847), extrapolatedUsed by: Engineered living materials, grown into a hull
- Nicholson, Carlisle & Cruickshank 1800
doi.org/10.1080/14786440008562593Used by: Electrolysis splits water into hydrogen and oxygen - Ogura et al. 2004
genome.cshlp.org/content/14/8/1555Used by: Convergent evolution is the strongest regularity in biology - Schmandt-Besserat 1978, clay tokens, Scientific American
doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican0678-50Used by: Counts kept without writing, in knotted cord - Stone et al. 2013
doi.org/10.1126/science.1236408Used by: Voyager 1 left the heliosphere - the rocket equation (Tsiolkovsky 1903), applied to deep wells by [Hippke 2018, Int. J. Astrobiology](https://doi.org/10.1017/s1473550418000198)Used by: A chemical rocket's mass ratio grows exponentially with the escape speed
- Tsuda et al. 2013, IKAROS
doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2012.03.032Used by: Voyager 1 left the heliosphere - Urton 2008, the Inca khipu
doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-74907-5_41Used by: Counts kept without writing, in knotted cord
Science · The Galaxy
Science · Every stage
Inspiration · site
- a fan site for Dennis E. Taylor’s Bobiverse novels · Bobiverse Atlas
bobiverse-atlas.pages.dev/Used by: Codex