Lucas Van Wyk Joel

Lucas Van Wyk Joel is a science journalist who grew up playing in the dirt and collecting rocks. Now he writes about those things, and the rest of the planet, too.

All Stories by Lucas Van Wyk Joel

  1. Earth

    Ancient rocks reveal when rivers began pouring nutrients into the sea

    Rivers began pumping weathered material into the sea about a billion years after Earth formed, suggesting continents may have gotten an early start.

  2. Paleontology

    Stunning trilobite fossils include soft tissues never seen before

    Well-preserved fossils from Morocco help paleontologists understand the weird way trilobites ate and perhaps why these iconic animals went extinct.

  3. Earth

    Earth’s oldest known earthquake was probably triggered by plate tectonics

    Billion-year-old rocks in South Africa hold evidence for the onset of plate tectonics early in Earth’s history.