New Scientist Live 2018 - Jan Zalasiewicz, Largest Skeleton on Earth

From the enormous bones of the blue whale to the microscopic plates of marine algae to the planetary-scale accumulations of coral reefs, skeletons underpin much of life on Earth. But when and why did skeletons form, and how did they provide a durable framework for evolution? Mark Williams and Jan Zalasiewicz tell the billion year-scale story of skeletons on Earth, consider how the warp-speed evolution of techno-skeletons is now shaping our planet’s future, and explore the possibilities of skeleton formation on other planets.