Ever since its formation around 4.5 billion years ago, Earth's rotation has been gradually slowing down, and its days have gotten progressively longer as a result.

While Earth's slowdown is not noticeable on human timescales, it's enough to work significant changes over eons. One of those changes is perhaps the most significant of all, at least to us: lengthening days are linked to the oxygenation of Earth's atmosphere, according to a study from 2021.

Specifically, the blue-green algae (or cyanobacteria) that emerged and proliferated about 2.4 billion years ago would have been able to produce more oxygen as a metabolic by-product because Earth's days grew longer.

Check out the video below for a summary of the research.

"An enduring question in Earth sciences has been how did Earth's at

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