Don: On today's Moment of Science we once again look into the Science Crystal Ball!      Let's turn this thing on . . . there we go. And now behold: the earth 200 million years      ago!

Yael: I see a large land mass, lots of ocean . . . and that's it. Where's the rest of the      land?

D: It's still there. See, hundreds of millions of years ago the continents were joined      together in a super-continent that scientists call Pangaea. It means "all lands" in      Greek.

Y: Wow. It stretches all the way from the North to the South Pole. But that's not the      way the earth looks now, obviously. So what happened?

D: Continental drift. As you know, the earth's crust is always on the move. Over millions      of years Pangaea broke apart.

Y: But if continental and oceanic crust are still drifting, the earth won't always look like it      does now. I wonder how it will look in another hundred million years?

D: Let's find out. Crystal ball, do your thing.

Y: Something's coming in . . . there it is! Hey, the Atlantic Ocean is a lot bigger and the      Pacific is smaller. And where's the Mediterranean Sea? It's gone! And Africa and      Europe are connected. I can see that India's pushed its way up into Southern Asia,      meaning that the Himalayan Mountains have been pushed up even taller than they      already were. And look over there. Los Angeles has migrated north and bumped      into San Francisco!

D: Yep, just as scientists have predicted. Too bad we won't be around to see it.

Y: But we already have, thanks to the science crystal ball.  

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