By Rob Waugh In the 70s, James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis claimed that Earth's physical and biological processes 'link' to form a self-regulating, basically 'self-aware' system In the 70s, James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis claimed that Earth's physical and biological processes 'link' to form a self-regulating, basically 'self-aware' system. Their book became a cult classic, and the idea that the Earth is a giant chemical system, almost like an 'organism' persists to this day - although it's never been proved. In 2010, a poll of 400 academics placed the Gaia Hypothesis the sixth greatest British academic breakthrough of all time.
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'Gaia Hypothesis' claims earth is self-regulating 'organic' system that maintains life
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Sulphur could be key to understanding cycles of Earth
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Gaia idea initially scorned by scientists but now taken seriously
James Lovelock
James Lovelock
One of the early predictions of @placeholder's theory - known as the Gaia -  hypothesis was that there should be a sulphur compound made by organisms in the oceans that would transfer to the air and thus to the land.
Sulphur
@placeholder, the tenth most abundant element in the universe, is part of many inorganic and organic compounds.
Gaia Hypothesis
Gaia Hypothesis
Gaia
It  may even help us to better trace connections between dimethylsulfide emissions and sulfate aerosols, ultimately testing a coupling in the @placeholder hypothesis,’ Farquhar says