(image credit: U.S. Geological Survey)

The history of the earth is illustrated by the geologic time spiral, which is a convenient way to put a long timeline into a manageable graphic. The Oxford Paleobiology Group decided to do this graphic in cake form to enter into a cake competition at the Earth Science department's Christmas party.

 

(YouTube link)

It turned out to be a mammoth undertaking. Leila Battison writes about the project at her blog. Link -via Nag on the Lake