Learn about new approaches and ideas to understanding the origin of the Earth and Moon. We will discuss the recent development of laboratory techniques that can recreate the energetic processes during planet formation and computer simulations that explore the giant impact hypothesis. Recent work on the origin of the Moon led to the discovery of a new type of planetary object called a synestia. We will discuss why synestias are an important stage in the formation of Earth-like planets and the possibility of observing them around other stars.