Around 4 billion years ago, Earth was an inhospitable place, devoid of oxygen, bursting with volcanic eruptions, and bombarded by asteroids, with no signs of life in even the simplest forms. But somewhere amid this chaotic ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 9, 2018
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69
Theories about the early days of our planet's history vary wildly. Some studies have painted the picture of a snowball Earth, when much of its surface was frozen. Other theories have included periods that would be inhospitably ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 2, 2018
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127
Life on Earth could have originated in cold conditions near the surface, before spreading to warmer environments, according to research that analyzes the possible gene sequences belonging to the earliest life.
Earth Sciences
Mar 26, 2018
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200
It sounds odd, but cyanide may have been a key ingredient in the origins of life.
Biochemistry
Mar 20, 2018
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28
In popular culture, asteroids play the role of apocalyptic threat, get blamed for wiping out the dinosaurs - and offer an extraterrestrial source for mineral mining.
Space Exploration
Feb 17, 2018
30
290
Chemists based in Munich have demonstrated that the alternation in wet and dry conditions on early Earth could have been enough to kick off the prebiotic synthesis of the RNA nucleosides found in all domains of life.
Biochemistry
Feb 9, 2018
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11
When trying to understand the origins of life on Earth, researchers run into a paradox: while water is an indispensable solvent for all known life forms that exist today, water also inhibits the formation of string-like chains ...
Research by a University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) graduate student Mojtaba Fakhraee and Associate Professor Sergei Katsev has pushed a major milestone in the evolution of the Earth's environment back by about 250 million ...
Earth Sciences
Jan 25, 2018
2
77
RNA was probably the first informational molecule. Now, chemists from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich have demonstrated that alternation of wet and dry conditions could have sufficed to drive the prebiotic ...
Biochemistry
Jan 18, 2018
0
43
When searching for life, scientists first look for an element key to sustaining it: fresh water.
Space Exploration
Dec 20, 2017
25
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