Montana State University scientists have found a new lineage of microbes living in Yellowstone National Park's thermal features that sheds light on the origin of life, the evolution of archaeal life and the importance of ...
Cell & Microbiology
May 15, 2018
3
1007
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
7
127
When searching for life, scientists first look for an element key to sustaining it: fresh water.
Space Exploration
Dec 20, 2017
25
936
The amount of biomass - life - in Earth's ancient oceans may have been limited due to low recycling of the key nutrient phosphorus, according to new research by the University of Washington and the University of St. Andrews ...
Earth Sciences
Nov 27, 2017
1
98
Chemists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have found a compound that may have been a crucial factor in the origins of life on Earth.
Biochemistry
Nov 6, 2017
17
2251
An international study led by researchers at Macquarie University has uncovered the ways in which giant meteorite impacts may have helped to kick-start our planet's global tectonic processes and magnetic field. The study, ...
Earth Sciences
Sep 26, 2017
21
1216
The Earth's history is written in its elements, but as the tectonic plates slip and slide over and under each other over time, they muddy that evidence—and with it the secrets of why Earth can sustain life.
Earth Sciences
Sep 22, 2017
0
613
The primordial soup that sloshed around billions of years ago, and eventually led to first life on our planet, might have been teeming with primal precursors of proteins.
Biochemistry
Sep 4, 2017
9
525
For much of its first two billion years, Earth was a very different place: oxygen was scarce, microbial life ruled, and the sun was significantly dimmer than it is today. Yet the rock record shows that vast seas covered much ...
Environment
Apr 17, 2017
0
151
Scientists studying the Chicxulub crater have shown how large asteroid impacts deform rocks in a way that may produce habitats for early life.
Earth Sciences
Nov 17, 2016
3
379
