A new study shows how complex biochemical transformations may have been possible under conditions that existed when life began on the early Earth. The study shows that RNA is capable of catalyzing electron transfer under ...

Chemistry - Biochemistry

15 hours ago not rated yet 0 |

(Phys.org) —Geneticists Richard Gordon of the Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratory in Florida and Alexei Sharov of the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore have proposed, in a paper uploaded to the preprint ...

Physics - General Physics

Apr 18, 2013 4 / 5 (113) 116 |

Researchers in the Evolutionary Bioinformatics Laboratory at the University of Illinois in collaboration with German scientists have been using bioinformatics techniques to probe the world of proteins for answers to questions ...

Biology - Cell & Microbiology

Mar 11, 2013 5 / 5 (5) 3 |

British scientists have called off the hunt for exotic life in an ice-bound Antarctic lake after their mission was hit by a technical hitch.

Space & Earth - Earth Sciences

Dec 27, 2012 4 / 5 (3) 4

NASA's revolutionary Curiosity rover is celebrating 90 Sols on Mars by snapping amazing self-portraits (see our mosaics above and below) and biting into the Red Planet's surface to accomplish unprecedented ...

Space & Earth - Space Exploration

Nov 08, 2012 4.5 / 5 (4) 1

The sign in front of the tall display case at the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of Natural History lures visitors to "meet one of your oldest relatives." Inside stands a morganucodon, a mouse-like animal ...

Other Sciences - Other

Oct 12, 2012 4.1 / 5 (19) 164

An evolutionary biologist at the University of Manchester, working with scientists in the US, has found compelling evidence that parts of the brain can evolve independently from each other. It's hoped the findings will significantly ...

Biology - Evolution

Sep 26, 2012 4.7 / 5 (3) 0 |

All tadpoles grow into frogs, but not all frogs start out as tadpoles, reveals a new study on 720 species of frogs to be published in the journal Evolution.

Biology - Evolution

Sep 10, 2012 5 / 5 (3) 1

Inspired by a 2009 colloquium on microbial evolution convened at the Galapagos Islands, a new book from ASM Press, Microbes and Evolution: The World That Darwin Never Saw celebrates Charles Darwin and his landmark publication ...

Biology - Cell & Microbiology

May 30, 2012 1 / 5 (1) 0

A team of paleontologists has discovered the oldest animal with a skeleton. Called Coronacollina acula, the organism is between 560 million and 550 million years old, which places it in the Ediacaran period ...

Other Sciences - Archaeology & Fossils

Mar 08, 2012 4.5 / 5 (33) 23 |

Certain kinds of male birds gather into small clusters of land called leks to perform their courtship dances, and according to science, who they choose to associate with matters. A new study by University ...

Biology - Ecology

Feb 29, 2012 not rated yet 0

Studying the origin of life at its building blocks offers a unique perspective on evolution, says a researcher at Michigan State University.

Biology - Evolution

Feb 19, 2012 3 / 5 (1) 0

Following one of Earth's five greatest mass extinctions, tiny marine organisms called graptoloids did not begin to rapidly develop new physical traits until about 2 million years after competing species became ...

Biology - Evolution

Feb 13, 2012 5 / 5 (1) 1 |

On "Star Trek, the aliens often look so human that crew members fall in love with them. But in real life, scientists in the field known as astrobiology can't be sure alien life would even be carbon-based like us, or use DNA ...

Biology - Biotechnology

Feb 13, 2012 4.8 / 5 (10) 2

The origin of life is seen as the formation of the first biomolecules which may be subject to multiplication and further development. Hitherto it was unclear, which reactions could have triggered the evolution of this ur-metabolism. ...

Chemistry - Biochemistry

Jan 19, 2012 4.9 / 5 (7) 2