Oxygen, as a scientific topic, encompasses the study of the element with atomic number 8, its diatomic molecular form (O₂), and its reactive allotropes and species (e.g., O₃, reactive oxygen species). Research addresses its physicochemical properties, electronic structure, and behavior in gaseous, liquid, and solid phases, as well as its central role in redox reactions, combustion, and bioenergetics. The topic also includes oxygen transport and utilization in biological systems, oxygen cycles in environmental and Earth system science, and its involvement in oxidative stress, signaling pathways, and industrial processes such as oxidation catalysis and materials processing.
Scientists at Oregon State University have developed a new nanomaterial that triggers a pair of chemical reactions inside cancer cells, killing the cells via oxidative stress while leaving healthy tissues alone. The study ...
Bio & Medicine
Jan 27, 2026
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A team of scientists announced Tuesday they have developed new deep-sea landers specifically to test their contentious discovery that metallic rocks at the bottom of the ocean are producing "dark oxygen".
Earth Sciences
Jan 20, 2026
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For roughly 2 billion years of Earth's early history, the atmosphere contained no oxygen, the essential ingredient required for complex life. Oxygen began building up during the period known as the Great Oxidation Event (GOE), ...
Astrobiology
Dec 9, 2025
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81
A new study has revealed how phosphorus, a nutrient essential for photosynthesis, surged into ancient oceans and started Earth's first major rise in atmospheric oxygen more than 2 billion years ago.
Astrobiology
Oct 20, 2025
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57
The appearance of oxygen in Earth's atmosphere was a turning point in the history of our planet, forever transforming the environment and setting the stage for complex life. This event, known as the Great Oxidation Event ...
Astrobiology
Oct 9, 2025
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82
Earth was not always the blue-green world we know today: early Earth's oxygen levels were about a million times lower than we now experience. There were no forests and no animals. For ancient organisms, oxygen was toxic. ...
Ecology
Sep 25, 2025
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47
Oxygen, the colorless and odorless gas that is essential to the survival of humans and other living organisms, is estimated to make up around 21% of Earth's atmosphere. While the primary properties of oxygen are now well ...
Although the building blocks of life such as hydrogen and oxygen appear stable to us, many theories of physics predict that they are actually just tremendously long-lived, with the particles found in their nuclei slowly, ...
General Physics
Sep 22, 2025
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84
How Earth's atmosphere transformed from oxygen-poor to oxygen-rich over a span of about two billion years has been revealed by an international team of researchers.
Earth Sciences
Aug 28, 2025
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155
Since sending the first human into space in the 1960s, the solution to one key challenge has remained elusive: the efficient and reliable production of oxygen in space. On the International Space Station, this problem is ...
Space Exploration
Aug 18, 2025
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