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.
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
0
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
0
81
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
0
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
3
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
0
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
0
103
A team of scientists from Korea and Japan has discovered a new type of crystal that can "breathe"—releasing and absorbing oxygen repeatedly at relatively low temperatures. This unique ability could transform the way we develop ...
Condensed Matter
Aug 15, 2025
2
714
Every breath we take in contains 21% oxygen, the gas that makes life on Earth possible. Oxygen, in its combined oxide state, has always been abundant in Earth's crust, but elemental diatomic oxygen became part of our atmosphere ...
Two different teams of astronomers have detected oxygen in the most distant known galaxy, JADES-GS-z14-0. The discovery, reported in two separate studies, was made possible thanks to the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter ...
Astronomy
Mar 20, 2025
12
1748
