Around 4 billion years ago there lived a microbe called LUCA: the Last Universal Common Ancestor. There is evidence that it could have lived a somewhat 'alien' lifestyle, hidden away deep underground in iron-sulfur rich hydrothermal ...
Evolution
Dec 18, 2018
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Evidence that catastrophic geological events could have created evolutionary bottlenecks that changed the course of life on Earth may be buried within ancient rocks beneath our feet.
Astronomy
Oct 16, 2018
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216
A little stream in the south of England could guide the way towards finding evidence for ancient life on Mars, in the form of fatty acids preserved in an iron-rich mineral called goethite.
Space Exploration
Jun 19, 2018
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9
NASA's Curiosity rover has found new evidence preserved in rocks on Mars that suggests the planet could have supported ancient life, as well as new evidence in the Martian atmosphere that relates to the search for current ...
Space Exploration
Jun 7, 2018
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2871
A new study finds that viruses share some genes exclusively with cells that are not their hosts. The study, reported in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology, adds to the evidence that viruses swap genes with a variety of ...
Cell & Microbiology
Dec 6, 2017
1
24
Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have traced the paths of three water channels in an ancient photosynthetic organism to provide the first comprehensive, experimental study of how that organism uses and regulates ...
Biotechnology
Nov 17, 2017
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57
Two to three kilometres beneath the surface of Australia's Northern Territory sits buried energy. The layered rock formations known as the Velkerri Shale were recently estimated to contain over 118 trillion cubic feet of ...
Earth Sciences
Jul 11, 2017
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51
New research shows there may have been more nitrogen in the ocean between one and two billion years ago than previously thought, allowing marine organisms to proliferate at a time when multi-cellularity and eukaryotic life ...
Earth Sciences
Jan 31, 2017
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215
Microbes that rank among the simplest and most ancient organisms on Earth could survive the extremely thin air of Mars, a new study finds.
Space Exploration
Jan 16, 2017
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1288
In 2020, NASA plans to launch a new Mars rover that will be tasked with probing a region of the planet scientists believe could hold remnants of ancient microbial life. The rover will collect samples of rocks and soil, and ...
Materials Science
Aug 16, 2016
1
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