Within the first 150 million years after our solar system formed, a giant body roughly the size of Mars struck and merged with Earth, blasting a huge cloud of rock and debris into space. This cloud would eventually coalesce ...
Space Exploration
Apr 8, 2015
9
59
One of the most important areas in all of biology is the evolution of photosynthesis. Some species of single celled cyanobacteria, through photosynthesis, forever changed the atmosphere of the early Earth by filling it with ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 10, 2015
0
9
Our young sun may have routinely blasted Earth with gobs of energy more powerful than any similar bombardments recorded in human history.
Space Exploration
Mar 3, 2015
5
102
A spark from a lightning bolt, interstellar dust, or a subsea volcano could have triggered the very first life on Earth. But what happened next? Life can exist without oxygen, but without plentiful nitrogen to build genes ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 16, 2015
17
1891
How do you take the temperature of the Earth billions of years ago? The answer lies in the rocks.
Earth Sciences
Nov 7, 2014
3
0
Conditions on Earth for the first 500 million years after it formed may have been surprisingly similar to the present day, complete with oceans, continents and active crustal plates.
Earth Sciences
Sep 15, 2014
4
0
The evolution of the ribosome, a large molecular structure found in the cells of all species, has been revealed in unprecedented detail in a new study.
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 30, 2014
25
0
Stanley Miller, the chemist whose landmark experiment published in 1953 showed how some of the molecules of life could have formed on a young Earth, left behind boxes of experimental samples that he never analyzed. The first-ever ...
Biochemistry
Jun 25, 2014
14
2
Cosmic impacts are known to trigger mass extinctions on Earth. However, a new study adds to evidence that asteroid and cometary bombardment can also shelter life by generating pores in rocks that shelter microbes from damaging ...
Space Exploration
Jun 19, 2014
1
0
Roy Price first heard about the hydrothermal vents in New Caledonia's Bay of Prony a decade ago. Being a scuba diver and a geologist, he was fascinated by the pictures of a 38-meter-high calcite "chimney" that had precipitated ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 16, 2014
0
0
