Life originated as a result of natural processes that exploited early Earth's raw materials. Scientific models of life's origins almost always look to minerals for such essential tasks as the synthesis of life's molecular ...
Earth Sciences
Nov 25, 2013
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Addressing fundamental unknowns about the earliest history of Earth's crust, scientists have precisely dated the world's oldest rock unit at 4.02 billion years old. Driven by the University of Alberta, the findings suggest ...
Earth Sciences
Sep 19, 2016
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The media often imply that the goal of the hunt for extrasolar planets is to find a rocky planet about the size of Earth orbiting a star like the sun at a distance that would allow liquid water to persist on its surface. ...
Astronomy
Jun 28, 2016
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443
One of the great mysteries of life is how it began. What physical process transformed a nonliving mix of chemicals into something as complex as a living cell?
Biochemistry
Dec 12, 2012
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Lightning's role in making nitrogen available for life on Earth may have been relatively short-lived, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of St Andrews Centre for Exoplanet Science.
Astrobiology
May 23, 2023
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237
Saturn's second largest moon, Titan, is known for its dense, planet-like atmosphere and large lakes most likely made of methane and ethane. It has been suggested that Titan's atmosphere and surface is a model of early Earth. ...
Space Exploration
Mar 11, 2014
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For much of its first two billion years, Earth was a very different place: oxygen was scarce, microbial life ruled, and the sun was significantly dimmer than it is today. Yet the rock record shows that vast seas covered much ...
Environment
Apr 17, 2017
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151
Rice University petrologists who recreated hot, high-pressure conditions from 60 miles below Earth's surface have found a new clue about a crucial event in the planet's deep past.
Earth Sciences
Apr 25, 2017
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228
Solving the "faint young sun paradox"—explaining how early Earth was warm and habitable for life beginning more than 3 billion years ago even though the sun was 20 percent dimmer than today—may not be as difficult as ...
Earth Sciences
Jul 9, 2013
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Despite its impressive biological resume, phosphorus is relatively inaccessible as elements go. To understand how phosphorus obtained its prominent role, scientists are modeling the early geochemical environment on Earth ...
Earth Sciences
Aug 23, 2012
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