A new study suggests that rapid cooling within the Earth's mantle through plate tectonics played a major role in the development of the first life forms, which in turn led to the oxygenation of the Earth's atmosphere. The ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 7, 2018
1
138
Stars that contain comparatively large amounts of heavy elements provide less favorable conditions for the emergence of complex life than metal-poor stars, as scientists from the Max Planck Institutes for Solar System Research ...
Astrobiology
Apr 18, 2023
2
273
Living a long, healthy life is everyone's wish, but it is not an easy one to achieve. Many aging studies are developing strategies to increase health spans, the period of life spent with good health, without chronic diseases ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Nov 19, 2021
0
159
The hydrothermal vents and methane seeps on the ocean floor that were once thought to be geologic and biological oddities are now emerging as a major force in ocean ecosystems, marine life and global climate.
Earth Sciences
May 31, 2016
0
54
Oxygen is the third most abundant element in the universe (after hydrogen and helium) and of course it is important: all known life forms require liquid water and its oxygen content. For over thirty years, astronomers have ...
Astronomy
Jul 27, 2015
0
119
Orchids, mosses, ferns—or epiphytes, defined as nonparasitic plants that grow on other plants—are crucial for Earth's biodiversity and play essential roles in forests around the world, building habitat in trees for myriad ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 11, 2023
0
186
Within harsh environments like hot springs, volcanic craters and deep-sea hydrothermal vents – uninhabitable by most life forms – microscopic organisms are thriving. How? It's all in how they wrap themselves.
Cell & Microbiology
Dec 5, 2018
0
23
Early life forms on Earth are likely to have mutated and evolved at much higher rates than they do today, suggests a new analysis from researchers at the University of North Carolina.
Biochemistry
Jul 6, 2016
11
61
Using uranium-lead dating, Senckenberg scientists, in cooperation with an international team, were able to date the onset of the "Cambrian explosion" to precisely 538.8 million years ago. During the "Cambrian explosion," ...
Archaeology
Dec 19, 2018
0
46
Imagine a world without liquid water—just solid ice in all directions. It would certainly not be a place that most life forms would like to live.
Earth Sciences
Aug 3, 2015
4
84
