Jupiter's icy moon Europa has long been thought of as one of the most habitable worlds in the Solar System. Now the Juno mission to Jupiter has directly sampled its atmosphere in detail for the first time. The results, published ...
Planetary Sciences
Mar 9, 2024
0
32
Nearly 2 million years ago a species of upright apes known as Homo erectus began to use fire. It was a gradual process, from opportunistic users of natural fires to masters able to craft flames from flint and tender. We are ...
Astrobiology
Aug 7, 2023
1
8
Millions of years ago, fire swept across the planet, fueled by an oxygen-rich atmosphere in which even wet forests burned, according to new research by CU Boulder scientists.
Earth Sciences
Sep 30, 2020
6
568
As new and more powerful telescopes blink on in the next few years, astronomers will be able to aim the megascopes at nearby exoplanets, peering into their atmospheres to decipher their composition and to seek signs of extraterrestrial ...
Astronomy
May 5, 2020
7
478
Chemical changes in the oceans more than 800 million years ago almost destroyed the oxygen-rich atmosphere that paved the way for complex life on Earth, new research suggests.
Earth Sciences
Mar 2, 2020
0
85
Scientists have determined the structure of the protein complex that gives cyanobacteria their unique ability to convert weak, filtered sunlight into useable energy. Their findings could one day be used to engineer crops ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 5, 2020
1
588
Powering a massive biosphere on Earth, photosynthesis is the light-mediated reaction that converts carbon dioxide and water to carbohydrates and oxygen. About 2.3 billion years ago, this reaction led to a dramatic oxygenation ...
Earth Sciences
Jul 12, 2019
19
156
A team of international scientists—including researchers at the University of St. Andrews, Syracuse University and Royal Holloway, University of London—have demonstrated a new source of food for early life on the planet.
Earth Sciences
May 21, 2019
1
252
Today our world is visually dominated by animals and plants, but this world would not have been possible without fungi, say University of Leeds scientists.
Biotechnology
Dec 18, 2017
0
1119
How do you go about hunting for life on another planet elsewhere in our galaxy? A useful starting point is to imagine looking from afar for signs of life on Earth. In a telescope like those we have on Earth, those aliens ...
Astronomy
Nov 25, 2015
0
18
