In an investigation to find out what sparked life on Earth, researchers have discovered that RNA formed through surprisingly ...

A giant impact on the early Earth could have brought the building blocks of RNA to our planet, which new research suggests ...

Life on Earth has always depended on nitrogen. As a building block of proteins and DNA, nitrogen is essential to all living ...

How did life begin on Earth? While scientists have theories, they don't yet fully understand the precise chemical steps that ...

New research shows how RNA, a key molecule for life, may have formed on early Earth using simple chemistry and materials delivered by asteroid impacts, linking space science with the origins of life ...

Grab-and-go missions to asteroids have provided some of the most scientifically valuable samples since the Apollo ...

Over 500 million years ago, during the Cambrian period, all major animal phyla appeared rapidly in what is known as the Cambrian explosion, which established a completely new Earth-life system. This ...

The study of early Earth microbial life and its associated organic matter provides crucial insights into the origins and evolution of life on our planet. Recent work has illuminated the remarkable ...

Billions of years ago, Earth’s atmosphere was hostile, with barely any oxygen and toxic conditions for life. Researchers from the Earth-Life Science Institute studied Japan’s iron-rich hot springs, ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. We’ve pieced together a remarkably detailed timeline of ...

A study shows that electrical charges in sprays of water can cause chemical reactions that form organic molecules from inorganic materials. The findings provide evidence that microlightning may have ...