"By following universal paralogs," says Kaçar, "we can connect the earliest steps of life on Earth to the tools of modern ...

Life on Earth may exist thanks to an incredible stroke of luck — a chemical sweet spot that most planets miss during their formation but ours managed to hit.

As much as 45 oceans’ worth of hydrogen may be in Earth’s core, scientists reported, suggesting most of Earth’s water was ...

The new plot twist is that in order to keep enough nitrogen and phosphorus near its surface, a planet has to start out with ...

Life’s story may stretch further back than scientists once thought. Some genes found in nearly every organism today were already duplicated before all life shared a common ancestor. By tracking these ...

Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story: All life on Earth can be traced back to a Last Universal Common Ancestor, or LUCA. A study suggests that this organism likely lived on Earth only 400 ...

Researchers studying the deep biosphere, Earth’s largest ecosystem, have found evidence that life thriving miles below the ...

Ancient fossils are revealing unexpected chemical survivors, challenging long-held assumptions about how biological carbon is preserved over Earth’s history.

Earth-like atmospheres require precise balances of nitrogen, oxygen, and CO₂, supported by long-term geological and biological processes. Most M-dwarf planets face atmospheric loss due to intense ...

A doctoral student recreated a tiny piece of the universe in a bottle to investigate the chemistry that led to life on Earth.

"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story: All life on Earth can be traced back to a Last ...