Explore the history of life on Earth, from 3.5-billion-year-old fossils to the vast diversity of species on our planet today.

Two of the most intriguing questions in science are: How did life on Earth begin? and Is there life elsewhere in the universe? Given the enormous interest in these questions, you might expect that the ...

The origin of life on Earth has been mulled over by scientists for centuries. We now know that life’s building blocks are RNA, amino acids, and cells. But if life originated from the primordial ooze ...

In a new book, astrophysicist Mario Livio describes how the existence of life on Earth can be traced back to an RNA-based “protocell.” The following is an excerpt from Is Earth Exceptional?: The Quest ...

Earth's magnetic field plays a key role in protecting life on our planet. Yet its origin and evolution remain subjects of intense research. Scientists rely on the dynamo theory to explain the ...

The emergence of the first biopolymers and their building blocks on the early Earth is considered a key moment in the origin of life (OoL), but how life began on the prebiotic Earth from a pile of ...

The origin of the first living molecules on our planet has long been debated. However, recent experiments are revealing new information about the plausible conditions on the early Earth. This research ...

A Brief History of the Universe (and our place in it) is at once a fascinating story of discovery and a beautiful celebration of our endless curiosity.

A team of researchers at the University of Oxford have uncovered crucial evidence for the origin of water on Earth. Using a rare type of meteorite, known as an enstatite chondrite, which has a ...