It’s not an exaggeration to suggest that the most significant event on Earth was the evolution of photosynthesis. The ability to harvest energy from light freed life from the need to scavenge energy ...

Imagine Earth at a time when it was almost unrecognizable—a landscape that was barren and with barely breathable air. That is what Earth looked like about 1.75 billion years ago. But scientists now ...

Cyanobacteria are a key species in Earth's history, as they introduced atmospheric oxygen for the first time. The analysis of their evolution therefore provides important insights into the formation ...

Researchers at the University of Liège (ULiège) have identified microstructures in fossil cells that are 1.75 billion years old. These structures, called thylakoid membranes, are the oldest ever ...

The story of life on Earth can’t be told without photosynthesis, the process by which plants (and some other lifeforms) convert sunlight into chemical energy. Now, a team of researchers has announced ...

Cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, on the surface of a lake. Bacteria were the first organisms to photosynthesize, creating the oxygen essential for the evolution of life on Earth. Philipp Schulze / ...

Stephen has degrees in science (Physics major) and arts (English Literature and the History and Philosophy of Science), as well as a Graduate Diploma in Science Communication. Stephen has degrees in ...

Ancient tiny fossils from Australia may carry evidence of great power: the ability to make oxygen through photosynthesis. The fossilized bacteria, dating from 1.73 billion to 1.78 billion years ago, ...

A species of bacteria that lived 407 million years ago would have flourished among early land plants. Detailed 3D reconstructions of fossils discovered in Scotland are helping scientists to understand ...