A 3-D thermal model identifies a ~ 4.33 Ga temporal “sweet spot” for life’s origin, when decreased bombardment enabled mild hydrothermal niches to support RNA World chemistry and stable biomolecule ...

Conditions on early Earth may have become stable enough to sustain the chemistry associated with the origins of life around 4 ...

You may not be aware, but chances are that you are surrounded by chemicals in your daily life. It has been estimated that millions of chemical substances are now on the market, while about 100,000 ...

One of humanity’s most profound questions is whether life exists beyond Earth — and if so, what forms it might take. For decades, the search for life has often focused on finding conditions similar to ...

It may seem easy to distinguish whether something is alive or not. You are alive, as is your teacher, and the trees you see on your way to school. Your desk and chair are not alive, and neither are ...

Life on Earth rests on a knife-edge of chemistry that could easily have tipped the other way. As geochemists reconstruct the planet’s birth, they are finding that a narrow band of oxygen conditions ...

MSU researcher Katie Maloney contributed samples of rare, exceptionally well-preserved seaweed fossils (e.g., macroscopic algae) from Yukon Territory, Canada. These fossils are almost one-billion ...

Enceladus’ chilly geysers spew chemical compounds that hint at the potential for life in the moon of Saturn’s subsurface ocean. But some compounds within the plumes may have formed via high-energy ...

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