A new study from researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison shows that 3.4 billion years ago, life on Earth relied on a metal called molybdenum, despite its limited availability at […]
Bacteria are living organisms consisting of just a single cell, and at first, they only regulate themselves. Nevertheless, many types of bacteria can form colonies that behave like a complex […]
Cell walls are a crucial structure of plant life, protecting cells from damage, giving plants shape, and containing energy-rich nutrients. And yet the process of how the walls begin to […]
Manganese dioxide can convert amino acids into hydrogen cyanide (HCN) without requiring methane, solving a long-standing puzzle about the origin of this key prebiotic molecule on early Earth, as reported […]
A novel bacterial strain, HK31-GT, was isolated from a subsurface geothermal aquifer (Hellisheidi, SW-Iceland) and was characterized using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene along with […]
by Dieter Braun, LMU Munich, May 5th 2026, 16:00 CEST (UTC + 02:00) Abstract: We are pursuing lab experiments to assemble a hypothesis for the emergence of Life. We will […]
Expose an animal to extreme physical stress, and the expectation is simple: It will break down.
Recent observations of protostars with the James Webb Space Telescope have revealed unprecedented chemical complexity from their ice absorption features.
The traditional definition of the circumstellar habitable zone (HZ) focuses on liquid water, but neglects the crucial role of ultraviolet (UV) radiation in prebiotic chemistry.
![These high-resolution pre-catalysis RNA Pol II EC structures also define the reaction-ready configuration of a complete active site. The 1.96 Å cryo-EM map reveals an unambiguous density of Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) substrate with a chair-like triphosphate conformation that is precisely coordinated with two Mg2+ ions. [Full video] Molecular Cell](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Water-molecules-found.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
Researchers have uncovered a previously hidden layer of complexity in how genes are activated, showing that water molecules play a direct and essential role in one of the most fundamental […]
