Lichens were already widespread over 410 million years ago, according to a new international study which identifies a fossil from Brazil as one of the oldest lichen in Earth’s history.
Australian National University
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Press Release
Scientists Discover A Lost World Of Early Ancestors In Billion-year-old Rocks
The discovery of a “lost world” of ancient organisms that lived in Earth’s waterways at least 1.6 billion years ago could change our understanding of our earliest ancestors.
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life
Study Reveals True Origin Of Oldest Evidence Of Animals
Two teams of scientists have resolved a longstanding controversy surrounding the origins of complex life on Earth. The joint studies found molecular fossils extracted from 635-million-year-old rocks aren’t the earliest […]
Posted inPress Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
New Questions on How Earth's Atmosphere and Oceans Formed
A new study led by The Australian National University (ANU) has found seawater cycles throughout the Earth’s interior down to 2,900 km (1,800 miles), much deeper than previously thought, reopening […]
Posted inPress Release, SETI & Technosignatures
The Aliens Are Silent Because They Are Extinct
Life on other planets would likely be brief and become extinct very quickly, say astrobiologists from The Australian National University (ANU). In research aiming to understand how life might develop, […]
Posted inGenomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Bleach a Possible Key to Life on Earth
Hydrogen peroxide — commonly used as hair bleach — may have provided the energy source for the development of life on Earth, two applied mathematicians have found. The heat from […]
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Mars, Origin & Evolution of Life
Mars Mineral Could be Linked to Terrestrial Microbes
Scientists have discovered that the earliest living organisms on Earth were capable of making a mineral that may be found on Mars. The clay-mineral stevensite has been used since ancient […]