The ocean as we understand it today was shaped by a global evolutionary regime shift around 170 million years ago, according to new research. Until that point, the success of […]
origin of life
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life
Ammonium Fertilized Early Life On Earth
A team of international scientists–including researchers at the University of St. Andrews, Syracuse University and Royal Holloway, University of London–have demonstrated a new source of food for early life on […]
Posted inAstrobiology (general), Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Missions & Hardware, NASA Astrobiology Program, Policy, Press Release, Reports, Roadmaps, & Plans
Report: An Astrobiology Strategy for the Search for Life in the Universe
Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. It is an inherently interdisciplinary field that encompasses astronomy, biology, geology, heliophysics, and planetary […]
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
How Surfaces May Have Helped Early Life On Earth Begin
On early earth, a series of spontaneous events needed to happen in order for life as we know it to begin. One of those phenomena is the formation of compartments […]
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Life May Have Thrived On Earth 3.5 Billion Years Ago
Three and a half billion years ago Earth hosted life, but was it barely surviving, or thriving? A new study carried out by a multi institutional team with leadership including […]
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Study Shows Unusual Microbes Hold Clues To Early Life
A new study has revealed how a group of deep-sea microbes provides clues to the evolution of life on Earth, according to a recent paper in The ISME Journal. Researchers […]
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Common Table Salt May Have Been Crucial For The Origin of Life
One of the most fundamental unexplained questions in modern science is how life began. Scientists generally believe that simple molecules present in early planetary environments were converted to more complex […]
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Oxygen Could Have Been Available To Life As Early As 3.5 Billion Years Ago
Microbes could have performed oxygen-producing photosynthesis at least one billion years earlier in the history of the Earth than previously thought. The finding could change ideas of how and when […]
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Constraining The Time Interval For The Origin of Life on Earth
Estimates of the time at which life arose on Earth make use of two types of evidence. First, astrophysical and geophysical studies provide a timescale for the formation of Earth […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Press Release
Century-old Model for Life's Origin Gets Significant Substantiation
In 1924, Russian biochemist Alexander Oparin claimed that life on Earth developed through gradual chemical changes of organic molecules, in the “primordial soup” which likely existed on Earth four billion […]