How did life begin on Earth? While scientists have theories, they don't yet fully understand the precise chemical steps that ...

Life on Earth might not be as Earthly as we think. A recent research published in The Conversation explores a revived and ...

"One Hand Clapping" draws from neuroscience, evolution, philosophy and a rich tapestry of cultural references to examine how Earth's history led to the formation of our own minds. The book reveals the ...

In a new peer reviewed analysis, scientists quantify amino acids before and after our “last universal common ancestor.” The last universal common ancestor is the single life form that branched into ...

the Earth you walk on today might not be the same planet that was born 4.5 billion years ago. Many scientists believe that in its infancy, Earth collided with another world the size of Mars, and that ...

The transition from simple chemistry to the complex biology of molecules that gave rise to life is a puzzle that scientists ...

Scientists have long been probing the universe to determine how elements came together to form planets and (at least in Earth’s case) gave rise to life. One disconnect was that the universe contained ...

For decades, many scientists have relied on the "hard steps" model to suggest that intelligent life is rare — the improbable result of a series of unlikely evolutionary leaps. But new research by ...

Life may have emerged from a surprisingly simple network of chemical reactions long before cells or genes existed.

Research shows how microbes quickly colonize fresh lava, revealing how life rebuilds itself and offering clues for life on ...

AFTER THE second world war, Leo Szilard, a pioneering nuclear physicist who had worked on the Manhattan Project, decided to move into biology instead: life; not death. But there was a problem. As a ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. We’ve pieced together a remarkably detailed timeline of ...