The early Earth was an extreme place. Asteroids pommeled the surface. Volcanoes spewed lava and carbon dioxide. The thick, ...

In a new peer reviewed analysis, scientists quantify amino acids before and after our “last universal common ancestor.” The ...

“Many environments on Earth host life in hot water systems, including hot springs, and hydrothermal vents. Such environments may have given rise to the earliest life forms on Earth. Our new ...

Subsequent studies continue to debate the belt's exact age. Some researchers have also suggested the belt contains evidence of Earth's earliest life — traces of bacteria dating to between 4.3 billion ...

An Oxford academic has theorized about what might happen if humans were to go extinct and reveals which species could take ...

As life evolved on Earth, it used and created minerals for exoskeletons and habitats. The hundred minerals present when life first formed have grown to about 5,000 today. For example, zircons are ...

The world's oldest rocks are spread across the globe and paint a picture of Earth's turbulent early history. Here are some of the most notable and important formations scientists have discovered.