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 ...

Few questions in the history of science eclipse the all-important investigation into how life first formed on Earth. Although there are many theories, one leading idea is that the hydrothermal vents ...

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 ...

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 ...

multicelled life-forms almost four billion years later. What Was Happening on Earth at This Time The Precambrian is the earliest of the geologic ages, which are marked by different layers of ...

“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 ...

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.