Maybe the first life on Earth was part of an 'RNA world.' Artur Plawgo/Science Photo Library via Getty Images How life on Earth started has puzzled scientists for a long time. And it still does.

New experiments suggest RNA, life’s essential molecule, could have formed naturally on early Earth and even arrived from ...

IMAGE: A new study by CU-Boulder researchers indicates a thick organic haze shrouding Earth several billion years ago was similar to the one now hovering over Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. University ...

The study of early Earth microbial life and its associated organic matter provides crucial insights into the origins and evolution of life on our planet. Recent work has illuminated the remarkable ...

In an investigation to find out what sparked life on Earth, researchers have discovered that RNA formed through surprisingly ...

New research shows how RNA, a key molecule for life, may have formed on early Earth using simple chemistry and materials delivered by asteroid impacts, linking space science with the origins of life ...

Researchers used small zircon crystals to unlock information about magmas and plate tectonic activity in early Earth. The research provides chemical evidence that plate tectonics was most likely ...

Four billion years ago, our then stripling sun radiated only 70 to 75 percent as much energy as it does today. Other things on Earth being equal, with so little energy reaching the planet’s surface, ...

Continental clues: Modern continental rocks carry chemical signatures from the very start of our planet’s history, challenging current theories about plate tectonics. Researchers have made a new ...

One broken piece of quartz in a physics lab could shed light on the history of life on Earth and the search for other habitable worlds. Today, most life as we know it depends on oxygen. Specifically, ...