When the early Earth’s magma ocean crystallized 4.4 billion years ago, the deep mantle trapped an ocean’s worth of water, ...

Today, oceans cover about 70% of Earth’s surface. This stark contrast has long driven scientific interest in how water ...

New evidence indicates that the deepest realm of the mantle flowed with up to 100 times more water than previously believed.

Some 4.6 billion years ago, Earth was nothing like the gentle blue planet we know today. Frequent and violent celestial ...

Recently, a team of researchers led by Prof. DU Zhixue from the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry of the Chinese Academy of ...

Researchers recreated conditions from billions of years ago and found that Earth’s young atmosphere could make key molecules ...

Using a highly sensitive mass spectrometer capable of detecting trace chemicals, the researchers discovered that their early Earth simulation created an entire collection of sulfur biomolecules. These ...

University of Alberta geochemists have discovered a missing piece to one of the great mysteries of science—the origin of life ...

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 ...

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 ...

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.