Were there already viruses on Earth when the first living cells appeared billions of years ago? – Aayush A., age 16, India ...

"Picture yourself standing off the coast of Cape Cod, in a shelf of shallow water," said Nadja Drabon, an early Earth ...

These biofilms are just remarkable. They may be the ultimate system to study to understand our planet' UConn Department of ...

The history of life on Earth extends far beyond the dinosaurs and ancient mammals that usually come to mind when we think of fossils. Believe it or not, scientists have actually found signs of ...

Hale-Bopp originated in the Oort Cloud, a theoretical shell of icy planetesimals surrounding the sun in the outer reaches of ...

As Earth cools, a crust forms over it. Mounded bacterial formations called stromatolites appear in shallow waters of the early oceans, and small land blocks collide with one another to produce the ...

At 2.1 Gya there was ongoing substantial asteroidal delivery, including hemoglycin, to Earth where water was present as tidal pools or early oceans, conditions that support stromatolite formation.

The rocks indicate an ancient, iron-rich environment, but the rover wasn't able study details of the rock's composition.

A gigantic space rock that slammed into Earth more than three billion years ago grievously wounded the biosphere—and then helped it heal ...

Emerging evidence suggests that plate tectonics, or the recycling of Earth's crust, may have begun much earlier than previously thought — and may be a big reason that our planet harbors life.

There are only a few locations on Earth where the organisms that contributed to the development of complex life still exist. Lee Stocking Island is one of them. The organisms are stromatolites.

For example, cyanobacteria formed large structures called stromatolites in the oceans of early Earth. Scientists have found fossil stromatolites that date back to 3.48 billion years ago.