life on Earth
Ammonites Were Doing Fine Until the Asteroid Hit
I must confess, I think asteroids and I think of movies like Deep Impact or Armageddon! Scientists think that an…
Moon Lander Detects Technosignatures Coming from Earth
The search for life has to be one of the most talked about questions in science. The question is, what…
Did Earth’s Multicellular Life Depend on Plate Tectonics?
How did complex life emerge and evolve on the Earth and what does this mean for finding life beyond Earth?…
Cosmic Dust Could Spread Life from World to World Across the Galaxy
Does life appear independently on different planets in the galaxy? Or does it spread from world to world? Or does…
Nearby Supernovae Were Essential to Life on Earth
It's almost impossible to comprehend a supernova explosion's violent, destructive power. An exploding supernova can outshine its host galaxy for…
The Early Earth was Really Horrible for Life
Earth has had a long and complex history since its formation roughly 4.5 billion years ago. Initially, it was a…
When Did Photosynthesis Begin?
Sometime around 2.4 billion years ago, a nascent planet Earth underwent one of the most dramatic changes in its history.…
The Meteor Impact that Wiped Out the Dinosaurs Created a Vast Underground Hydrothermal System
The Chicxulub impact event was an enormous catastrophe that left a huge imprint on the Earth's surface. Not only did…
Life Could be Common Across the Universe, Just Not in Our Region
The building blocks of life can, and did, spontaneously assemble under the right conditions. That's called spontaneous generation, or abiogenesis.…
Science Fiction Might Be Right After All. There Might Be Breathable Atmospheres Across the Universe
The last few years has seen an explosion of exoplanet discoveries. Some of those worlds are in what we deem…