Europa, a moon of Jupiter, appears as a thick crescent in this enhanced-color image from NASA's Galileo spacecraft, which has been orbiting Jupiter since 1995. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG ...

Learning about the past is usually easier than predicting the future, but deciphering the earliest history of life on Earth seems to be an exception to the rule. Of course, we're not entirely in the ...

The earliest days of Earth held secrets that scientists are still trying to uncover. One of the greatest mysteries is how life began. A key part of the answer lies in a rare element: phosphorus. This ...

The key to unlocking the secrets of distant planets starts right here on Earth. Researchers at Tohoku University, the University of Tokyo, and Hokkaido University have developed a model that considers ...

Iron sulfides, common in ancient hydrothermal vents, may have played a crucial role in creating life on Earth. These minerals could have helped form the basic molecules needed for life, new research ...

This model reveals how vastly different the atmosphere was on ancient Earth, and how life may have first emerged. The key to unlocking the secrets of distant planets starts right here on Earth.

How did life begin? An international team of researchers from Japan, Malaysia, the UK, and Germany suggest that the answer may lie in sticky, surface-bound gels that existed long before the first ...

Researchers may have answered one of space science's long-running questions -- and it could change our understanding of how life began. Carbon-rich asteroids are abundant in space yet make up less ...