In this article we present a view gaining attention in the origin-of-life community that takes the question out of the hatchery and places it squarely in the realm of accessible, plausible chemistry. As we see it, the early steps on the way to life are an inevitable, incremental result of the operation of the laws of chemistry and physics picked by 2manyusernames 7 months ago

The UK’s national computing grid, along with their counterparts in the US (TeraGrid) and Europe have helped UCL (University College London) scientists shed light on how life on earth may have originated. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Geologists have discovered 1.43 billion-year-old fossils of deep-sea microbes, providing more evidence that life may have originated on the bottom of the ocean. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Scientists have detected an organic sugar molecule that is directly linked to the origin of life, in a region of our galaxy where habitable planets could exist. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

Organic compounds contain carbon and hydrogen and form the building blocks of all life on Earth. By analyzing organic material and minerals in the Martian meteorite Allan Hills 84001, scientists have shown for the first time that building blocks of life formed on Mars early in its history. Previously, scientists have thought that organic material in ALH 84001 was brought to Mars by meteorite impac... read full post picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

New research shows that black holes are not the ultimate destroyers that are often portrayed in popular culture. Instead, warm gas escaping from the clutches of enormous black holes could be one source of the chemical elements that make life possible. picked by AutumnLotus 3 years ago

In a recent study called “Why did life emerge?”, two scientists, [....] offer some insight into the general driving force of life’s origins in terms of thermodynamics. picked by rambler 11 months ago

Have Mars landers been destroying signs of life? Instead of identifying chemicals that could point to life, NASA's robot explorers may have been toasting them by mistake. picked by bornbad 6 months ago

NASA scientists analyzing the dust of meteorites have discovered new clues to a long-standing mystery about how life works on its most basic, molecular level and strengthens the idea of amino acids being delivered to Earth via meteorite. picked by 2manyusernames 9 months ago

Search millions of photographs from the LIFE photo archive, stretching from the 1750s to today. Most were never published and are now available for the first time through the joint work of LIFE and Google.
*this is great* picked by Bornbad 1 year ago

Apparently each episode of Half Life 2 will be longer then the previous one. picked by whi73rav3n 3 years ago

A sniff test of water vapor spewing from Saturn's moon Enceladus shows it is gushing with organic molecules, increasing the possibility of life existing somewhere in the Saturn system. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

A new interpretation of data from NASA's Viking landers indicates that 0.1% of the Martian soil tested could have a biological origin. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Visiting aliens may be the stuff of legend, but if a scientific team working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology is right, we may be able to find extraterrestrial life even before it leaves its home planet—by looking for left- (or right-) handed light. picked by AutumnLotus 7 months ago

The purpose of the A-PRIZE is to put development of artificial life forms in the open where it should be. Today, many efforts at developing artificial life are not well publicized. The A-PRIZE will serve as a clearing house for information about the race to "Break the Carbon Barrier". With mega-universities and companies racing to create nonbiological life, now is the time for such a cle... read full post picked by michelleroberts 3 years ago

Life's collection of 10 million images will be available online, with "the most important collection of imagery covering the events and people of the 20th century" available for free for personal use. picked by suebe 3 years ago

EVERYBODY VIRTUALLY PANIC picked by MaskedWriter 3 years ago

Scientists have known for some time that most major groups of complex animals appeared in the fossils record during the Cambrian Explosion, a seemingly rapid evolutionary event that occurred 542 million years ago. Now paleontologists have identified another explosive evolutionary event that occurred about 33 million years earlier among macroscopic life forms unrelated to the Cambrian animals. They... read full post picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Astronomers have found the first signature of complex organic molecules in the dust cloud around a distant star, suggesting that these building blocks of life may be a common feature of planetary systems. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Astronomers at the Carnegie Institution have found the first indications of highly complex organic molecules in the disk of red dust surrounding a distant star. The eight-million-year-old star, known as HR 4796A, is inferred to be in the late stages of planet formation, suggesting that the basic building blocks of life may be common in planetary systems. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago