Fossil microbes found along an iron-rich river in Spain reveal how signs of life could be preserved in minerals found on Mars. The discovery may help to equip the next generation Mars rover with the tools it would need to find evidence of past life on the planet. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Long before tourists arrived in the Bahamas, ancient visitors took up residence in this archipelago off Florida's coast and left remains offering stark evidence that the arrival of humans can permanently change -- and eliminate -- life on what had been isolated islands, says a University of Florida researcher. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years 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

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

We have answered so many seemingly impossible questions yet one question eludes us - How did life arise from inorganic matter? Perhaps a new way of looking at the question can help find an answer picked by 2manyusernames 6 months ago

At one time, scientists were surprised to discover microbes living in places that were thought to be uninhabitable. That doesn’t happen anymore, because scientists know life can thrive almost anywhere on earth. picked by bingo 5 months ago

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

Scientists have found some odd life forms in Lake Huron.

Peculiar geological formations are supporting floating plumes and purple mats of microbes dwelling in enclaves of the Great Lake, researchers report. The odd biology is more akin to what is found in some of Earth's most extreme environments. picked by AutumnLotus 9 months ago

Scientists have found life about twice as far below the seafloor as has ever been documented before. A coring sample off the coast of Newfoundland turned up single-celled microbes living in searing temperatures about a mile (1,626 meters) below the seafloor. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years 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

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

By sticking microbes to the outside of the International Space Station, Japanese researchers aim to test the "panspermia" theory that comets and asteroids can spread life between planets.

The Japanese experiment is called Tanpopo, Japanese for "dandelion", after the plant's fluffy seeds, which travel long distances on the wind. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Researchers studying life in the deep subsurface of our planet have discovered a unique bacterium living 1 mile (1.7 km) below the Earth's surface. The tiny bacteria live in a community of subsurface microbes inhabiting a South African platinum mine. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

Largely unexplored deep-sea coral reefs, some perhaps hundreds of thousands of years old, off the coast of the southeastern U.S. are not only larger than expected but also home to large fish populations and many newly discovered and unusual species. Results from a series of expeditions to document these habitats and their associated marine life have revealed some surprising results. picked by 2manyusernames 2 years ago

If Martian life existed a few billion years ago, scientists think any plant-like microbes would have left behind a stringy fuzz of fibers. That's because here on Earth, researchers now say they have found such ancient fuzz, called cellulose, preserved in chunks of salt deposited more than 250 million years ago — making it the oldest biological substance yet recovered. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

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

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

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

The rise of oxygen and the oxidation of deep oceans between 635 and 551 million years ago may have had an impact on the increase and spread of the earliest complex life, including animals, according to a study. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago