The first great branching of the evolutionary tree, between bacteria and archaea, may have happened before either of them existed as free-living cells. This means that while there may have been only ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: All life on Earth can be traced back to a Last Universal Common Ancestor, or ...

Researchers propose that tiny mineral nanoparticles may have been the hidden engines that transformed Earth’s early chemistry into the first building blocks of life. By acting as natural catalysts and ...

Ancient asteroid impacts may have done more than reshape Earth's surface—they could have helped spark life itself. New computer models show the collisions created enormous underground hydrothermal ...

The history of the first plant on Earth is not as simple as the identification of a particular species of plants, but it is a long history of evolution that started in the water and changed the planet ...

The ebb and flow of Earth’s magnetic field strength — caused by the movement of iron in the core — may have played a crucial role in the development of life on our planet throughout history. One ...