A giant impact on the early Earth could have brought the building blocks of RNA to our planet, which new research suggests ...

Grab-and-go missions to asteroids have provided some of the most scientifically valuable samples since the Apollo ...

In an investigation to find out what sparked life on Earth, researchers have discovered that RNA formed through surprisingly ...

How can animate life be formed from inanimate matter? It’s one of the most fascinating enigmas in science because, without this crucial first step, called abiogenesis, there would be no life on Earth.

How did life begin on Earth? While scientists have theories, they don't yet fully understand the precise chemical steps that ...

People have long wondered what life was first like on Earth, and if there is life in our solar system beyond our planet. Scientists have reason to believe that some of the moons in our solar system – ...

Here’s what you will learn when you read this story: Abiogenesis—the emergence of life from nonliving organics—is the leading theory regarding how life spawned on Earth, but it is being questioned.

Researchers discovered sugars essential for biology, including glucose, in the asteroid material for the first time. A strange, pliable substance nicknamed "space gum" was also found, which could have ...

A team of researchers studied the properties of membranes to understand how these cellular structures influenced the chemistry of life on Earth as it began. How life arose remains a looming question ...

K2-18b resides within the habitable zone of its star, making the presence of liquid water and thus life possible. Using the James Webb Space Telescope, researchers detected molecules in K2-18b's ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. We’ve pieced together a remarkably detailed timeline of ...