The origin of the first living molecules on our planet has long been debated. However, recent experiments are revealing new ...

Scientists refine the timeline of sponge origins, showing soft-bodied ancestors likely evolved later than some chemical ...

Maybe the first life on Earth was part of an 'RNA world.' Artur Plawgo/Science Photo Library via Getty Images How life on Earth started has puzzled scientists for a long time. And it still does.

New research shows how RNA, a key molecule for life, may have formed on early Earth using simple chemistry and materials delivered by asteroid impacts, linking space science with the origins of life ...

Sponges are among Earth's most ancient animals, but exactly when they evolved has long puzzled scientists. Genetic ...

Crystals hidden in Australia’s oldest rocks have revealed new clues about how Earth and the Moon formed. The study suggests ...

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

Earth may have gobbled up a Mercury-like body early in our planet’s history, and that may have helped create a heat source in our iron core—an energy source that would go on to generate the planet’s ...

IMAGE: A new study by CU-Boulder researchers indicates a thick organic haze shrouding Earth several billion years ago was similar to the one now hovering over Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. University ...

Four billion years ago, our then stripling sun radiated only 70 to 75 percent as much energy as it does today. Other things on Earth being equal, with so little energy reaching the planet’s surface, ...

Short-lived radioisotopes such as aluminum-26 influenced early solar system heat, water retention and the formation of Earth-like rocky planets, according to meteorite analyses and models.