A remarkably hardy bacterium can survive pressures similar to those generated when asteroid impacts blast debris off Mars, a ...

Scientists demonstrated that an Earthly extremophile might withstand being ejected from the Red Planet on debris spewed into ...

Chalk up another victory for “Conan the Bacterium”—a rugged germ that fresh research suggests could conquer the solar system.

Around 2.3 billion years ago, the Great Oxygenation Event (GOE) marked a major turning point in Earth’s history. The increase ...

A resurrected ancient enzyme is helping scientists test how reliably Earth’s oldest rocks record signs of life.

Human beings have been at the center of ecological change on Earth for thousands of years. But as history shows, no species ...

Tests conducted with tardigrades suggest that there is something in Martian dirt that dramatically reduces biological ...

Scientists are trying to understand how complex life emerged on Earth about 2 billion years ago. Our microbial ancestors could be the key.

Here's a thought experiment that keeps planetary scientists awake at night. Strip every living thing from our planet, every bacterium, every blade of grass, every creature that has ever drawn breath ...

"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story: All life on Earth can be traced back to a Last ...

All life on Earth can be traced back to a Last Universal Common Ancestor, or LUCA. A study suggests that this organism likely lived on Earth only 400 million years after its formation. Further ...