Did lightning provide food for life’s beginning?
Lightning bolts can be deadly or destructive, but some researchers propose they might also have supplied essential elements for the first…
Category: Geology
Tonga super eruption reached unexpected heights
On January 15th, 2022, the underwater volcano Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai violently erupted, spewing an immense plume of ash and gas into…
Could we find evidence for life in fool’s gold?
Scientists looked for biosignatures in fool's gold from a Mars-like environment . They found small filaments within the rock that may once…
Microbes entombed in ancient salts could help search for life on Mars
Geologists discovered microbes trapped in 830-million-year-old salt minerals similar to those found on Mars.
Why did a bunch of asteroids hit the Earth billions of years ago?
The first cells of life on Earth had a lot to contend with. Conditions were harsh and unpredictable. The air was thick with volcanic gases.…
A crater lake on Mars was racked by ancient flash floods
One picture from the surface of Mars can tell us an entire story about the history and formation of that place. Often, the similarities and…
Microbes that eat iron are a cause of bedrock erosion
Are microscopic mineral-eating microbes breaking down our mountains? They may be behind bedrock erosion.
The shape of the continents is not a coincidence
Biological processes might have led to greater continental crust coverage than would be expected on a planet without life.
Could “Fools’ Gold” have helped build the first proteins?
How and why humans exist are questions that have challenged different cultures ever since the dawn of civilization. Many scientists have…
Early Martian life may have used sulfur as an energy source
Using an environment on Earth that simulates early Mars conditions, researchers found an abundance of bacteria that get their energy from…