Where would carbon-based life be without carbon? There are 118 known chemical elements, but carbon is the fourth most abundant and perhaps the most important to human life. Everywhere you look, ...

One element is the backbone of all forms of life we’ve ever discovered on Earth: carbon. One element is the backbone of all forms of life we’ve ever discovered on Earth: carbon. Number six on the ...

The atmosphere, the ocean and life on Earth interacted over the past 500-plus million years in ways that improved conditions for early organisms to thrive. Now, an interdisciplinary team of scientists ...

The origin of life on Earth stands as one of the great mysteries of science. Various answers have been proposed, all of which remain unverified. To find out if we are alone in the galaxy, we will need ...

We live in a golden age for space exploration. Scientists are gathering massive amounts of new information and scientific evidence at a record pace. Yet the age-old question remains unanswered: are we ...

Super-salty underwater lakes rich in carbon dioxide could host extreme life forms unlike any others on Earth. Water that is rich in salt and other minerals sinks to the bottom of the ocean due to its ...