Salt crystals formed when a saline lake dried up 1.4 billion years ago trapped air inside, providing a sample of the ...

Researchers recreated conditions from billions of years ago and found that Earth’s young atmosphere could make key molecules linked to life. These sulfur-rich compounds, including certain amino acids, ...

More than a billion years ago, in a shallow basin across what is now northern Ontario, a subtropical lake much like ...

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

Particles from Earth’s atmosphere may be preserved in the Moon's soil, offering a long-term record of Earth’s atmospheric history.

In 2005, researchers at the University of Tokyo proposed that some elements from Earth's upper atmosphere might have escaped ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. David Bressan is a geologist who covers curiosities about Earth. Jun 30, 2025, 07:58am EDT Jul 01, 2025, 04:44am EDT For 540 ...

Scientists have discovered that complex life began evolving much earlier than traditional models suggested. Using an expanded molecular clock approach, the team showed that crucial cellular features ...

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 ...

"... a pivotal event in our planet's history." This is an Inside Science story. Earth's first continents may have emerged from the oceans roughly 750 million years ...