Early Earth lacked life’s essentials until a collision with Theia added them. This chance event made life possible. After the Solar System formed, it took no more than three million years for the ...

In Earth’s early days, more than 4 billion years ago, the surface was a dangerous and unpredictable place. Violent volcanoes, ...

Scientists have shown that Earth’s basic chemistry solidified within just three million years of the Solar System’s formation ...

Modern continental rocks carry chemical signatures from the very start of our planet's history, challenging current theories about plate tectonics. Researchers have made a new discovery that changes ...

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. New model suggests an ocean of magma formed within the first few hundred million years of Earth's ...

Over 4.6 billion years ago, Earth took shape from a spinning cloud of dust and gas surrounding the young sun. Tiny particles within this cloud collided and clumped together, driven by gravity and ...

Polyester microdroplets, possible precursors to life, were formed from alpha-hydroxy acids (αHAs) in early Earth-like conditions even at low reaction volume, low reactant concentrations, and/or high ...

In our first interview with Mayer, he discussed using pressure cycling to study prebiotic chemistry. In the second part of ...