Subscribe now

origins of life

Life

Why the origins of life remain a mystery – and how we will crack it

To explain how life on Earth began, the big challenge is to identify the molecules and processes that enable non-living chemical systems to become more complex

Features

Subscriber-only

Unicellular green algae with large cells.; Shutterstock ID 1042159933; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

Earth

Oxygen on early Earth may have come from quartz crushed by earthquakes

News

Free

Chemistry

Building blocks for life may be able to form in radioactive meteorites

News

Subscriber-only

The Murchison meteorite
Dark blue ocean surface seen from underwater. Waves underwater and rays of sunlight shining through

Life

Experiments hint at how molecules essential to all life first arose

News

Subscriber-only

Illustration of a ribosome

Life

Self-replicating protein factories are a step towards artificial life

News

Subscriber-only

DNA

Physics

Is life the result of the laws of entropy?

News

Free

WHY is the universe just right? Spiral Galaxy in deep spcae, 3D illustration

Life

Why is the universe just right for life? Blame the multiverse

Features

Subscriber-only

WHY do we exist?

Life

Why do we exist? The meaning of life isn’t to be found in the stars

Features

Subscriber-only

Harold Clayton Urey

Life

Glass flask catalysed famous Miller-Urey origin-of-life experiment

News

Free

Life

Organic blobs built in lab may be small step towards synthetic life

Microscopic organic blobs created from scratch could provide clues about how biological cells formed spontaneously on early Earth – and further efforts to generate synthetic life

News

Subscriber-only

vesicles

Life

The search for the origin of life: From panspermia to primordial soup

Video

Free

Life

Timeline: The evolution of life

Features

Free