Early in 1993, a manuscript landed in the Nature offices announcing the results of an unusual — even audacious — experiment. The investigators, led by planetary scientist and broadcaster Carl Sagan, ...

According to a new study, living cells outnumber stars in the universe, highlighting the deep, underrated link between geophysics and biology. By Dennis Overbye What’s in a number? According to a ...

Billions of years ago, Earth’s atmosphere was hostile, with barely any oxygen and toxic conditions for life. Researchers from the Earth-Life Science Institute studied Japan’s iron-rich hot springs, ...

Asteroid impacts and volcanism have led to mass extinctions on our planet. Illustration by Emily Lankiewicz / NASA / Public Domain Life’s first major catastrophe crept across the planet with the ...

This model reveals how vastly different the atmosphere was on ancient Earth, and how life may have first emerged. The key to unlocking the secrets of distant planets starts right here on Earth.

Researchers have created the first color key of sky-dwelling microbes to help detect signs of alien life in the clouds of ...

Scientists found that colorful pigments in Earth’s cloud microbes may help telescopes identify signs of life on distant ...

A new study published in Science Advances reveals that Earth’s life-friendly conditions may never have existed without a monumental cosmic accident. Researchers from the University of Bern ...

Callie Wynn is studying medical ailments for astronauts that also have implications for millions of people here on Earth. A second-year aerospace PhD student at the University of Colorado Boulder, ...

Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physical and life sciences (including physics, chemistry, biology, ecology, soil science, geology, and geography) to the ...