Related topics: lung cancer

The improbable origins of life on Earth

We do not yet know how, where, or why life first appeared on our planet. Part of the difficulty is that "life" has no strict, universally agreed-upon definition.

Exploring the self-organizing origins of life

Catalytic molecules can form metabolically active clusters by creating and following concentration gradients—this is the result of a new study by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization ...

Early land plants evolved from freshwater algae, fossils reveal

The world may need to start thinking differently about plants, according to a new report in the journal Science by researchers who took a fresh look at spore-like microfossils with characteristics that challenge our conventional ...

Lab one step closer to understanding how life started on Earth

How did life begin on Earth and could it exist elsewhere? Researchers at Simon Fraser University have isolated a genetic clue—an enzyme known as an RNA polymerase—that provides new insights about the origins of life. ...

New mathematical model reveals how major groups arise in evolution

Researchers at Uppsala University and the University of Leeds presents a new mathematical model of patterns of diversity in the fossil record, which offers a solution to Darwin's "abominable mystery" and strengthens our understanding ...

Explainer: What is the molecular clock?

In the 150 years since Charles Darwin recognised the kinship of all life, scientists have worked to fulfil his dream of a complete Tree of Life. Today, the methods used to trace the evolutionary branches back through time ...

Origins of genomic 'dark matter' discovered

A duo of scientists at Penn State University has achieved a major milestone in understanding how genomic "dark matter" originates. This "dark matter"—called non-coding RNA—does not contain the blueprint for making proteins ...

page 1 from 3