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

A photographer captured this extraordinary site where whales' bodies lie in the shallows, with troubling repercussions for the deep oceans.

The transition from non-life to life was very likely aided by an asteroid hitting Earth, prebiotic chemistry, molecular ...

A survey of a once-rampant industrial waste dump site near Los Angeles surprised researchers and presented as many questions as answers.

The Bumpass Hell Trail in California leads to boiling mud pots and steaming vents inside one of the West’s most active hydrothermal basins.

The deep ocean is about as mysterious as the depths of outer space, and it's home to some bizarre finds, from tiny angelic creatures to giant worms.

Far beneath the ocean’s surface, where sunlight never reaches and temperatures soar near underwater volcanoes, life still ...

But one of the most radiation-resistant organisms ever discovered doesn't come from anywhere radioactive at all. An archaeon ...

Life on Earth may not have started here at all. A scientist says alien intervention is unlikely but still possible, reshaping the debate on our true origins.

The deep sea is integral in ocean cycling processes that carry nutrients and oxygen all over our planet. This underexplored realm is the basis of food chains that sustain billions of people and helps ...

Learn more about the top theories about how life began on Earth, and how it may not have started from scratch.

The odds are that life is out there – but rather than little green men, it may look more like hydrothermal vent tubeworms ...