The Miller-Urey hypothesis is based on a famous 1952 experiment in which researchers successfully formed these organic molecules by applying an electrical current to a mixture of water and Earth’s ...

We may be starting to get a grasp on what kick-started life on Earth – and it could help us search for it on other planets ...

But real lightning would have struck infrequently—and mostly in open ocean, where organic compounds would have quickly ...

An analysis of changes to global ecosystems has revealed that almost nowhere is untouched by the influence of humanity, with ...

A region in China’s Turpan-Hami Basin served as a refugium - or “life oasis”- for terrestrial plants during the end-Permian ...

And could we really end all life on Earth? What if we dropped every nuke at once? Would that get every bug, including roaches and bacteria? “No way, no chance, no prayer — there's not the ...

A study shows that electrical charges in sprays of water can cause chemical reactions that form organic molecules from inorganic materials. The findings provide evidence that microlightning may have ...

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or ...

More than half a billion years ago on a frigid, ice-covered Earth, glaciers stirred up ingredients for complex life by bulldozing land minerals and then depositing them in the ocean, according to ...