Scientists have known about the ‘formose reaction’ for 160 years. New research shows how it could have played a key role in the creation of life.
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Articles on Origins of Life
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‘Assembly theory’ aims to explain evolution without biology. Is it a dazzling breakthrough or an attempt to answer questions nobody asked?
Newly discovered super-Earths add to the list of planets around other stars that offer the best chance of finding life. An astronomer explains what makes these super-Earths such excellent candidates.
Considering what we know about the key ingredients for life’s formation on Earth, here are three explanations for how this process may have occurred on our sister planet.
New research shows how rock features that look like fossilised microbes can form without life.
Recent discoveries of ancient viruses are helping scientists understand their origins.
Bacteria are single-celled organisms but you’d be fooled to think they weren’t also hugely complex.
New research suggests the “primordial soup” theory can’t explain how living cells evolved to harness energy.
A chemical found in hair bleach may help answer questions about the origins of life and explain why new life does not emerge on modern Earth. Hydrogen peroxide may have helped transform RNA (ribonucleic…
Top contributors
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Associate professor, Australian National University
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Research Scientist and Principal Investigator at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, University of Saskatchewan
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Director of the Centre for Bacterial Cell Biology, Newcastle University
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PhD Student in Astrobiology, Dublin City University
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Associate professor, Dublin City University
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Postdoctoral Researcher of Evolutionary Biology, University of Pennsylvania
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Professor of Veterinary Microbiology, University of Saskatchewan
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Professor of Medicine and Vice President, Research, McMaster University
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Professor and Director of the Australian Centre for Astrobiology, UNSW Sydney
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Senior Lecturer in Geology, University of Aberdeen
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University Distinguished Professor of Astronomy, University of Arizona
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PhD Student, UNSW Sydney
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Associate professor, Curtin University
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PhD Candidate in Prebiotic Chemistry, UNSW Sydney
