More than 3.5 billion years ago, the Earth was not the hospitable world we know today. The atmosphere lacked oxygen, the seas ...

Long before animals, plants, or fungi emerged, a hidden lineage was already shaping the future. Scientists have now traced ...

Our gut is home to a micro-universe of tiny powerhouses, complete with their own genes and immune and metabolic profiles, ...

Scientists have identified a microbe capable of interpreting a single piece of genetic code in two completely different ways, breaking a fundamental rule in molecular biology.

From insignificant individual cells to a rich community full of cooperation. That is how our understanding of the world of ...

Brine pools, extremely salty, oxygen-free underwater lakes, are lethal to most marine life but teem with resilient microbes.

Ocean microbes keep the planet healthy by cycling nutrients and capturing carbon, but a detailed and precise map of where ...

They race, they leap, they spin, they shoot. Meet the organisms for whom physical prowess is more than sport — it’s a matter ...

An ancient and enormous organism called Prototaxites, initially found to be a type of fungus, may actually be an unknown ...

Their trunklike fossils were discovered in 1843. Yet despite more than a century of speculation, scientists have struggled to answer the most basic question about Earth’s original terrestrial giants: ...

It feels like it doesn’t fit comfortably anywhere,” says Matthew Nelsen, a senior research scientist at the Field Museum of ...

Asking ‘what is life?’ is a good way to start arguments in science. As a recent informal poll suggests, no two individuals ...