The beginning of life

Order from movement. Photos: Tel Aviv University.

Life from motion: New discovery reveals how order is born from rotation

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Tel Aviv University researchers have discovered that particles spinning in opposite directions in a liquid self-organize into polymer-like “active” chains that move, rotate, and exchange “partners” — a phenomenon that may shed light on self-organization processes in nature and lead to
A fossil of a trilobite, one of the first animals to appear during the Cambrian period, when there was an explosion of complex life. Illustration: depositphotos.com

545-million-year-old footprints may rewrite the story of the origin of complex life

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Europa in orbit around Jupiter. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Exploring life on the moon Europa by studying underwater volcanoes on Earth

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Professor James Holden of the University of Massachusetts Amherst is leading a NASA-funded study examining what the chemistry of alien life might look like on Jupiter's icy moon – using bacteria found a kilometer below the surface.
One of the oldest rock deposits is found in the Jack Hills in Western Australia, and it contains crystals of the mineral zircon. A researcher holds a rock from the Jack Hills | Curtin University

The oldest lake in the world

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Did freshwater, and life on Earth, begin earlier than we thought?
Radiation from active galactic nuclei (AGN), usually thought to be deadly, may actually help life thrive – by strengthening the protective ozone layer in oxygen-rich atmospheres, thus making planets more resilient. Credit: IRLab/NSF/AURA/J. daSilva/M. Zamani

Black holes may contribute to the flourishing of life on nearby planets

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New research reveals that radiation from active galactic cores can strengthen the protective ozone layer in oxygen-rich atmospheres and protect life from extinction.
A block of metal emits oxygen. Illustration by Avi Blizovsky, using DALEE The illustration should not be seen as a scientific image.

The dark oxygen puzzle

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Natural lumps of metal emit oxygen in the dark depths of the ocean, in the absence of photosynthesis, until now it was believed that there was no oxygen production in them at all
A graphic illustration of the S2 meteorite impact and its immediate effects. Credit: Nadia Drabon

The asteroid the size of four Everests that changed the course of life on Earth

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It turns out that these giant meteorites actually had a positive effect on life compared to the later extinction-causing meteorites
An artist's impression of star formation in the early universe, a few hundred million years after the Big Bang. (Image credit: (Adolf Schaller/Space Telescope Science Institute, NASA)

Pursuing Science Chapter 8: Astrophysics and Particles - The Surrounding Sea of ​​Stars

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The Cambrian Bang. Illustration: depositphotos.com

New findings regarding the connection between the increase of oxygen in the atmosphere and the development of complex life

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Hebrew University researchers have revealed new findings regarding the connection between the increase in oxygen in the atmosphere and oceans on Earth, and the development of complex life. The study indicates that the rise of oxygen occurred after the development of life
This image, taken by NASA's Perseverance rover on Aug. 6, 2021, shows the hole drilled into Martian rock in preparation for the rover's first attempt to collect a sample. It was captured by one of the rover's cameras in what the rover's science team called "cobblestone" in the area. The crater floor is broken and rough" in Jezero Crater. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Did life exist on Mars and other planets? We may soon know through artificial intelligence

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Gamma ray burst (Image Credit: NASA/Swift/Mary Pat Hrybyk-Keith and John Jones via NASA)

Elements essential to life were created following a massive explosion in space

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Prof. Toufik's hypothesis on the origin of life: from individual peptides without structure (turquoise, left) to proteins with structure and the ability to bind to DNA (turquoise, right), through an intermediate stage of peptides that organize into dimers within droplets (center)

The cradle of protein evolution

A day after Prof. Dan Toufik's death, his hypothesis about the origin of life was significantly strengthened
The structure of the protoribosome, courtesy of the Weizmann Institute

Prof. Ada Yonat: It is possible that the missing link between pre-life and biological life has been discovered

A significant boost to the protoribosome theory - a tiny molecular pocket made of RNA that appeared in the ancient soup and encouraged connections between amino acids
Arthropod (Naroia). Credit: Dr. Xiaoya Ma

Modern animals may have originated in a shallow, nutrient-rich Delta

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The ancestors of many species of animals alive today may have lived in the delta of present-day China, new research suggests
The beginning of life. Illustration - shutterstock

In the beginning there was soap

What was the first chemical entity that met the basic conditions for life?
The origin of life from simple molecules to DNA. Illustration: depositphotos.com

to identify patterns in the ancient soup from which life was created

In a new laboratory at the institute, they are examining how basic chemical reactions led to the creation of complex life
A simple mechanism could explain the growth and self-replication of protocells - the putative ancestors of modern living cells, illustration: depositphotos.com

The origin of life: the first cells divided with the help of temperature

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A simple mechanism could explain the growth and self-replication of protocells - the putative ancestors of modern living cells
Earth as a snowball. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Changes in the Earth's rotation axis may have encouraged the development of life

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Scientists from the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom have discovered that it is possible that changes in the Earth's rotation axis encouraged the development and prosperity of complex life despite the most extreme climate that has ever existed on Earth.
The oxygen revolution left its geochemical record in the iron deposits in the earth's mantle and rocks

The oxygen before the oxygen revolution

By tracing the evolution of proteins, Weizmann Institute of Science scientists have charted the history of oxygen availability on Earth and solved a long-standing scientific puzzle
On the way to the ancestors of the cells: in the presence of RNA, the primitive peptide leads to the separation of an event (like the separation of oil droplets in water), which enables self-assembly and the creation of a configuration of a kind of primitive "compartment"

The building block of the first proteins was discovered

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A view of a cluster of young stars (million years old), known as the North American Nebula or the Plesian Nebula (top right). This is a clean and processed version of the original Spitzer Space Telescope image. NASA/JPL-Caltech. Illustration: shutterstock

Did the building blocks of life form in interstellar clouds?

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A diagram showing the development of life throughout the geological periods. Source: United States Geological Survey / Wikimedia.

How were the first cells formed? with protein

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The phase corresponds to intermolecular sharing. Higher temperatures, and steep temperature drops - such as those that characterized the narrow, water-filled pores that existed within volcanic rocks and in which the synthesis of ancient DNA could have taken place. Photo: Dieter Braun

How was the first DNA molecule created?

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Dr. Maria Louisa Romero-Romero and Prof. Dan Toufik. Time travel. Photo: Weizmann Institute spokesperson

Following the first proteins

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From: "Life Begins Here". Illustration: Christina Sommerer

The happiness to live, from the introduction to the book Life Begins Here - the never-ending search for the last common ancestor

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Hot springs within the ocean, 4.2 billion year old bacteria were discovered in these environments. From Wikipedia

The first historical model for the formation of life received a significant boost

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Prof. Floyd Romesberg (right) and research student Yorke Zhang who led the new study at the Scripps Research Institute, along with Brian Lamb (not pictured). Photo: Scripps Research Institute (Photo: Madeline Schmidt)

Scientists have created the first semi-synthetic living creature

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alien planet Life may be extinct before a stake is driven in. Illustration: shutterstock

Why are the aliens silent? Because they are dead!

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Bromine, one of the 92 common chemical elements in nature, is the 28th element in number among the essential substances for the development of life of every organism on earth. Illustration: shutterstock

It was found that the element bromine is essential for life

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A planet with a thick atmosphere. Image: NASA

Did pre-living molecules form in the atmospheres of distant planets?

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Cross section showing how continents slide under each other. Image: NASA

Is life also responsible for the creation of the continents on Earth?

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Ancient soils in South Africa containing layers billions of years old. Courtesy of researchers from the University of Copenhagen and the University of British Columbia.

Oxygen appeared in the atmosphere up to 700 million years earlier than we previously thought

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A living creature discovered at a height of 27 kilometers in the atmosphere. Did it come from space? Photo: University of Sheffield

Living creatures from space or just drifting?

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Chemical analysis of the meteorite fragment that crashed into Shatter Mill may indicate that rocks in space contained the molecules required for the development of life. Photo: Prof. Sandra Fitzgerald, Arizona State University

Life started out easy, because the organic compounds that came from space were more complex than we thought until now

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Synthesis of hydrocarbon starting materials as a result of the impact of simple glacial mixtures on the ancient Earth. Image: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories at UC Berkeley

Is the origin of life on Earth extraterrestrial?

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Skill-like microstructures inside a 3.4-billion-year-old Halamish stone found in Western Australia. Photo: Christopher House, Penn State University

Early life: Plankton fossils have been discovered in three billion year old rocks

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A hypothetical young planet orbiting a sun that has already cooled and is being constantly bombarded with materials from space - NASA illustration

Phosphorus, one of the essential elements for life, arrived on Earth through meteorites

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2.7 billion year old metal ore discovered in Canada. Makes it possible to estimate the composition of the atmosphere at that time. Photo: McGill University

New clues about the origin of life on Earth

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Simulating the migration of life between different solar systems. Illustration: Edward Belbruno, Princeton University

Did rocks from planets orbiting other stars seed life on Earth

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TNA molecule. A candidate as an alternative to RNA in pre-cellular life

Strange cousins: Molecular alternatives to DNA and RNA provide new insight into the origin of life

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Neil Dabarge and Yong Li, University of California San Diego

Synthesis of artificial cell membrane

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Artificial cell is not organic. Iorf Lee Cronin, University of Glasgow

First step in creating "inorganic life"

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Meteorites contain a large amount of bases that serve as the building blocks of DMA. Artist's illustration NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith

DNA building blocks can form in space

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3.4 billion year old microscopic fossils discovered in Western Australia. Photo: University of Western Australia and University of Oxford

The oldest fossil was discovered - bacteria 3.4 billion years old

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Miller-Ury experiment diagram from Wikipedia

The ancient soup is ready to serve

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Chemicals in glass bottles. From Wikipedia

10 unsolved riddles in chemistry / Philip Ball

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Amino acids in space. Image: NASA

Does asymmetry of biological molecules in nature originate in space?

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Bacteria grown on arsenic. Photo: Judy Schweitzer Blum

NASA's Discovery of an Arsenic-Using Bacteria: A Catalyst for a Theological Debate

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Bacteria grown on arsenic. Photo: Judy Schweitzer Blum

Have aliens been discovered on Earth?

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Felicia Wolf Simon and one of her colleagues near Mono Lake in California

NASA: We didn't discover aliens but we did discover bacteria that replaced phosphorus with arsenic

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