Even its ancestry is an enigma. Phylogenetic trees place Sukunaarchaeum as a “deep-branching” member of the domain ...

The tiny pantheon known as the Asgard archaea bear traits that hint at how plants, animals and fungi emerged on Earth.

A major study shows complex cells evolved gradually in an oxygen-poor world, challenging long-held assumptions about life’s ...

For decades, scientists have searched for clues to how life first emerged on Earth. Many theories focus on simple molecules reacting in water or on fragile protocells drifting in ancient seas. A new ...

Discover a vast, previously unknown world of microbial life that survives—and even thrives—for hundreds of millions of years in some of the planet's harshest environments. After a grueling descent ...

Bacteria use a short RNA guide to detect viruses and activate a self-destruct mechanism that protects the wider microbial ...

Bacteria aren't just mindless microbes. New research from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem reveals that single bacterial cells can carry a "memory" of their past environments-passing it down through ...

Scientists have discovered astonishing microbial diversity deep beneath Earth's surface, which could have implications in the hunt for life on Mars. The study, published in Science Advances, examined ...

A recent study published in PNAS Nexus reports that a swarm of small earthquakes beneath Yellowstone National Park set off a ...