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A deep image of interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS

Space

Comet 3I/ATLAS from beyond solar system carries key molecule for life

Astronomers have discovered that 3I/ATLAS is carrying methanol and other chemicals that were probably important in the origin of life

News

A hand holding glowing prion proteins, from which fossils and microbes emerge.

Life

A sinister, deadly brain protein could reveal the origins of all life

Features

Life

Protocells self-assembling on micrometeorites hint at origins of life

News

Life

We’re getting close to recreating the first step in evolution of life

News

Life

Strange microbes give clues to the ancestor of all complex life

News

Can a strange state of matter explain what life is – and how it began?

Life

Can a strange state of matter explain what life is – and how it began?

Features

Life

The surprising new idea behind what sparked life on Earth

News

The Taurus molecular cloud

Space

Complex form of carbon spotted outside solar system for first time

News

Illustration of asteroids with geysers

Space

Freeze-thaw cycle helps asteroids ferry molecules of life to planets

News

A colourised, microscopic image of a 4.4 billion-year-old zircon

Life

We now know that life began on Earth much earlier than we thought

A big rethink of our planet’s early years adds to growing fossil, chemical and DNA evidence that Earth was only a few hundred million years old when life began

Comment

Life

Top astrobiologist explores the possibilities of alien life

Culture

Life

Has the mystery of life’s 'handedness' finally been cracked?

News

Video

Donald Johanson: Unearthing Lucy changed my life and the world

Video

Life

Oldest rocks on Earth may contain strange and ancient life forms

News