Where did life on Earth begin? That sounds like a relatively straightforward question. Surely life on Earth began… well, on Earth, right? We know this planet had the right conditions for life to arise

Two contrasting visions of humanity’s future in space

I’ve known since I was in school that oxygen – that defining molecule for life – is produced by plants in the presence of sunlight. But now, I’m not so sure. A recent discovery may have turned that fu

Mars once had vast oceans on its surface. Then its magnetic field weakened, its atmosphere thinned, and its water vanished. But the numbers don’t add up. For the Red Planet to have transformed from a

The Universe is a big and complex beast, and doesn’t always behave in the way we might expect. So it’s not surprising that there are many misconceptions and misunderstandings about space. Some common

New data suggests that dark energy’s pulling power is changing Dark energy’s pull could be weakening over time, according to new results from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) collaborat