The goal of creating synthetic cells is not to replace nature, but to learn more deeply about biology and reengineer it to help society.
Articles on Life
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Future missions may be able to take only a small, damaged sample from space back to Earth. A simple analysis tool could help determine whether its contents suggest the presence of life.
Stromatolites might look like rocks. But they are living relics of ancient systems that thrived on Earth billions of years ago.
Researchers have discovered that chemical reactions in underwater hydrothermal vents could have produced the necessary ingredients for life on Earth.
A new machine learning model explores the boundary between biological and nonbiological chemistry.
Scientists will have to check whether the samples contain living microbes before they can be safely studied.
The question of whether viruses are alive or dead is a controversial one in science.
A rock from a presumed ancient lakebed contains complex organic molecules.
According to astronomers, there are approximately 200 billion trillion stars in our observable universe — chances are, there’s life out there somewhere.
A specific set of chemical conditions led to the emergence of life on Earth. But can life emerge from other chemistries?
The mission will investigate the potential for life at the icy moon of Jupiter.
The very early Earth may not have been as inhospitable as scientists thought, with life perhaps starting more than 4 billion years ago.
It’s hard to look for something you’ve never seen before – and that might not even exist. But you have to start somewhere.
The Perseverance rover has arrived at what’s thought to be an ancient shoreline on Mars.
An instrument on the Europa Clipper mission might be able to detect biological cells from space.
Over two billion years from now, Earth will no longer be able to sustain life. A new study looks at how much life has ever existed and what this means for the discovery of new life-supporting planets.
Life seems to just mysteriously ‘emerge’ from non-living parts, such as elementary particles.
The question of how difficult it is for life to emerge is interesting – not least because it can shed some light on the likelihood of finding life on other planets.
Even in death, a tree helps others live.
The key to understanding why life is not explainable in current physics may be to reconsider our notions of time and information.
Top contributors
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Professor of Physics, School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University
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Senior Research Scientist, South Australian Museum; Flinders University
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Podcast host, The Conversation
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Senior lecturer, School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, University of Bristol
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Professor of Planetary Geosciences, The Open University
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Dean of Science, University of California, Santa Cruz
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Professor in Robotics, Queensland University of Technology
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Research Scientist of Planetary Studies, NASA
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Reader in Philosophy, Royal Holloway, University of London
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Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland
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Astronomer | Education & Outreach Officer, Queen's University, Ontario
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Senior Lecturer, Griffith University
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PhD Candidate, The University of Queensland
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Lecturer in Computer Science, Keele University
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Professor in Geophysics and Remote Sensing, Queensland University of Technology
