Salt crystals formed when a saline lake dried up 1.4 billion years ago trapped air inside, providing a sample of the ...

More than a billion years ago, in a shallow basin across what is now northern Ontario, a subtropical lake much like ...

Four billion years ago, Earth was violent, hot, and unstable. Yet new research suggests that by then, life had already ...

Tiny droplets of water and microscopic bubbles of gas were trapped in “fluid inclusions,” sealing a perfect record of Earth’s ...

The oldest fossils ever found are "direct evidence" of life on Earth 3.8 to 4.3 billion years ago when our planet was still in its infancy, researchers reported Wednesday. Even at the lower end of the ...

A billion years ago, days lasted 19 hours: the balance between the oceans, the atmosphere, and the Moon slowed down the Earth ...

Scientists have traced the origins of complex life to the breakup of the supercontinent Nuna 1.5 billion years ago. This tectonic shift reduced volcanic carbon emissions, expanded shallow seas, and ...

Researchers have discovered chemical traces of life in rocks older than 3.3 billion years, offering a rare look at Earth’s earliest biology. By combining advanced chemical methods with artificial ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. David Bressan is a geologist who covers curiosities about Earth. The chemistry of crystals in some of Earth’s oldest rocks may ...

More than a billion years ago, in a shallow basin across what is now northern Ontario, a subtropical lake much like ...