Dr. Luis Buatois (Ph.D.) traces a series of hexagons with his finger, following the path carved by tiny organisms millions of years ago that have long since left these unique fossils in their wake. It ...

All life on Earth shares a common ancestor that lived roughly four billion years ago. This so-called "last universal common ancestor" represents the ...

Tuberculosis is the world's deadliest infectious disease, due in part to its ability to hide out for years in the lungs before starting an infection. Now, a new computational method developed by ...

In a quiet freshwater pond in Ibaraki Prefecture near Tokyo, researchers have pulled from the water a microscopic giant that is forcing biologists to rethink how complex life began. The newly ...

A team from the University of Illinois has uncovered surprising evolutionary links between the genetic code and tiny protein fragments called dipeptides. By analyzing billions of dipeptide sequences ...

A new computer model suggests that the process of evolution can get better at evolving in the face of environmental change. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate ...

In most narratives, the story of evolution is the story of organisms emerging from the ocean and eventually populating the land. But for some species that evolution also involved a return trip. Dozens ...

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. In 1950 the Italian physicist Enrico Fermi was discussing the possibility of intelligent alien life with his colleagues. If alien ...

Sleep helps even things out. It was Darwin's great insight that natural selection was the primary factor driving the evolution of organisms. His detailed research ultimately lead to the acceptance by ...