New research published in Nature Ecology & Evolution sheds light on the timelines and pathways of evolution of fungi, finding evidence of their influence on ancient terrestrial ecosystems. The study, ...

Scientists from MIT and elsewhere have identified chemical fossils that may have been left by ancient sponges in rocks more ...

Some human organs, such as kidneys and lungs, have back-ups. Some can be lost with little consequence—the spleen, for example ...

A team of MIT geochemists has unearthed new evidence in very old rocks suggesting that some of the first animals on Earth ...

Convergent evolution—where distinct species independently evolve similar traits or functions, such as the wings of birds and ...

Scientists discovered chemical fossils in ancient rocks that suggest sea sponges were among the first animals to live on Earth.

From a distance, Biosphere 2 emerges from the cacti and creosote of the Sonoran desert like a gleaming oasis, a colony of ...

Scientists have uncovered an unexpected witness to Earth’s distant past: tiny iron oxide stones called ooids. These mineral snowballs lock away traces of ancient carbon, revealing that oceans between ...

The seemingly unpredictable, and thereby uncontrollable, dynamics of living organisms have perplexed and fascinated ...

New research published in Nature Ecology & Evolution sheds light on the timelines and pathways of evolution of fungi, finding evidence of their ...