Life on Earth began in a way that still boggles the mind. Around 4.5 billion years ago, a chemical process called abiogenesis occurred, where life emerged from non-life. Imagine a hot, watery mix of ...

A new study provides the first insights into how thylakoid membranes—the internal compartments where oxygen-producing photosynthesis takes place—emerged during evolution. By comparing the genomes of ...

The Saturn System has been studied in detail by the Cassini-Huygens Mission. A major thrust of those investigations has been to understand how Saturn formed and evolved and to place Saturn in the ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. Fossil discoveries unlock chapters of our planet’s storied ...

Unfortunately, this book can't be printed from the OpenBook. If you need to print pages from this book, we recommend downloading it as a PDF. Visit NAP.edu/10766 to get more information about this ...

Ch. 1. Introduction -- Ch. 2. Present-Day Tropical Rain Forests -- Ch. 3. Geological Time Framework, Palaeoecological and Palaeoclimate Definitions -- Ch. 4. Geological Evidence for Rain Forests -- Ch ...

A lot’s changed on the surface of the Earth over the past 4.5 billion years. This video explains the long, slow process that enabled simple cells to evolve into the creatures that inhabit our planet ...