Precambrian

Noontime skies were largely cloud-free, warming the planet by several degrees.

Mercury is a toxic heavy metal that can exist stably as a gas, with high volatility and global distribution in the atmosphere. Volcanoes represent a primary natural source of Hg in the atmosphere, with significant effects on Hg cycles on both global and regional scales. Mercury can undergo both mass-dependent fractionation (MDF) and mass-independent fractionation (MIF) in Earth systems.

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So ... what are they?

For more than a century, biologists have wondered what the earliest animals were like when they first arose in the ancient oceans more than half a billion years ago.

Stromatolites are solid, laminar structures reflecting complex interplays between microbial communities and their environment.

Researchers at Newcastle University have discovered a mechanism by which earthquakes create bursts of hydrogen peroxide and oxygen in hot underground fractures. These may have played a vital role in the early evolution and origin of life on Earth.

NatGeo documentary pairs Bruce Means and Alex Honnold on an Amazonian expedition

A new study suggests that ancient L-form bacteria could explain the strange microfossils found in some of the world's oldest rocks.

Kathryn Schulz reviews "Turning to Stone: Discovering the Subtle Wisdom of Rocks," by Marcia Bjornerud.

paleontologists from Cardiff University, the Université de Toulouse, the Université de Poitiers and China Nonferrous Metals (Guilin) Geology and Mining Co. Ltd discovered evidence of an ancient ecosystem in the 2.1-billion-year-old Franceville basin near Gabon on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa over earlier.

A new study says complex life began 1.5 billion years earlier, influenced by ancient volcanic activity, reshaping our understanding of life's timeline on Earth.

Researchers have laid out the case for complex life evolving 2.1 billion years ago, but not everyone is convinced it started so early.

Reports that the JWST killed the reigning cosmological model have been exaggerated. But there's still much to learn from the distant galaxies it glimpses.

A conversation with journalist John Leland on living and aging well

Investigators have discovered a developmental gene linked to touch in the tentacles of sea anemones as well as hearing in humans. The gene, called pou-iv (pronounced 'pow four'), is important for the development of auditory cells in the human inner ear.

The inconspicuous sea sponges are Earth's oldest multicellular animals and have filtered the oceans for nearly 900 million years, long before the first plants appeared on land. New research appearing in the journal Fishery Bulletin, published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, indicates that their growth depends on their oxygen supply in a manner similar to more complex animals such as fishes.

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Would dropping every nuke or climate change make Earth a barren, sterile world? Probably not, but we're trying