David Catling

Scientists consider Last Chance Lake to be an analog for lakes that may have existed on Earth 4 billion years ago and contained the ingredients for early life on our planet.

If advanced civilizations are out there, here's the breakthrough strategy that could bring them to light.

Unraveling where life on Earth began involves figuring out where the molecules that make up life come from. A shallow, salty body of water could hold answers...

The originators of the theory, Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee, explain to Astronomy why they think the development of complex life on other worlds is likely extraordinarily rare.

Nitrogen comprises around 78% of Earth's atmosphere, so why do most lifeforms breathe oxygen?

A shallow soda lake in Canada could resemble Darwin's 'warm little ponds' found on the primordial Earth that had the right chemistry for life to get started.

Charles Darwin proposed that life could have emerged in a "warm little pond" with the right cocktail of chemicals and energy. A study from the University of Washington, published this month in Communications Earth & Environment, reports that a shallow "soda lake" in western Canada shows promise for matching those requirements. The findings provide new support that life could have emerged from lakes on the early…