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Space

Complex form of carbon spotted outside solar system for first time

Complex carbon-based molecules crucial to life on Earth originated somewhere in space, but we didn't know where. Now, huge amounts of them have been spotted in a huge, cold cloud of gas

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The Taurus molecular cloud

Space

Freeze-thaw cycle helps asteroids ferry molecules of life to planets

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Illustration of asteroids with geysers

Life

We now know that life began on Earth much earlier than we thought

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A colourised, microscopic image of a 4.4 billion-year-old zircon

2DE140D Rover on Mars

Life

Top astrobiologist explores the possibilities of alien life

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Life

Has the mystery of life’s 'handedness' finally been cracked?

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Donald Johanson excavating Lucy

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Donald Johanson: Unearthing Lucy changed my life and the world

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Life

Oldest rocks on Earth may contain strange and ancient life forms

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Life

Last common ancestor of all life emerged far earlier than thought

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Technology

Google creates self-replicating life from digital 'primordial soup'

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Eruption of Strokkur Geysir in Iceland

Life

Protocells on early Earth may have been formed by squeezing geysers

Simulations of the crust of early Earth show that cycles of pressure caused by geysers or tidal forces could have generated cell-like structures and even very simple proteins

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3d rendered medically accurate illustration of amino acids

Life

Life’s vital chemistry may have begun in hot, cracked rock

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How our golden age of asteroid exploration could reveal life's origins

Space

How our golden age of asteroid exploration could reveal life's origins

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Space

Why space dust is key to everything from star birth to life on Earth

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Chemistry

Crucial chemical for life can form in conditions found on early Earth

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