Scientists have long assumed that life originated in the sea. If life did spring from salt water, that could explain why all organisms use salt. But Paul Knauth, an astrobiologist with Arizona State University, says while we always assume that life came from the ocean,

How much water does life need to survive? Chile's Atacama desert hold some interesting clues - clues that may help researchers in the hunt for life on Mars.

Desert potholes may provide clues to the evolution of life on Earth.

Why should the particular polymer combinations of Earth reign supreme?

Sulfate-reducing bacteria have been known to exist at least 2.72 billion years ago, but new findings from Western Australian rocks push the date of their existence back an additional 750 million years. This would mean that sulfate-reducing bacteria are one of the oldest known life

Clues to early terrestrial life may be entombed in ancient sedimentary rocks, if only acid vapor can unveil their fossil shapes.

Reseachers study chemolithotrophic bacteria that survive by getting its energy by oxidizing pyrite, also known as "fool's gold".

Over the past several years, scientists have discovered life in the most unusual places. From rocky abodes deep underground, to hot volcanic vents under the seas.

A one-celled organism that lives in deep-sea volcanic vents has developed an alternative metabolism that uses tungsten - an element popularly used to make lightbulb filaments.

Biologists at the University of California, San Diego, now have genetic evidence that explains how such drastic alterations to body plans were able to occur during the early evolution of animals.