Carbonaceous chondrite meteorites contain vital clues to the evolution of carbon compounds in our solar system preceding the origin of life.

When scientists first started to classify life, everything was designated as either an animal or a plant. But as new forms of life were discovered, the original classification was not sufficient enough to organize the diversity and complexity of life.

NASA Ames Research Center dedicates a site for the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Cosmos.

A team of researchers discovered that microorganisms in Kentucky's New Albany Shale are eating kerogen.

Astronomers have made the first direct detection and chemical analysis of an atmosphere of a planet that exists outside our solar system.

Jupiter's moon Europa is thought to be one of the most likely abodes for microscopic life in our solar system. The ice-covered world may have liquid water, energy, and organic compounds - all three of the ingredients necessary for life to survive.

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.