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Particles of organic matter in the ocean host diverse communities of microorganisms. These particles may serve as hotspots of bacterial gene exchange, creating opportunities for microbial evolution.
The Pleistocene megafauna extinction erased a group of remarkable animals. Whether humans had a prominent role in the extinction remains controversial, but it is emerging that the disappearance of the giants has markedly affected the environment.
Geological and biological processes have eliminated all but the faintest traces of our earliest ancestors on Earth. To understand the origin of life, we must investigate other planets — but we can find what we seek only if we do not contaminate them with Earth life first.
How the Earth's crust — rather than just buildings or humans — responds to the violent shaking of an earthquake has been observed for centuries. Nevertheless, the wide range of geological impacts continues to surprise.
Planetary protection policies aim to guard Solar System bodies from biological contamination from spacecraft. Costly efforts to sterilize Mars spacecraft need to be re-evaluated, as they are unnecessarily inhibiting a more ambitious agenda to search for extant life on Mars.
China's carbon dioxide emissions are rising fast. Yet, per capita, gross domestic product and energy use are only a fraction of their United States equivalents. With a growing urban middle class, the trend will continue, but there is progress on the path to a low-carbon economy.
Melt rocks returned from the Moon date to a narrow interval of lunar bombardment about 4 billion years ago. There is now evidence to show that this so-called Late Heavy Bombardment spanned the entire Solar System.
