The eukaryotic cell emerged as an evolutionary algorithmic phase transition

An international collaboration has published groundbreaking research, shedding light on the most significant increase in complexity in the history of life's evolution on Earth: the origin of the eukaryotic cell.

Strange Bacteria That Can't Live Alone Hint at Early Steps to Complex Life

The fact that this bacteria so closely resembles that transition point, from two single cells with different genetics to one inseparable cluster, is fascinating: embryo comparisons have provided many clues about our evolutionary history.

Supernova explosions could have altered evolution on Earth

Scientists have traced radioactive elements on the seafloor back to the cosmic explosions they might have come from – and potentially linked the event to evolutionary changes in viruses in a lake in Africa.

AI model simulates generated a new fluorescent protein

A team of AI researchers, biologists and evolutionary specialists have designed and built an AI model capable of generating the code to synthesize novel proteins. 

Chart of life extended by nearly 1.5 billion years

Fossilized skeletons and shells clearly show how evolution and extinction unfolded over the past half a billion years, but a new analysis extends the chart of life to nearly 2 billion years ago. 

'Large Head People': Mysterious New Form of Ancient Human Emerges

A "provocative" new piece in Nature has proposed a whole new group of ancient humans - cousins of the Denisovans and Neanderthals - that once lived alongside Homo sapiens in eastern Asia more than 100,000 years ago.

1.5-Million-Year-Old Footprints Reveal Two Human Species Coexisted

Ancient footprints in Kenya unveiled Homo erectus and Paranthropus boisei coexisting 1.5 million years ago, unlocking fascinating clues about their shared world.

Scientists Reveal a Shocking Solution to The Chicken or Egg Paradox

Life on Earth may have developed the ability to form embryos even before it grew the very first animals.

Light Shaped Human Evolution

For most of our evolutionary history, human activity has been linked to daylight. Technology has liberated us from these ancient sleep-wake cycles, but there is evidence sunlight has left and continues to leave its mark.

Scientists Grew Microbes in a Lab Experiment, And They Evolved a New Sense

Bacteria can develop a heightened new sensitivity to acid levels when exposed to different environmental extremes in the laboratory, a new study shows.

Gobsmacking Study Finds Life on Earth Emerged 4.2 Billion Years Ago

A new study has found that life on Earth emerged surprisingly early. Scientists have determined that the last universal common ancestor (LUCA), the first organism that spawned all the life that exists today on Earth, emerged as early as 4.2 billion years ago.

Small change in Earth's oxygen levels may have sparked huge evolutionary leap

New research provides the clearest evidence yet that the Cambrian explosion - a rapid burst of evolution 540 million years ago, could have been triggered by only a small increase in oxygen levels in Earth's atmosphere and shallow ocean waters.

Neanderthal DNA Exists in Humans, But One Piece Is Mysteriously Missing

The Homo sapiens genome today contains a little bit of Neanderthal DNA. These genetic traces come from almost every part of the Neanderthal genome – except the Y sex chromosome, which is responsible for making males.

The Human Brain's Complexity Verges on The Brink of Chaos

The human brain is said to be the most complex object in the known Universe.  Its 89 billion neurons each have around 7,000 connections on average, and the physical structure of all those entities may be balanced precariously on a knife's edge.

Evolutionary Mismatch Might Be Why We Struggle in Today's World

Research is showing that many of our contemporary problems, such as the rising prevalence of mental health issues, are emerging from rapid technological advancement and modernisation.