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An illustration of the early surface of Earth with a volcano erupting in the background.

Life

How we will discover the mysterious origins of life once and for all

Seventy years ago, three discoveries propelled our understanding of how life on Earth began. But has the biggest clue to life's origins been staring biologists in the face all along?

Features

Environment

Extensive melting of West Antarctic ice sheet now looks unavoidable

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A male lion and a cub

Life

Do animals know that sex leads to babies?

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Commuter on a bike in floods

Environment

Sea level rise is already leading to longer commutes in coastal US

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Earth

Nearly all mammals will go extinct in 250 million years as Earth warms

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Steve Jones at the US Botanic Garden with a bloom (Devin Dotson/US Botanic Garden)

Life

The strange plant that just might be the worst smell on the planet

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Juice launch 14/04/2023 ESA?s latest interplanetary mission, Juice, lifted off on an?Ariane 5 rocket?from?Europe?s Spaceport?in French 09:14 local time/14:14CEST on 14 April 2023 to begin its eight-year journey to Jupiter, where it will study in detail the gas giant planet?s three large ocean-bearing moons: Ganymede, Callisto and Europa. Juice ? Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer ??is humankind?s next bold mission to the outer Solar System. This ambitious mission will?characterise Ganymede, Callisto and Europa with a powerful suite of remote sensing, geophysical and in situ instruments to discover more about these compelling destinations as potential habitats for past or present life. Juice will monitor Jupiter?s complex magnetic, radiation and plasma environment in depth and its interplay with the moons, studying the Jupiter system as an archetype for gas giant systems across the Universe. Following launch, Juice will embark on an eight-year journey to Jupiter, arriving in July 2031 with the aid of momentum and direction gained from four gravity-assist fly-bys of the Earth-Moon system, Venus and, twice, Earth. Flight VA260 is the final Ariane 5 flight to carry an ESA mission to space.

Space

How the JUICE mission will look for habitability on Jupiter's moons

Features

Underwater light, sun light shine under water with ripples on surface. Realistic sunlight under deep water with reflection, blue ocean or sea depth blue background; Shutterstock ID 1559777738; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

Life

The delightfully bizarre creatures that live near deep-sea vents

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Angela Stevenson, 39, a marine scientist for GEOMAR, dives with a bunch of flowering seagrass she has collected, in Laboe, Germany July 10, 2023. The group of scientists collect seeds for research into planting the seeds and breeding a more heat resistant seagrass for the SeaStore Seagrass Restoration Project at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel.

Life

Photos capture mission to rescue seagrass meadows in the the Baltic

Regulars

A fantasy alien planet

Space

Aliens on low-oxygen worlds may never discover fire

Low levels of oxygen on planets where alien life could potentially evolve may make developing technology impossible there because there would be no combustion

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Life

Cuvier's beaked whale seen grieving dead calf for first time

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Life

Nearly a third of coastal wolves in Alaska are eating sea otters

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Life

The ancient trees that have lessons for the future

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Life

Ocean bacteria may be closest relatives of mitochondria in our cells

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