Ancient microbes tied to our earliest ancestors could use oxygen, reshaping ideas about how complex life began on Earth.

An experiment on board the ISS tested the use of microorganisms to mine asteroids in the microgravity environment.

Finding resources far from Earth is a well-known spaceflight limitation, but metal-harvesting microbes provide a method for tapping outer space’s mineral wealth.

A new study suggests that ancient microbes once cast as oxygen haters may have actually learned to use the gas, offering a clue to how the first complex cells — and, eventually, all plants and ...

Microorganisms aboard the International Space Station have extracted dozens of metals from actual asteroid fragments, a result that strengthens the case for biology-driven mining on the Moon, Mars, ...

Life on Earth may have learned to breathe oxygen long before oxygen filled the skies. MIT researchers traced a key ...

A fungus aboard the ISS extracted palladium from meteorite rock, hinting at future space mining powered by living microbes.

Across the coldest places on Earth, something quiet but powerful is happening beneath your feet and under the ice. As ...

In the oceans and on land, scientists are discovering rare, transitional organisms that bridge the gap between Earth’s simplest cells and today’s complex ones.

"Barking" up the right tree! Here's how an Australian team found that microbes found in tree bark may have a bigger influence ...

For many years, the deep ocean has been seen as a nutrient-poor environment where microbes living in the water survive on ...