I can think of a shelf-full of books about forests, and nearly as many about the ocean or deserts. And consider how much ink has been spilled over expeditions to far-flung ecosystems, from the Amazon ...

Scientists have spent decades cataloging life on Earth’s surface, from rainforest canopies to ocean trenches. But a growing body of research now shows that a vast, hidden biosphere thrives kilometers ...

Deep beneath the ocean's surface lies Earth's largest carbon reservoir: marine sediments that have accumulated organic matter over millions of years. Long assumed to be permanently "locked away," this ...

In the tantalizing quest to find extraterrestrial life beyond our own solar system, or at least beyond Earth, we often forget the myriad ways in which life has evolved within our own planet’s deep ...

Chinese scientists uncovered a powerful energy source for deep Earth microbes: hydrogen and oxidants generated by rock fracturing during earthquakes. The process may also suggest how life could exist ...

Schematic for redox chemistry driven by mechanical processes in the deep subsurface on rocky planets. (A) The formation of habitable environments in the subsurface as silicate crusts are reworked by ...

Some periods in Earth history are so different from our own that they may as well belong to another planet. Many people are ...

Earth’s last great survivor may not be humanity, or even animals. It may be photosynthesis itself. Cacti, some algae, and ...

One day, far in the future, a leaf will turn brown and crumble to dust, representing the end of all plants on Earth. Without ...

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American As a kid growing up I learned that all Earth ...