But while lifeless during that time, the planet was already covered by vast oceans dotted with hydrothermal vent systems that released large amounts of ferrous iron into the water. The earliest ...

And in this greenish glow, blue-green algae flourish. Despite their name, blue-green algae aren’t algae at all — they’re cyanobacteria: ancient, light-harvesting microbes that helped shape Earth’s ...

Earth won't remain habitable forever. According to some research, the aging Sun will render it lifeless in about 900 million ...

Cyanobacteria are an ancient group of microorganisms with fossils dating back to two billion years ago. They were the first life forms on Earth capable of photosynthesizing, contributing to the ...

Green oceans on early Earth, shaped by iron, pushed microbes to evolve light-absorbing tools that worked in green light.

In the modern world, most oxidation is performed by plants, using chlorophylls. However, the ancient cyanobacteria also used additional pigments called phycobilins, which were an integral part of ...

Ancient oceans were green due to their high iron content Cyanobacteria adapted to green light for photosynthesis Climate change is increasing phytoplankton, altering ocean color ...

However, ancient sediments and rocks hold chemical ... the development of oxygenic (oxygen-generating) photosynthesis in cyanobacteria and carbon deposition, fundamentally changed Earth's ...