The carbon dioxide in Earth's early atmosphere could have been turned into oxygen by intense UV light as well as by photosynthesis. Earth's atmosphere wasn't always full of life-giving oxygen — it was ...

Scientists have discovered a new way oxygen can form in carbon-dioxide-rich atmospheres of worlds beyond our own —- challenging assumptions about how we should search for life on other planets, and ...

NASA’s Perseverance rover produced breathable oxygen on Mars on April 20, 2021, marking the first time humans manufactured a ...

Were humans to one day make it to Mars, one of the problems we’d need to have solved long in advance is how to produce necessities like fuel and drugs without having to take them there ourselves. One ...

A startling discovery puts a new twist on photosynthesis, arguably the most important biological process on Earth. Two studies suggest that certain widespread marine microorganisms have evolved a way ...

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has detected a very tenuous atmosphere known as an exosphere, infused with oxygen and carbon dioxide around Saturn's icy moon Rhea. This is the first time a spacecraft has ...

NASA sent the Perseverance rover to Mars with some bonus technology: a device that can turn carbon dioxide into oxygen, much as trees do on Earth. The device, called the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource ...

“This is a critical first step at converting carbon dioxide to oxygen on Mars." The process could one day help astronauts breathe on the red planet. Much larger versions of MOXIE could be used to ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. David Bressan is a geologist who covers curiosities about Earth. Life is thriving on planet Earth thanks to oxygen. Oxygen is a ...

Earth's atmosphere wasn't always full of life-giving oxygen — it was once a choking mixture of carbon dioxide and other gases, more like the atmosphere of Mars or Venus. It's widely believed that the ...