Where would carbon-based life be without carbon? There are 118 known chemical elements, but carbon is the fourth most abundant and perhaps the most important to human life. Everywhere you look, ...

When scientists search for extraterrestrial life, they invariably focus on the sixth element on the periodic table: Carbon. "I don't think even most humans have much self-awareness, let alone bacteria ...

A complex form of carbon crucial for life on Earth has been spotted outside the solar system for the first time. Its presence helps show how the compounds needed for life could come from space. The ...

Roughly 15-20% of all fossil fuel consumption is never burned at all. It is transformed into the physical fabric of modern ...

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American Robert Hazen is one of five expert speakers ...