Fertilizers form the backbone of many agricultural processes worldwide. Decades worth of work has been poured into understanding the way in which fertilizers function and the ways in which they can ...

The nitrogen cycle is a critical component of Earth's ecosystem, playing an essential role in sustaining life. However, human activity has significantly disrupted the natural balance of the nitrogen ...

The Thaumarchaeota play a key role in the marine nitrogen cycle. They gain energy for growth by converting ammonia, which is the most reduced form of inorganic nitrogen, to a more oxidized form: ...

Nitrogen gets around on Earth. The element moves between the atmosphere, oceans, land, crust, and mantle of the planet. But models of this nitrogen cycle are in need of a major update, a group of ...

The horseshoe vetch (Hippocrepis comosa), a European relative of beans, is the first plant discovered to break down nitrogen-containing compounds in its tissues into a readily usable nitrate form, ...

A new study shows that nitrogen-feeding organisms exist all over the deep ocean, and not just in large oxygen-depleted 'dead zones,' changing the way we think about the delicate nitrogen cycle.

Regina Bailey is a science writer, educator, and board-certified registered nurse. Her work has been featured in "Kaplan AP Biology" and "The Internet for Cellular and Molecular Biologists." Carbon is ...

Scientists have found fixed forms of nitrogen in Mars. This suggests that there may have been a nitrogen cycle sometime in Mars' past. The detection has been verified through analyses of samples taken ...

Nitrogen is essential to life on Earth. It is a component of all proteins, and it can be found in all living systems. Nitrogen compounds are present in organic materials, foods, fertilizers, ...