A new discovery proves that the emergence of life on Earth occurred much earlier than is assumed international | News

Scientists believe they have identified the oldest evidence of diverse microbial life on Earth, which is at least 3.75 billion years old and possibly even 4.2 billion years old, just 300 million years after the planet – slightly younger than Earth itself – formed and which constitutes the strongest evidence that life It started much earlier than supposed.

For the study published in science advances, The University of London (UCL) research team analyzed a fist-sized rock from Quebec, Canada. Previously, the oldest microfossils dated to 3.46 and 3.7 billion years ago.

Searching for extraterrestrial life

If this discovery is confirmed, it will have important implications for understanding the emergence of life on Earth, and can also help in the search for extraterrestrial life in other worlds, because it indicates that the conditions necessary for the emergence of life are relatively basic.

This means that life could have begun less than 300 million years after the formation of the Earth. Geologically speaking, that’s fast: about one lap of the sun around the galaxy,” said Dominic Papineau of the University of California, who led the research.

“These findings have implications for the possibility of extraterrestrial life. If life is relatively quick to emerge, under the right conditions, this increases the chance of life on other planets.”

Doubts of the scientific community

Five years ago, Babineau and colleagues announced that they had found microfossils in iron-rich sedimentary rocks in the Nuvvuagittuq supracrustal belt in Quebec. The team found tiny threads, knobs and tubes in the rock that appeared to be made by bacteria.

However, not all scholars agree that these structures were biological in origin. Now, after more extensive analysis of the rock, the team has discovered a larger and more complex structure, as well as hundreds of distorted spheres, or ellipsoids, along with tubes and filaments, according to a UCL press release.

Branches of biological origin

The researchers assert, as the statement continues, that although some structures could have arisen by random chemical reactions, the parallel-branched stem is likely to be of biological origin, as no similar structure generated by chemistry has been found alone.

Babino said, according to Watchman, adding that they bear some resemblance to filaments made by Mariprofundus ferrooxydans, a modern iron-eating bacterium that lives today in hydrothermal ventilation systems. “But our country is much bigger and thicker,” he said.

As mentioned viceFor decades, scientists have suggested that life may have first appeared on Earth around these ocean vents. These can provide energy sources such as iron, carbon, hydrogen and oxygen to any nascent life form.

Microfossils on Mars?

And if we translate this to other planets, we may know with more certainty where to look for extraterrestrial life. For example, similar environments on Mars billions of years ago could increase the likelihood that microfossils will be found on the Red Planet one day.

But not only on Mars: Jupiter’s moon Europa or Saturn’s moon Enceladus, and the possibility of vents in subterranean oceans, made these worlds interesting targets for the search for extraterrestrial life.

Mutant and non-bacterial artifacts?

However, despite the exciting results that this discovery can bring, there are scientists who are not convinced that the structures are of biological origin. According to Professor Francis Westall, an expert on ancient fossil bacteria at the French National Center for Scientific Research, according to Watchmanthe hyphae observed in the rocks could be a metamorphic artifact, a process that involves extreme temperatures and pressures, rather than a microbial trait.

Future studies, as is often the case in science, can help deepen what has been observed in Quebec rocks. For now, this could open a window into our planet’s distant past, and possibly others. (me)