Zircon - commons.wikimedia.org The good 'ol Aussies and other scientists have discovered this fascinating fact locked inside zircons.
Scientists previously thought life first appeared on Earth 3.83 billion years ago. However, the newest findings suggest life started 270 million years earlier.
This would also mean the spark of life began only 440 million years after the Earth formed—about
4.54 billion years ago.
Researchers have suggested the rapidity of life springing up on Earth means life in the rest of the universe could be abundant. How little we know. Despite all mankind's searching, astrologers have yet to find proof of life on other planets.
The scientists came to their conclusion after analysing more than 10,000 zircons - heavy, durable stones used as imitation diamonds - which had formed from molten rock in Western Australia.
These time capsules preserve materials from their environment as they form.
Out of the thousands of zircons they studied, 79 of them looked like they might contain graphic, which is made of pure carbon which life depends on.
'As an element, carbon occurs in a striking variety of forms. Coal, soot, and diamonds are all nearly pure forms of carbon. Carbon also occurs in a form, discovered only recently, known as fullerenes or buckyballs. Buckyball carbon holds the promise for opening a whole new field of chemistry.
Carbon occurs extensively in all living organisms as proteins, fats, carbohydrates (sugars and starches), and nucleic acids.' Source: Chemistry explained.
But only a single zircon in the study contained graphite, which turned out to be 4.1 billions years old.
'The study's co-author, a geochemist at the University of California (UCLA), told the Live Science website: "It was nerve-wracking to manipulate the sole tiny zircon fragment — about half the width of a hair on your head — containing the graphite inclusions.' Source: Express.
Anyone for chemistry? Well—not me, and I suspect you have no interest either. However, we can now astound our friends with the amazing fact that life on Earth began 4.54 billion years ago.
I'd prefer to think about when MY life on Earth began—(this one. I'm not talking reincarnation). Born on the eighth of January 1942, I entered the world as a bonny baby. How about you?
Scientists previously thought life first appeared on Earth 3.83 billion years ago. However, the newest findings suggest life started 270 million years earlier.
This would also mean the spark of life began only 440 million years after the Earth formed—about
4.54 billion years ago.
Researchers have suggested the rapidity of life springing up on Earth means life in the rest of the universe could be abundant. How little we know. Despite all mankind's searching, astrologers have yet to find proof of life on other planets.
The scientists came to their conclusion after analysing more than 10,000 zircons - heavy, durable stones used as imitation diamonds - which had formed from molten rock in Western Australia.
These time capsules preserve materials from their environment as they form.
Out of the thousands of zircons they studied, 79 of them looked like they might contain graphic, which is made of pure carbon which life depends on.
'As an element, carbon occurs in a striking variety of forms. Coal, soot, and diamonds are all nearly pure forms of carbon. Carbon also occurs in a form, discovered only recently, known as fullerenes or buckyballs. Buckyball carbon holds the promise for opening a whole new field of chemistry.
Carbon occurs extensively in all living organisms as proteins, fats, carbohydrates (sugars and starches), and nucleic acids.' Source: Chemistry explained.
But only a single zircon in the study contained graphite, which turned out to be 4.1 billions years old.
'The study's co-author, a geochemist at the University of California (UCLA), told the Live Science website: "It was nerve-wracking to manipulate the sole tiny zircon fragment — about half the width of a hair on your head — containing the graphite inclusions.' Source: Express.
Anyone for chemistry? Well—not me, and I suspect you have no interest either. However, we can now astound our friends with the amazing fact that life on Earth began 4.54 billion years ago.
I'd prefer to think about when MY life on Earth began—(this one. I'm not talking reincarnation). Born on the eighth of January 1942, I entered the world as a bonny baby. How about you?
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