Thursday, August 25, 2011

3 Billion-Year-Old Sulfur-Eating Microbes May Be the Oldest Fossils Ever Found





A cluster of 3.4 billion-year-old fossilized cells
What’s the News: Geologists have found fossils of microorganisms from 3.4 billion years ago, possibly the oldest fossils ever uncovered. Since these microbes date from when Earth’s atmosphere was still oxygen-free, astrobiologists could look for similarly structured microbes when searching for extraterrestrial life.
How the Heck:
What’s the Context:
The Future Holds:
Reference: David Wacey, Matt R. Kilburn, Martin Saunders, John Cliff & Martin D. Brasier. “Microfossils of sulphur-metabolizing cells in 3.4-billion-year-old rocks of Western Australia.”Nature Geoscience, published online August 21, 2011. DOI

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