All life on Earth likely emerged from one spark in Earth's early history. Some time later, it diversified, branching off into lineages that helped it survive.
, the researchers who discovered it speculated that structures in the rock – tiny filaments, knobs, and tubes – had been left by ancient bacteria.
"This means life could have begun as little as 300 million years after Earth formed. In geological terms, this is quick – about one spin of the Sun around the galaxy,"The key question for Papineau and his colleagues was whether it was possible for these structures to have formed through chemical reactions not related to living things.
The chemicals are consistent with energy-extraction processes in the bacteria that would have involved iron and sulfur; depending on the interpretation of chemical signatures, there could even be hints of a version of photosynthesis.
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