Living Microbes Found in 2B-Year-Old Rock

[MayReasonRule]

According to researchers from the University of Tokyo, living microbes have been discovered within a 2-billion-year-old rock sample from South Africa's Bushveld Igneous Complex, marking the oldest known example of microbial life found in ancient rock and potentially revolutionizing our understanding of early life on Earth and beyond.

The groundbreaking discovery took place in the Bushveld Igneous Complex (BIC), a massive geological formation in northeastern South Africa covering an area of approximately 66,000 square kilometers - roughly the size of Ireland12. This rocky intrusion, formed by slowly cooling magma beneath the Earth's surface, is renowned for its rich ore deposits, including about 70% of the world's mined platinum31. Researchers retrieved a 30-centimeter-long rock core sample from about 15 meters belowground, which revealed living microbial cells densely packed into cracks within the rock14. The BIC's stable environment, largely unchanged over billions of years, provided an ideal refuge for these ancient microorganisms to persist in igneous rocks over geological time scales.

The discovery of living microbes in 2-billion-year-old rock has profound implications for our understanding of early life on Earth. By studying the DNA and genomes of these ancient organisms, scientists may gain unprecedented insights into the evolution of primitive life forms12. These microbes, which have survived in a stable environment for an extraordinarily long time, offer a unique opportunity to observe life that has scarcely evolved over geological timescales3. This finding pushes back the known boundaries of life's persistence in extreme environments, potentially rewriting our understanding of how life can adapt and survive in seemingly inhospitable conditions over billions of years.

https://www.perplexity.ai/page/living-microbes-found-in-2b-ye-nj7nGUUqSbKomCK7TUAwug

[Native]

1. super cool. thanks!

[MayReasonRule]

2. Right On Y'all!

[C0RI0LANUS]

3. Thanks for posting. Too bad Michael Crichton isn't around to write about this.

He would have come up with something good, I'm sure.